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We could have been unlimited

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I’m still honestly stuck on the fact that Glinda was initially going with Elphaba in that balloon. No time to think it through she would have went with her.

It’s only when they had a moment, and she was allowed to think through all the pros and cons, allowed a moment to really let what they were about to do sink in, that her fear and self preservation kicked in.

Instinctually she goes with Elphie. Always.

Rationally… she’s not that brave.

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How Galinda gets ready for bed knowing she's gonna homoerotically argue with Elphaba all night once again

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gelphie + good luck babe

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lesbian glinda truthers rn

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WICKED: PART ONE (2024) dir. Jon M. Chu

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i want more nuance to be entered into the discussion of the green girl sorority and how differently cynthia plays elphaba in comparison to those who came before her because while a lot of people are rightfully like "why was elphaba not black from the beginning" and celebrating that she is now being played by a black woman, i think we need to be careful in just writing off all the elphabas of the past as Random White Girls when the role was championed (and often followed/succeeded) by a jewish woman

the pop culture archetype of the Wicked Witch has deep roots in antisemitism stretching faaaar far back. there is a level of reclamation happening in casting idina menzel, a jewish woman, to play the Misunderstood and Maligned young girl who is branded as exactly that. and stage!Elphaba is also written and acted with jewish stereotypes in mind--she is loud, aggressive, no-nonsense, blunt. she is quick to advocate for herself and shut down the discrimination she faces. all of this is very intentional! her personality is abrasive from years of abuse, and that makes propagandizing her easy. this is literally the thesis statement of the musical--it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed.

cynthia's performance of elphaba is fucking INSPIRED despite going in a completely different direction. she's much more reserved, analytical, one of her key character traits is how well she can read people (see her calling out Galinda as insecure/putting on airs in their first scene together, clocking that Fiyero is using his party guy persona as a shield for his own depression) elphaba's attempts to blend in and make herself smaller all fail simply because of her existence, if not that then because she feels empathy so strongly she often struggles to hold back from acting, protecting.

personality wise, though, cynthia's elphaba is very quiet and closed-off, not at all the bullet-to-the-face that she is in the stage show, and... she still gets propagandized and maligned. though this seems to contradict the other interpretation, it tells of the other end of the spectrum of propaganda, one that black women watching (and many, MANY other marginalized folks) are sure to identify with--it does not matter how "nice," how reserved, how small a black woman makes herself. a racist society will still scrutinize her every action for a way to parse ill intent from it, brand her as an angry black woman who is dangerous and wicked, and write off any humanity she has in the process.

these two very different interpretations tell of the lie of assimilation. the fact of the matter is, when you are marginalized, there is no way to sand down your edges enough to make the people oppressing you "accept" you. that is why wicked is a tragedy at its core. whether loud and aggressive or quiet and unimposing, there is nothing elphaba could have done to make the people of Oz see her as anything other than a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

so while i definitely appreciate that people are excited for black girl era elphaba, i would encourage us all to still show appreciation for what came before--that was not white girl era elphaba. that was jewish girl era elphaba. two houses, both alike in dignity, two stories both worth being told.

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the thing about glinda staying behind is that it starts as an act of cowardice and self-preservation, but in the end it becomes the greatest act of love she can do for elphaba--to stay and take up her cause. in some ways, elphaba can only leave because she knows glinda will be there to keep fighting.

it's one of the reasons i go hmm when i see the argument that fiyero gets to be with elphaba because he makes the right/selfless choice where glinda could not. like yes, from one angle. but from another, he gets to be with elphaba because he never cares about oz/rightness the way elphaba does and glinda comes to--he is purely focused on elphaba. so he can go with her. but a story where glinda runs away with elphaba is a story where elphaba's fight cannot live on, where nothing of the home elphaba loved--even if that love was complicated--can be saved. i think that would be a different form of tragedy, personally.

we talk a lot about the hat and the cloak, glinda creating the wicked witch out of her love and affection for elphaba. but, y'know, i think we should also talk about how the reverse is true, too: elphaba creates glinda the good witch. some things elphaba cannot change, but she changes glinda, and that will make a difference.

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in defying gravity, when glinda says to elphaba, 'you can have all you ever wanted', do you think there's a small part of her that dares to include herself in the universe of things that elphaba might want?

does the moment between the whispered 'i know' and 'i don't want it anymore' feel like plummeting from the sky and being dashed onto the waiting rocks beneath?

is it any consolation when elphaba swiftly corrects herself and says she can't want it anymore? or does it make it worse?

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I love gregory Macguire. He literally said I'm going to make my AU Fanfiction everyone else's problem

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I HATE HOW HARD I LAUGHED

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just because elphaba is gay doesn't mean she's a friend of dorothy. in fact,

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WICKED: PART ONE (2024, Jon M. Chu)

Come with me. Think of what we could do, together.

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i glow pink in the night

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i feel like i’m interrupting something