#that one part in defying gravity

[gaymercub1990]

I did rent Wicked last night and got the blu-ray preorder as a Christmas gift. I did cry in all the same spots. IYKYK.

[thephantomofanastasia]

Absolutely beautiful fanart by Denver Balbaboco on IG

https://www.instagram.com/denvertakespics/profilecard/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

[azural83]

No one gonna talk about how she sang so loud she broke every single light bulb in the whole city like the diva she is

[nobodysdaydreams]

Been thinking about Galinda and Elphaba’s choices at the end of “Defying Gravity” and how different things might have been, and it makes me so sad because at the end of the day, while it was Elphaba who did the right thing, Galinda’s decision has less to do with her being cowardly or evil, and more to do with her going with what she knows to be a safe/effective strategy.

Galinda doesn’t insult or downplay Elphaba’s concern for the animals. She yells at Elphaba for defying the Wizard because doing so “hurts her cause forever”. Galinda’s whole thing is popularity, playing the system, playing the social game. That’s what she does, that’s the world she knows, that’s what she’s comfortable with. She knows that Elphaba leaving will only lead to her being vilified, even if Elphaba is 100% right. Yes, Galinda loves her popularity and has ambition, but she does it with intention and purpose. Whereas Elphaba, who has never been popular and has no chance of eclipsing the Wizard in that domain (but totally can and already has in terms of her power) is way more comfortable calling him out right here and now. Galinda’s comments about Elphaba’s delusions of grandeur and her not knowing what she’s doing with the book also hold some truth to them as seen in Act 2 when Elphaba’s attempts to fix things with the book have unintended consequences, yet work. There’s some truth to both their perspectives and no perfect and effective and 100% moral solution to this problem. These are two college girls trying their best with the cards they’ve been dealt, and it is not either of their faults what happens: it’s the Wizard’s and Morrible’s. Galinda is not the villain of the story, they are.

Galinda makes mistakes, she does selfish things, for sure, but she’s certainly not evil. I point this out in my analysis of “No One Mourns the Wicked” but the Wicked story, while it is about Galinda and Elphaba and features them as the main characters, isn’t a story of Galinda vs. Elphaba. As Galinda says, despite their different choices, they were friends, and they cared for each other. Wicked is the story of Elphaba vs. the Wizard, as told by Galinda, who was friends with Elphaba and worked for the Wizard. The villagers in the song characterize Galinda goodness itself and sing that “goodness knows what goodness is, goodness knows the wicked die alone” and in the end, Galinda is the only one that does know the truth about the Wizard being the truly Wicked one and Elphaba being wonderful. Galinda also knows in the end, she’s ruling Oz and carrying out Elphaba’s mission to make Oz better for everyone, including the Animals, which is what she believes Elphaba died for. Meanwhile, Galinda knows the Wizard, who was truly Wicked, died/left Oz grieving what he’d lost/what he’s done.

That’s why I have a hard time blaming Galinda or calling her the villain for her choices during “Defying Gravity”. Even though there is tragedy in both Galinda and Elphaba’s endings, their respective strategies pay off for both of them. Elphaba’s stance against the Wizard leads to him being exposed by Dorothy as a fraud and allows Elphaba to help the animals. Whereas Galinda becomes so popular and loved by the people, that they totally accept the Wizard leaving because they have her now, and Galinda is able to take power from Morrible and send her to prison, no questions asked. Now she’s ruling all of Oz and can actually make things better for the Animals. She had to make moral concessions to get there that Elphaba wasn’t willing to, and yes, that was wrong, I’m not saying it isn’t, but Galinda didn’t just do it because she was 100% selfish, she genuinely believed this was the best choice and winning strategy, and given her background, why wouldn’t she? Galinda’s popularity is what has gotten her this far in life despite her lack of ability, and Elphaba was asking her to give all of that up, every bit of power, influence, and protection she had, to become a scorned criminal, and anything Galinda tried to do to bring about positive change would be twisted and manipulated by the Wizard and Morrible. Whereas Galinda was asking Elphaba to let a man who is abusing the Animals (who for many years, were the only friends Elphaba had) use her power for his own evil designs in order to slowly gain more power and influence and make gradual changes and concessions for the sake of the Animals all while there are huge injustices being committed right now that she’d be doing little or nothing to stop.

