Wicked: For Good - Ai Animes 🤖

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re journeying back into the fantastical land of Oz, as we explore the followup to 2024’s Wicked film adaptation. Yep, it’s time for Wicked: For Good, as Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba suffers the slander of our Wizard charlatan, and Ariana Grande’s Glinda assumes the mantle of magical inheritance. Having formed an unlikely bond during their days at Shiz Academy, the two have been torn apart by the Wizard’s machinations, and Elphaba now finds herself the scapegoat for all of Oz’s manifold problems.

The first film offered an intriguing stew of thematic variables, touching on notes of classism, discrimination, and the ways skillful propagandists can reshape society in their own preferred image. I’m generally a fan of narratives that frame magic as a fading whisper in the age of man, and the idea that the Wizard is intentionally provoking such an outcome through his attacks on education and rewriting of history is an exceedingly compelling twist on that convention. Additionally, Ariana Grande has proven herself absolutely fuckin’ hilarious, and though I expect this film will provide fewer opportunities for her to make a delightful fool of herself, I’m eager to see where Elphaba and Glinda go from here. Let us return to unrest in the land of Oz!

Wicked: For Good

We open with a broadcast from Madame Morrible, stating that it’s been twelve tide-turns since the Wicked Witch of the West escaped. An efficient choice, sneaking exposition into a naturalistic announcement coinciding with the Universal logo, and also establishing the initial tone of being actively hunted by the powers that be

In hindsight, perhaps the name “Madame Morrible” should have set off some red flags

“Shield your children. Trust no animals.” Effective propaganda, both implying a threat that will make any parent abandon their rationality, and also tethering their ongoing process of disenfranchising talking animals into the threat of the witch

We then open on a sequence of the yellow brick road under construction, now reframed as a process of deforestation and dehumanization, with previously talking animals serving as pack mules. Reframing Oz as a fascist state remains this story’s greatest trick, a clever exploitation of the dreamlike simplified worldbuilding of the original. Oz was initially conceived as a fairy tale, meaning such improbable contrivances as “there’s only one road, and it only goes to the Wizard” or “life would be perfect except for the threat of the Wicked Witch” were fitted to the needs of the story – but by taking this world more literally, the idea that everything in this world revolves around the peoples’ worship of the Wizard takes on a far more sinister tone, and the preeminence of the Wicked Witch as a threat implies not a near-perfect world, but a near-perfect stranglehold on the public imagination. And with the Wizard being conceived as a charlatan even in the original text, it doesn’t take too much adjusting to make him a genuine villain

Meanwhile, Elphaba is now a freedom fighter, breaking shackles and disrupting the road’s construction. If you want to fight a foe that’s attempting to claim more territory than it can actively control, attacking supply lines is definitely the way to go

A newspaper headline boasts that “Water Can Kill Her!” I wonder how they figured that out, or why it’s even true in the first place?

The Emerald City is positively drenched in propaganda pamphlets and posters. You really can make the people believe anything if you can control the levers of information distribution – hence our current crisis in the United States, with monsters like the Ellisons and Bezos buying up all the traditional news organizations and saturating them with fascist apologia. I don’t really see a good end for my country at this point; it feels like our last off ramp would have been Obama refusing to bail out the financial spectators and trying the Iraq War architects for war crimes, but by now we seem fully captured by the billionaires, with a MAGA underbelly that likely can’t be rehabilitated

“If I can just make them believe in the truth / That all that he says is a lie.” All Elphaba or any of us have is hope, really. But human beings are fearful, tribalistic, near-sighted animals; we were not built to handle more political consciousness than village-scale concerns

Meanwhile, Glinda has taken up residence in the Emerald City, and is now known as “Glinda the Good” professionally. Another fun inversion from the original text, asking the question “would an inherently good person have to attest as such in their own title?” What originally served as dramatic simplification for the sake of child readers is now reframed as propaganda that assumes all humans are basically children

As with the first film, the costuming and set design is quite impressive, though the lighting and color grading somewhat undercuts it. The shift to digital film production has basically left a big aesthetic hole where gaffers used to go; scenes aren’t really lit intentionally when they’re being shot any more, and that naturally limits their visual impact and compositional focus regardless of what you do in post-production

