‘Wicked’ may be set in Oz, but it feels very real in our current world – Andscape

Twenty minutes into the long-awaited film adaptation that musical theater buffs had been waiting to see, a moviegoer sitting in front of me motioned for me to come back closer. She practically turned her whole body, clearly stunned by the performance of Cynthia Erivo, the Oscar-nominated influencer who brought abolitionist superhero Harriet Tubman to life in 2019 (whether most of you thought she must have done it or not) .

Her words were muffled behind her mask, so she needed to repeat herself twice. She checked out the screen over again, on the already clear masterpiece that sat on the 50-foot screen, taking in the pink and green charm the film had to supply, and this time she pointed at Erivo.

“Is that Jennifer Hudson?”

And so began a two-hour and 42-minute journey into an overtly political journey that we are able to all experience in the film more than likely to be awarded – heavily – this season.

So did it translate masterfully to the silver screen as many had hoped?

That’s true.

But it delivers far more than it guarantees, and what it guarantees is sort of an exorbitant order – the powerful vocals captivate with a twisted version of a time-honored story that leaves everyone who listens to it questioning who’s inherently good and who is definitely evil .

On Broadway when this play was created, it starred theater queens Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, a privileged witch, blonde, messy-haired, and seemingly blind to the world round her, and Idina Menzel as Elphaba, the raven-haired solid – minus the aspiring sorceress who was rejected by father, rejected (ultimately) by her sister and persecuted by the world round her due to color of her skin – she is green.

As Kermit said, it’s challenging being green.

But in this shot from director Jon M. Chu, we’re gifted with Erivo, and her micro braids and full lips give us a more determined take a look at an outcast who wants to alter the world for the higher. It’s hard to not know that underneath all that green is her black skin, and the pain of what that extra layer of otherness represents makes this version even higher than it must be.

In the film adaptation, which hit theaters on November 22, we see the uncomfortable dynamics of what happens when a jammer enters the chat room, and the way the world round her rejects her ideals – and what she looks like – in response. Especially when he doesn’t need to play the sport.

Especially when she’s mainly not ready for it – are you ready for it? – shut up and dribble.

Sound familiar?

The established order is unacceptable. The world will not be calm. Another community is kidnapped, locked in cages and deprived of their inalienable rights.

We’re still talking about it.

Here’s what’s sensible about this movie: nothing about this approach is recent. This is similar record-breaking production that has captivated Broadway and traveled across the country since 2003, this is similar story of the stage musical that surpassed the $1 billion mark in total Broadway revenues in 2016, putting it in unique long-time Broadway company staple and the just one to point out it. And today? It is the second highest-grossing musical of all time, after Disney.

But Elphaba Erivo might be a sharper representation of otherness – it’s inconceivable not to note it.

And he wants to make use of his emerging power for good. The problem is that the world she lives in – this excellent musical world filled with hopes, manifestations and dreams – only wants her to either be hidden away or – as we learn from the villains – use her powers to oppress others who’re also . other.

In the wake of the 2024 election – which tens of millions thought would result in the coronation of the primary woman president and the primary Black and Asian president – ​​lots of us needed a moment to breathe.

Still yes. This is raw. And it’s early. And the consequences of the national elections are still there and can be there for a while. The headlines are harsh and terrifying. Neo-Nazis openly march in the streets of the Midwest. Anti-Semitic demonstrations before the performance. And unfortunately, there’s quite a lot of anti-black rhetoric.

This is when great art is created and enhanced.

This is when the world we live in is interpreted and transformed for creative consumption.

When art is finished well, when it is really at its best, it is a mirrored image of the times. It’s something that helps mark the story – even when it’s told from a fictional fantasy land that, in a way, is recycled, drawing inspiration from our very real experiences.

is loosely based on the 1995 book, inspired by L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, which is in fact a movie adaptation of Baum’s book right into a 1939 film that a young Judy Garland helped make.

When Baum’s novel was first published, it was a story a few fantasy world that the creator initially created for youngsters – and later adults – a world that is essentially tortured by a tyrannical witch from whom everyone wants freedom. The story was a hit and was eventually named “America’s greatest and best-loved native fairy tale” by the Library of Congress.

By the time 1939 rolled around, the world had passed three years since athlete Jesse Owens became the primary American to win 4 gold medals in a single Olympic Games. His sporting victory was a direct rejection of Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler’s belief in Aryan supremacy. Not that they were stopping the inevitable. After Owens’ victory lap, Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, starting World War II.

On American soil, 1939 also saw the discharge of a novel adapted from a Civil War novel that in some ways glorifies slavery.

There is not any Elphaba – there isn’t a anti-hero to root for and who’s willing to risk all the things to uproot the prevailing system. But to the world beyond this film is Hattie McDaniel, who became the primary black person to win an Oscar, and ultimately this film became a significant turning point in the way in which Black Americans were portrayed in cinema.

In , we’re in a position to see a well-known story – one which we all know in and out, one which is so rooted in our human experience that we’re like a family.

We know well. We know the wicked.

And since the world has modified a lot, we have now seen the opposite side of a improbable story that’s rooted in lots of the experiences all of us have.

Because stories with universal truths clearly connect with tens of millions of individuals. As they need to.