I'm a longtime fan of Wicked the musical and I enjoyed the movie. I have always interpreted the story as primarily about maintaining relationships and friendships as an adult–as young people mature into their identities and pursue different paths, it can be hard to figure out which relationships to leave behind and which to cling to. Through this lens, it is a powerful story about how young people can make bad decisions (e.g. choosing ambition over ethics) that fracture relationships and cause "drama," but part of adult maturity is assessing the more important things–do we share a common vision of good, even if we pursued different paths toward that goal? This story arc doesn't really come to fruition until the second act of Wicked the musical (specifically the song number "For Good") so I am excited to see how it is portrayed in the second movie.
I appreciate these observations, Carolyn, thanks for sharing them. That "common vision of good" makes all the difference, I think, when it comes to living a truly authentic human life.
On the whole, I loved Wicked (part 1). The essential truths Elphaba chooses to own are indeed intrinsic to her nature: She’s green (skin color), and she can do magic (natural talent). She has no choice about either of things, but she chooses to stop hiding them and use them to pursue an objective good (a campaign to stop the persecution of talking animals, who are also merely exercising their own intrinsic talents.) I haven’t seen the stage musical so I don’t know how Part 2 unfolds, but apart from a few minor quibbles, Part 1 is truly excellent.
Thank you for this thoughtful comment, Karen. You’ve made a strong argument for transcendent moral values operative in Wicked. I think I need to see the movie!
I'm a longtime fan of Wicked the musical and I enjoyed the movie. I have always interpreted the story as primarily about maintaining relationships and friendships as an adult–as young people mature into their identities and pursue different paths, it can be hard to figure out which relationships to leave behind and which to cling to. Through this lens, it is a powerful story about how young people can make bad decisions (e.g. choosing ambition over ethics) that fracture relationships and cause "drama," but part of adult maturity is assessing the more important things–do we share a common vision of good, even if we pursued different paths toward that goal? This story arc doesn't really come to fruition until the second act of Wicked the musical (specifically the song number "For Good") so I am excited to see how it is portrayed in the second movie.
I appreciate these observations, Carolyn, thanks for sharing them. That "common vision of good" makes all the difference, I think, when it comes to living a truly authentic human life.
On the whole, I loved Wicked (part 1). The essential truths Elphaba chooses to own are indeed intrinsic to her nature: She’s green (skin color), and she can do magic (natural talent). She has no choice about either of things, but she chooses to stop hiding them and use them to pursue an objective good (a campaign to stop the persecution of talking animals, who are also merely exercising their own intrinsic talents.) I haven’t seen the stage musical so I don’t know how Part 2 unfolds, but apart from a few minor quibbles, Part 1 is truly excellent.
Thank you for this thoughtful comment, Karen. You’ve made a strong argument for transcendent moral values operative in Wicked. I think I need to see the movie!