Prince Fiyero is now apparently a member of the royal guard. I like how this second half is emphasizing that even people with ostensibly good intentions can easily get swept up in an evil machine – and how easily his “life is more painless for the brainless” creed lends itself to embracing a comforting lie

“We really should look into trademarking the word ‘good.’” Glinda seems to be taking to her new responsibilities quite well. And yeah, another relevant point there – if you define yourself as fundamentally righteous, then everything you do is naturally righteous as well. The act matters less than the actor, a poise that can be used to justify everything from economic disparity (prosperity gospel, trickle-down economics, “dark enlightenment” philosophy, etc) to active genocide

“Is it Elphaba?” “You mean the Wicked Witch.” Elphaba must be dehumanized as well, of course. Much easier to see her as a monster if she’s a title rather than a person

Madame Morrible introduces Glinda’s new transport bubble. Grande continues to charm even as the avatar of empire

“This invention will disguise your deficiency.” The Wizard being a fraud now extends to Glinda’s role as his moral avatar

“The wand really sells it.” I feel like Michelle Yeoh is enough of a boon for the drama to accept the fact that she can’t really sing

It’s clear Morrible sees Glinda as a useful idiot. But that’s generally how it goes for power structures like this – no one is loyal to anyone, they’re all just certain of their own right to power. Reactionaries largely don’t possess values, only tactics

Looking at herself in reflection, Glinda thinks back on a childhood birthday, where she received a wand and successfully pretended to do magic. I like how her feelings complicate this side of the story – her performance isn’t cynical, but aspirational, an expression of her heartfelt desire to actually conjure magic. Nonetheless, her ability to charm others into believing that performance has made her a useful tool of power

She descends in appropriate fashion, with the horns playing out the melody of “Popular” as she lands

“Now at last, all roads lead to the Wizard”

Fiyero is apparently captain of the Gale Force, our newly assembled anti-witch police

Fiyero learns he has been forcibly engaged to Glinda. Seems he hasn’t been invited into their private scheming circles, and likely still wants to genuinely clear things up with Elphaba

“We’re happy to share our ending vicariously with all of you.” Folks love a happy ending. At least Glinda and Fiyero actually make for a handsome, gallant couple; it’s been wild watching our news apparatus attempt to apply a similarly shining coat of paint to the transparently wilting, self-absorbed, cretinous Donald Trump

“You can’t leave because you can’t resist this.” Fiyero has grown beyond Glinda

“It’ll make you happy too, right?” “You know me, I’m always happy.” I didn’t think this story needed a love triangle, but Fiyero has proven himself a compelling moral pillar in his own right, as an agent of the state who can no longer subsume himself in its comforting lies

“Because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true.” Another fun, world-weary riff on the original narrative. The Wizard of Oz is a childhood fable, and it ends in a child’s idea of happiness – no complications, no compromises, no lingering regrets or loose ends. Actual adult happiness involves interrogating your childhood fantasies, and likely revising them in lieu of your new, age-earned wisdom; to realize the happiness of a child as an adult is to live in a world that doesn’t exist, forcing complicated truths to bend to a child’s understanding of justice

Elphaba arrives to write “Our Wizard Lies” in the clouds, which Morrible swiftly transforms into “Oz Dies.” People are malleable and cultural trends are broadly driven, but it’s generally also true that a few bad actors in specific positions of power can destroy an entire civilization

Jonathan Bailey’s doing quite a fine job as Fiyero here. You can really feel the tension in his poise, his simultaneous anger with and hope for Elphaba

Of course, his necessary performance means Elphaba now distrusts him as well

More news briefs inform us Elphaba’s father has died, and that Nessa has assumed his role as governor of Munchkinland. A somewhat necessary quirk of this film’s stage origin, that everyone we knew best from Shiz is now slotted into the most important applicable role in government. Granted, that itself could be considered a point regarding how power is inherited in this world, but it’s also just a practical necessity

She’s in the process of signing a bill that would declare animals need permits to travel. No metaphor to untangle there; disenfranchisement and travel restrictions are some of the most fundamental tools of authoritarianism across history. I’m reminded of how folks were complaining that Andor or The Boys were intentionally attempting to create Trump analogues, unaware that these figures and these methods are simply how the evils of humanity repeat themselves in every era

Boq objects, but doesn’t really have the strength to fight, and instead decides to leave her service. One scene after another of evil triumphing because good does nothing

It takes only a scene transition for our “first they came for” progression to jump from animals to munchkins. Thus Boq is barred from visiting the capital

Elphaba comes across a train of talking animals fleeing the land, including her old nanny Dulcibear. They’re literally journeying beneath the yellow brick road – a paved-over history, or an underground (rail)road

Apparently the Place Beyond Oz is just a barren waste

Dulcibear raises a question that’s worth a song – why fight for this place? Why try to change these hardened minds?

