What Is Our Greatest Power?

It’s almost upon us! Wicked: For Good takes the world by storm this week! Do you have plans to go see the film?

I will be attending with a group from my church on November 30th — the same group that hosted our Wicked Truth party over the weekend! 

With the holiday season coming up as well, I plan to take some time off from weekly emails to be with family, digest the new film, and work on the second edition of the book. I’ll continue sending twice-monthly newsletters, but I’ll also be having other conversations and sharing them in different places. (You can sign up here for a livestream discussing the Wicked: For Good that my editor and I will be hosting next month!)

One thing I’ll be on the lookout for is ways in which the film deviates from the musical, and from the book the musical is based on. Adaptations always have their own details they want to stress, and looking for those can be like a fun treasure hunt!

But sometimes, the adaptations stand out for what they don’t change. Things that I’m starting to realize are “missed opportunities,” let’s say. For example, in the original musical, the plight of the Animals is a central driver of the story. You could argue that, in the first Wicked film, it’s even more important: because of where the film splits, leaving us in the middle with a cliffhanger, we’re made to feel that the persecution of Dr. Dillamond and the other talking animals is the point of the whole story!

And yet… In the musical, once Elphaba “defies gravity” and becomes the Wicked Witch… The animals disappear! They’re no longer part of the story! They are erased as Elphaba’s own myth takes center stage.

This isn’t to downplay Elphaba’s centrality to the story, or the fact that she, too, is a marginalized person coming into her own, who takes the side of the victims. But the victims themselves—the Animals—are curiously absent from the climax of the story. I hadn’t noticed that before. Now, though, it stands out to me as an example of how, despite the ways we celebrate the heroes of the oppressed with the very best of intentions, it’s still so easy to leave the real victims of violence sitting silenced and invisibly in the wings of what’s meant to be their story.

I thought on that a little as I channeled the voice of Dr. Dillamond at this weekend’s Wicked Truth party. Below are my remarks from the event: a simple summary of my perspective on the Wicked story, but one that felt important to deliver in the voice of Dr. Dillamond—a victimized animal—rather than in my voice as an author. I hope you feel it makes a difference!

So to our subject tonight: Miss Elphaba. Many of you know her as the Wicked Witch of the West, but she was not wicked at all. She was kind and compassionate and a friend to me and all the Animals of Oz. This lonely, green child, an outcast herself, possessed enormous, untamed power. But perhaps her greatest power was her desire to help. She did not turn away from the truth that Animals were being silenced, arrested, and disappeared without a trace. I am one of the few Animals left in Oz that have not yet been silenced. I don’t know how much longer I have. 

I tell you this story tonight because whether you realize it or not, you possess untapped power, too, real power to make changes for the better in your world. But like my dear Miss Elphaba, you need guidance in how to use that power for good. It wasn’t until the sacred text of Oz, the Grimmerie, opened itself up to her that she began to understand her power.

Let us examine the moment in Miss Elphaba’s story when her hope of getting help for us is dashed. It is documented in this short film clip of the moment when the Wizard and Madame Morrible, her sorcery professor, are revealed as frauds and unrepentant scapegoaters. As a professor myself, Morrible’s craven behavior cuts me deeply for she betrayed a teacher’s most sacred duty to their pupils: to put their needs ahead of their own. Such a tragedy for Miss Elphaba. 

Dear students, as you watch, hold this question about Miss Elphaba and the Wizard in your mind: What is the source of their power and how do they want to use it?

... Well? What do you think? What is the source of their power? How do they want to use it? Who are "they" in your life, as you look at the world right now?

I look forward to seeing your answers in the comments!