“Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?”
When most of us picture a wicked witch, the first image that often jumps to mind is a green woman with a hooked nose riding her broomstick into the night sky. Margaret Hamilton’s iconic Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz has served as an archetypal depiction of a villainous woman for nearly 100 years. But appearances can be deceiving. What if this maligned sorceress is simply a misunderstood antihero striving to be seen in a world built on patriarchal deception? Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West flips this well-loved story on its head, causing us to question the concept of goodness itself. Bringing the story to a new generation, Jon Chu’s spectacular adaptation of the 2003 musical lightens the novel’s admittedly grim tone while delivering a feminist anthem for the ages.
The story begins with joyous news: the Witch of the West is dead. Glinda (Ariana Grande) descends on Munchkinland in her bubblemodile to preside over a celebration that includes a giant, burning effigy of the infamous woman. Secretly horrified, she proceeds to humanize Elphaba Throp (Cynthia Erivo) by recounting their time together at Shiz University. Enemies become best friends as the two women travel to the Emerald City and meet the manipulative Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).
In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s The Lady Killers Podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams, Sammie Kuykendall, and Rachel Reeves transition from witches to musicals with Chu’s colorful film. Is Galinda a hero or a villain? How long has Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) been planning to turn on Elphaba? What does it mean to defy gravity and is Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) boyfriend material? They’ll answer these questions and more while singing along to this empowering story.
Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.
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