Elphaba doesn’t really have much of an answer, though – just a reference, “There’s no place like home”

Her plea is interrupted by the cowardly lion, whose fear of her reflects how how many ultimately come to take comfort in their cages

Fortunately, one receptive audience does hear her words: the flying monkeys. I was sorta wondering how they’d come around to her side

Boq gets some real on-the-nose “I will become the tin man” imagery as he is reintroduced, first by chopping wood, and then by stiffly carrying Nessa’s silver tray

“That’s a wicked thing to say.” “No it’s not. It’s just the truth.” A fine line, echoing this story’s general interrogation of conflating goodness with pleasing appearances

As Elphaba asks for her help, Nessa reflects back on that night at the Ozdust. Her sympathies lie with a vanishing past, or perhaps even just a past only as she remembers it. A microcosm of perhaps the most potent fuel for reactionary movements

Elphaba’s attempts to help her sister end up creating our ruby slippers

“You’re going to lose your heart to me!” We’re definitely having to embrace some contrivances to make our way to Dorothy’s three companions. Attempting to offer an “explanation” for every aspect of the Wizard of Oz remains one of this story’s biggest weaknesses, a pursuit that both hems in the narrative’s potential and diminishes the fantastical nature of the original story

So Nessa names herself the Wicked Witch of the East

“Goodbye, Nessa. I’m off to see the Wizard.” Argh, it’s so frustrating! This scene is only made weaker for shoehorning in a reference to the original Wizard of Oz – it’s the cheap thrill of “hey, I recognize that” over engaging with the emotional drama that your own narrative has constructed. If you have the chance to write something cute or write something true, always choose truth

The Tin Man himself does translate nicely to this story’s fresh priorities, coming across as body horror rather than comic whimsy

Nice beat of Elphaba mysteriously vanishing from Glinda’s room, only for Glinda to stomp downstairs and catch up to her as she’s confronting the Wizard. Not really much of a dramatic exit if they know you’re just going a floor away

Elphaba’s demands are as straightforward as ever: end this charade, and reveal you have no actual power. Like many young would-be revolutionaries, she expects too much of people; the end result of such an action would be panic, not liberation. The people’s faith in the Wizard is greater than his own ability to direct them

“They wouldn’t believe it.” Yep. Elphaba may know magic, but she doesn’t know people; she’s curious and insightful and compassionate and young, young enough to believe all people possess such flexible minds

He’s even got a whole song prepped about how people will cling to their superstitions rather than accept the truth of a chaotic, uncertain world. Religious leaders throughout history have taken great advantage of our fearful, provincial minds. And hell, even as many people move beyond the comforting hokum of religion specifically, they still need to believe in something, whether it’s a charismatic face on the screen or a story that reflects their heart’s desire. Youtube and fandom haven’t really been healthy replacements for religious faith

“You know, I’ve never really had a family. That’s why I’ve wanted to give the citizens of Oz… everything.” He is certainly quite a charmer. Goldblum was a terrific pick; he’s got the look and mannerisms of a neurotic schemer, but is also just inherently lovable and disarming. He’s making a clever joke, and you’re in on it

“Back where I come from, we’ve got a whole lot of people who believe lots of things that aren’t true. And you know what we call it? History.”

