(:)(:)(:)(:) I finally saw the movie Wicked (part 1) the other night (several weeks after most people probably did), and it sparked many thoughts:
History decides who on the world stage is “good” and who is “wicked” or evil. My entire lifetime, Adolf Hitler has been the personification of evil. Yet my metaphysical training says we’re all God in drag, dressed up as “wicked” or “good.”
In 1934, Adolf Hitler declared himself the “Fuhrer” (or dictator) of Germany.
Five years later, in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland–the same year the original classic Wizard of Oz hit the movie theaters.
Wicked, the movie, opened November 22-24, 2024, two and a half weeks after Donald Trump was re-elected president (almost five years after he attempted to violently overthrow the government of the United States a majority of voters voted to give him a second shot).
Today, the person who promised to govern as an autocratic strongman is doing exactly that, yet many Americans appear surprised that Trump has handed the keys to the U.S. Treasury to an explicitly fascist billionaire and said “Have at it.” Meanwhile, at it, the billionaire is having.
Yet, this recent piece in The New York Times shows the nuance involved in looking at MuskTrump’s behaviors: we do need to streamline government and make it more effective, which is what many all over the political spectrum have called for. We don’t need to destroy government in the process, which is what MuskTrump is doing.
Wicked the book and the musical exist because in 1995 author Gregory Maguire decided to explore the question no one thought to ask in 1939, why and how was Glinda a good witch while those other eastern and western witches were wicked?*
As I navigate this strange new American landscape which, while not quite over the rainbow, does make me want to click my heels to go home, it can be a challenge to stay in divine right action without judgment (reminder: discernment is necessary, judgment can be paralyzing) or fear. Dorothy and Elpheba’s invitation is to follow our own brick road to what we know is right and good regardless of circumstances. Gradually, my brick road is forming under my feet. How about you, what’s yours?
I loved the movie (mostly because, as expected, I loved The Wizard of Oz, Wicked the books, and Wicked the musical, in that order) but also the movie, where authorities comply with the round-up and detention of talking animals, and hatred and disgust at Elphaba’s skin color, parallels our dark present where once again immigrants, people of color, queer people and people with disabilities are dehumanized, marginalized and targeted.
The movie more–it seemed to me–than the stage musical or the books (yes, books plural, there were 4 of them and there’s a 5th expected soon) counts on everyone who’s watching to know certain “facts” from the 1939 classic movie The Wizard of Oz.** But nothing in the universe I consumed told me why Glinda was good and the other witches were wicked.
By the end of this movie (part 1, natch)***, you see that in that world, demonizing the wisdom of animals (remember, animals have been talking to me lately) and people who look different from you have been cast as “good” and standing up for the downtrodden has been cast as “wicked.”
And the sad truth today is that it’s still apparent that slightly less than half of the country still approves of our dear leader’s behavior. So “Trump the Good” and “AOC the Wicked” are the truth of our land for many.
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