Is Someone Ever Truly “Wicked”? The Good and Bad of Moralistic Thinking.
Seeing “Wicked” on the big screen is a holiday miracle. Highlighting the classic controversy of our time, “what does it mean to be good or bad?” Topical and timely references are made, while keeping a clear tie to the classic structure of the story of the infamous witches from “The Wizard of Oz.” “Wicked” from the tale by Gregory Maguire, has made a splash as a Broadway musical for years, only to hit Hollywood film in 2024.
Growing up, the Wizard of Oz was my favorite childhood story. It is a timeless tale of a girl who is stuck in a land of “black and white,” only to discover a world in “full color” after being knocked unconscious and experiencing a ghastly daydream. In “Wicked,” the backstory of the good witch and the bad witch is unfolded, and, you begin to build more of a context behind the development of the most influential characters in Dorothy’s Oz journey.
What is black and white thinking? The film highlights the flaws of black and white and dichotomous moralistic thinking. We are shown that Glinda is a “good deed doer” and believes herself to be morally righteous and “good.” She aligns with the Wizard of Oz and follows the rules, albeit blindly, since we have already learned from Dorothy that the wizard is a fraud. Even when the “jig is up,” Glinda sides with the Wizard because she is afraid of giving up the image of being seen as “the good one.”
As Elphaba’s story unfolds, we see that her childhood was rocky from the start, and her parents were ashamed of her because of her green skin. She is forced to hide away and be raised by a bear nanny, and later comes to have a closer connection with animals than she does with other people. Elphaba has amazing powers, which are quickly noticed by Madame Morrible, the administrator at Shiz academy for sorcery. She quickly seizes the opportunity to take Elphaba under her wing and teach her sorcery in private. Madame Morrible teaches Elphaba that she can harness her powers “for good” if only she can learn to master her strong torrent of emotions, which create chaos and ruin every time she is “triggered.” Unfortunately, Morrible’s intentions are not fully “good” and Elphaba discovers that they were only using her for her powers since the Wizard had no real power of his own. Elphaba rejects their authority and control, and decides to flee from the Emerald City on her broomstick. In a desperate attempt to stop her, Morrible proclaims Elphaba a “Wicked Witch” and enemy of the kingdom. End scene part 1.
The nuance in the film is not subtle, and I was brought to tears by Elphaba’s plight. If she is truly “wicked” why does she care so much about the animals? She has incredible strength of character and has endured so much strife and hardship. She has only chosen to remain true to herself. Meanwhile, Glinda has chosen to remain true to a fraudulent dictator who wants to rule Oz with a “terrifying mask” of authority, meanwhile disguising the fact that he is an imposter who has kept all the animals hostage for no good reason.
The film brings up so many important quandaries. Who is right and who is wrong? Are there good reasons for people to do “bad things”? And are there “good people” who inflict harm on others? The problem with dichotomous ways of thinking is that there is no black and white. The answer lies in the shades of grey, and morality is often fraught with ambiguity. Perhaps there is not always a clear “right answer” even when we are desperately searching for one. And people are not wholly “good” or truly “wicked” as society may define them.
And what about someone who grows up believing they are either “good” or “bad”? If deep down you feel you are bad because you have always been told so, does that become a self-fulfilling prophecy? Perhaps you feel more limited and less worthy, because your self-esteem is shot, or you feel the need to prove yourself because you otherwise feel empty inside.
And what about the person who is told that they are the “good one”? Does that create a sense of superiority or entitlement to feel morally superior or deserving? Do they think that others are not as good as they are, or that they have a right to deem others as less than. Might they also feel that they can make no mistakes, because someone is always counting on their perfect image?
These are questions worth considering as you watch the film and even as you think about how you relate to others in your own life. If we can see the world in less “black and white” and more in full color, we will come to see that everyone has both “good and bad” inside of them, and recognize that our humanness and potential for love and acceptance is of far more importance than deeming whom or what is “right or wrong.”