“Elphie, aren’t you tired of running?” It’s always a losing game – you’re not just fighting against the forces of injustice, you’re fighting against human nature itself

Elphaba actually agrees, so long as the Wizard agrees to give up on his most obvious crimes – the persecution of the animals, and containment of the flying monkeys. Honestly not a bad deal, particularly if she now has a role in steering the country forward – so much so that I assume the Wizard has something far worse in mind

Once the Wizard has left, Chistery then reveals a second prison, this one presumably holding the rest of the animals

“Elphaba, some animals cannot be trusted.” “Yes. I know that now.” A bitter yet inevitable lesson

Thus Elphaba frees the animals, and declares her lifelong war on the Wizard

The pointed contrasts of wedding and prison conclude with worlds colliding, as the freed animals stampede through Glinda’s wedding. The fact that these animals forget how to speak when captured feels like another effective metaphor; when you subjugate your lower classes to the point where they are denied any opportunities for education or political awareness, it is that much easier to frame them as deserving their lesser status

Thus even this righteous rebellion plays into the Wizard’s hands, with Morrible swiftly framing this exodus as a violent attack by the Wicked Witch

Hell yeah, Fiyero! After sending the guards away, he turns his pistol on the Wizard

The players are all assembled, but the story refuses to resolve itself, as we still have to somehow get from here to The Wizard of Oz. Thus Fiyero elects to flee with Elphaba rather than expose (or simply shoot) the Wizard

And of course, Glinda feels betrayed that Fiyero would choose Elphaba over herself, and assumes the two have always been plotting against her. As with the Nessa sequence, this story at times seems unwilling to grapple with its thorniest political questions, instead simplifying these concepts into personal romantic disagreements – systemic problems are reframed as “the cruelty of a broken heart” and so on. A pretty common way of raising difficult themes without carrying them to their challenging, Disney-inappropriate conclusions

Thus Glinda suggests using Nessa to get to Elphaba

Glinda’s a pretty classic archetype, the champion of a “negative peace which is the absence of tension,” as Martin Luther King put it. She can accept any injustice that does not impact her own happiness, seeing disruptions in pursuit of true justice as an injustice to her personally. Most people will embrace the presence of structural violence so long as it doesn’t impact their own lives

Given my long experience in fandom spaces, it’s kinda funny listening to this song marveling at the possibility of loving someone who is green. Humanity’s capacity for horniness clearly far outstrips this production’s imagination

This hideaway is one the production’s better-lit sets, though they still definitely have trouble lighting Elphaba in the darkness

Meanwhile, Madame Morrible whips up a big ol’ tornado to threaten Nessa. As much as the Wizard has emphasized that what he embodies is a psychological weakness of mankind at large, it sure does seem like pushing two specific people off ledges would solve a lot of this world’s problems. Though I suppose that’s true in any era; the rich and powerful must engage in a perpetual project of cloaking the fact that there are many of us and very few of them

Fiyero floats the idea of Elphaba moving to his spare castle, her presumed Wizard of Oz-era residence

Elphaba sees visions of Dorothy’s house landing on Nessa. Seems a little premature for that, given no-one but Nessa herself has labeled her the Wicked Witch of the East yet

Apparently not! We then jump to after Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, with Glinda merrily sending her on her way while Nessa is presumably crushed under the house. Yeah, definitely a bit of a strain attempting to steer this narrative towards its inspiration’s opening

“It’s just that one road the whole time.” Glad we’re still sneaking in some blunt gags for Glinda

“She took a dead woman’s shoes.” As with many Wizard of Oz-inherited variables, it all sounds a little ghoulish when you remove the dreamlike whimsy and play these beats straight

Love Glinda just straight-up attacking Elphaba with her useless wand. The first film was able to take great advantage of Grande’s talent for physical comedy, but her raised public stature has made that tougher in this sequel

Oh my god, her imitation of Elphaba’s cackling is so good. Please just let Grande be a ridiculous goober, she’s so good at it

“I almost had her!” Incredible line reads throughout

Fiyero ends up sacrificing himself so Elphaba can escape. Clearly lining him up to become the scarecrow at this point, with his post on a pole in a field now reframed as something like a crucifixion. Goddamn!