Given these situations, of course Galinda and Elphaba made the decisions they did at the end of part 1, of course they still hope things work out for one another, of course Galinda smiles to herself with pride when she sees Elphaba flying away (I loved that detail, she so happy to see her get away, it’s so sweet). Neither of them are in a fair position at all, and you can argue that Galinda should have been more willing to take a risk and had a moral obligation to do so, but the fact that she didn’t wasn’t 100% self-motivated and if anyone is to be blamed it’s the grown Animal abusing deadbeat father and professional conman who put her in that position, not the college girl who just wants to support her bestie without losing the only card she had to play.

The unfortunate byproduct of this (and I talk about this in other posts about how powerful Elphaba and Galinda could have been together), is that we will never know if things could have been better if Galinda had gone with Elphaba or if Elphaba had decided to stay. Galinda’s popularity might have been enough to make the students at Shiz, her parents, and her friends question the Wizard’s vilification of her or at least frame her as an impressionable and confused young girl, but would it have been enough for her, a college student, to totally expose the Wizard’s plot and rally all of Oz to her and Elphaba’s side? And had Elphaba chosen to stay, could she have found a way, after the Wizard makes the people see her as “wonderful” to use her magic she still barely understands to secretly protect her Animal friends until she finds a way to stop/expose the Wizard and Morrible? Both sound unlikely, but at the end of the day, we don’t know. You can argue that Elphaba’s choice was more morally correct and Galinda’s was more strategic and effective long term, but we’ll never know what might have been. Though goodness knows, the two of them will probably wonder for the rest of their lives.

[glesbianupland]

Saw Wicked Part One and:

glinda's note to elphaba and then elphaba immediately asking glinda to come with her to the emerald city 😭💚🩷; the hand touching and closeness, the DANCE, the friendship evolving, the facing each other in intimate positions (theres a bed scene and others); the YEARNING, the SUBTEXT, BASICALLY EVERYTHING; wicked and the characters were taken care of so well; i know what you are movie gelphie; i'm ready for part two NOW

[the-lion-guard-88]

”Defying Gravity fits with everything”. Ight bet, Mr. Puzzles Defying Gravity

[livingfandomly]

You know you’ve watched Wicked enough times when you start crying during NOMTW and not DG….

[evenstarfalls]

Defying Gravity but it doesn't have the second unlimited part. Edited from the original version and the chopped up solo radio version.

[crimsonglow-art]

Reposting this because I wanna know if anyone would've liked me to #redraw this.

I think it came out well but I think I can do better now with the defying gravity scene from Wicked. Wicked was my favorite theatrical play and soundtrack and I can't wait to see the movie.

[supoysoup]

So if you care to find me Look to the western sky As someone told me lately, "Everyone deserves the chance to fly" And if I'm flying solo At least I'm flying free To those who ground me, take a message back from me

Tell them how I am defying gravity I'm flying high, defying gravity And soon, I'll match them in renown

And nobody in all of Oz No wizard that there is or was Is ever gonna bring me down

[writing-hurts]

The Wicked movie has an epic avengers endgame-level applause-worthy moment yall

Like I had to physically restrain myself from giving a standing ovation right there in the movie theatre

[kaseypuppy]

everyone deserves a chance to fly 🩷💚

[azural83]

So are they gonna play wicked's curtain call music for the movie's credits as god intended or are they going to make a weird pop version of defying gravity for that

[pangirlpanic]

Still sobbing over Wicked btw

Part two is gonna kill me

[gaymercub1990]

Bored in photoshop and made this.

[thedawningofthehour]

My mom is losing her shit over Defying Gravity like yes mom this is why every gay in the 2000s loved this musical.