I suppose “life is more painless for the brainless” was supposed to be foreshadowing of his “if I only had a brain” fate, but I really wasn’t thinking this story would attempt to provide a direct explanation for every aspect of Dorothy’s narrative. It feels like this narrative is oddly sympathetic to the Wizard’s goals – just as he hopes to banish inexplicable things like talking animals from the world, so is this story draining the original Wizard of Oz of all that is inexplicable or unique, every whimsical worldbuilding flourish that never required justification

Certainly still a fun story though, even if I don’t agree with its philosophy

“Was I really seeking good, or just seeking attention?” Frankly, I do have some critiques of your methods, Elphaba

This “no good deed goes unpunished” song isn’t particularly good (it seems the play was kinda front-loaded that way), but I do like how it echoes “no one mourns the wicked”

Thus Elphaba decides she’ll embrace the monster they’ve made her, and we jump directly to Dorothy arriving at the Emerald City. Kinda interesting how this story so deliberately dances around Dorothy; she’s like a specter of death, her footsteps haunting Elphaba, drawing ever-closer

Another nasty little flourish of body horror as Fiyero’s straw ankle snaps and reforms while he walks in

Even Glinda’s old sycophants seem perturbed by the Emerald City’s murder-happy turn

Kinda funny how this narrative reframes the Cowardly Lion as just a total asshole. Saved from imprisonment as a child, held a grudge about it his entire life

It’s basically impossible to take this story through the Wizard of Oz’s own beats without darkening Dorothy’s journey and substantially recharacterizing her companions. The Cowardly Lion is a useful idiot, the Tin Man is on a bitter revenge quest, and the Scarecrow presumably can’t even remember who he is anymore

“All that’s required to live in a dream is endlessly closing your eyes.” Nice line

Also fun use of her bubble as a metaphor for her distance from reality. Both her and Elphaba have become symbols, their humanity clouded out by the roles they must play

Glinda at last decides to take action, donning a black cloak and fleeing the capital

Having learned of Fiyero’s fate, Elphaba decides she’s had enough. She sets up her own demise, and makes Glinda promise not to try and clear her name, hoping at least her friend can live in peace

“They need someone to be wicked, so that you can be good.” Quite the bleak conclusion – Elphaba basically arrives at the same point that inspired the Wizard’s anti-animal crusade, and accepts that humanity will always need a villain to persecute. If she cannot change human nature, then she can at least take the role of that villain and spare others from suffering

“We can’t let ‘good’ be just a word. It has to mean something. It has to change things.” Again, that presupposition of righteousness is one of the great terrors of human nature

“Who knows if I’ve been changed for the better / But because I knew you I’ve been changed for good.” Summing up the ambiguity of that title – does “for good” imply righteousness or just finality? And maybe we can take solace in even that – however the people who mattered to you changed you, you were indeed changed by their presence, and thus you carry them with you still

Damn, this song’s a tearjerker. I’m glad they’re resolving this relationship on such a high note

Thus the old story plays out, and Dorothy defeats her Wicked Witch

But Chisterie swoops in to soften the blow, revealing that Elphaba’s crusade led to him regaining his voice

Apparently now the Wizard was actually her father. Bit of an odd choice, but this story certainly does love tying up loose ends

I do like this shift of having Glinda force the Wizard’s hand, and demand he leave Oz. That feels like smart reframing of the original narrative’s choices, a choice that works in service of completing Glinda’s journey

Ooh, and I love this pan out through the workings of his mechanisms, visually conveying him being swallowed by his own machines

Next up is Madame Morrible, who is dragged away by flying monkeys. See, if “dragged away by flying monkeys” was a viable political outcome, we might not be in such a mess right now

Glinda confidently strides to her bubble, now fully aware that the appearance of power is itself an incredible form of power

It seems Elphaba also took a page from the Wizard’s tricks, faking her own death and eventually being reunited with Fiyero

And Done

Nice going, girls! Deposed a callous dictator and his minister of propaganda, revoked his hateful policies of exclusion, and returned peace to the ever-oblivious people. Though I did miss the ridiculous Ariana Grande shenanigans of the first film, and felt the songs as a whole were weaker in this second half (with the shining exception of “Because I Knew You”), I quite enjoyed this film’s blunt depiction of authoritarianism’s rise, and its frank engagement with how public opinion can be so easily manipulated. In the end, the Wizard wasn’t actually wrong – people crave an enemy, and will contort the outsider into whatever shape pleases their paranoid preconceptions. But people can also change, and there are still bright lights among us, those willing to shed all thoughts of personal glory to guide us towards a more compassionate future. As for the true villains, well, we’ve always got the flying monkeys.

This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you do.

from Wrong Every Time https://ift.tt/kZzBs8L
via Ai Animes 🤖