I’m a little late to the Wicked: For Good debate, but realistically, between parenting and work and writing and farming, it’s amazing I get out for leisure time at all. Late into the holiday break, I finally made it to the theaters to see if the second half was truly as horrible as some Christian commentators have suggested.
First, I don’t love everything about the adaptation or the acting, but they really did well with the wardrobes, colors, and overall glamour. The fixed some of the race undertones from the first movie. A few songs were underwhelming (As Long as You’re Mine) and a few story elements overblown (Elphaba’s parentage). But for the most part, it captured the spirit from the original production.
A story more about friendship than romance, I’ll always remember fondly the first time I saw it live with my own childhood best friend. We had just graduated high school and our parents sent us to our own “Emerald City” tour in the magical world of New York City to explore and celebrate before we launched our own studies and career paths.
As for the aforementioned Christian commentators, their criticism seems ill-placed. Instead of taking offense at a fictional world where God has been replaced with “His Ozness” or overtly sexual elements, their biggest issue is that this story teaches kids that what is evil is in fact good. Nothing could be further from the actual plotline.
When Wicked originally premiered, it was the first majorly popular “villain backstory” tale, spurring many others in the wake of its success. We now have villain origin stories about Disney characters Cruella and Maleficent, as well as Joker and Minions: The Rise of Gru. These later stories absolutely focus on early trauma and abuse that build the narrative that you should empathize with the villain and realize that they were just “misunderstood” or justified in the path they chose.
Wicked tells a very different tale and I’m shocked at the misguided attacks, especially from those who seem “based” enough that they don’t fall for mass narratives. For all the trauma, abuse, insults, and the like that Elphaba experienced in her life, the entire point of the plot is that she still chose what was good, but that the media story was made up as a lie to label her as evil, wicked. Now where have we seen a media that distorts truth and slants stories to build a mass vendetta against specific parties? Literally every day for the past several decades! Let me explain how that has come about, and why it is seen most clearly in politics.
For decades, broadcasters in the U.S. operated under regulations that required them, as a condition of keeping their licenses, to cover issues of public importance and to present contrasting viewpoints on controversial topics. The Fairness Doctrine, which previously mandated that broadcasters cover news-worthy and facts-based issues and present the spectrum of contrasting viewpoints, was abolished by the FCC in 1987, effectively freeing broadcasters from any obligation to balance perspectives or prioritize what most serves the public interest. The Equal Time Rule still exists, but it only applies to political candidates, requiring broadcasters to provide equal opportunities to legally qualified candidates for a given office to use their broadcast stations. This practice has opened the door for outlets to pivot from shared public service to niche audience capture, yet also creates silos of conversation that reinforce only one side of an issue and perpetuate a cycle of bias. Unfortunately, for generations (especially older generations) that relied on the news for facts-based coverage, many aren’t aware of the changes to laws and decades-long slide towards an angled perspective, this isn’t readily apparent.
This shift has led to the emergence of many news sites creating “OpEd” content, or opinion editorial. In a way, this is similar to how an Advertorial presents as a news story, but is really a masked advertisement for a company, so long as they put the word “Advertisement” in small print at the top. An OpEd may have small words at the header that state it is an opinion piece, meaning not true research journalism, but that tends to get buried as the information is presented as fact, with an opinion or conclusion about what to do with this information tied to it. Remember, I work in marketing and in the media; where many of us, including me, still want to convey quality information, yet one can readily see how easily people can be misled in thinking they are getting news when they are truly being served opinions and self-serving promotions.
However, on a positive note this shift in FCC regulation has led to people having a plethora of options to find tailored content they are most interested in, even if that is a “slanted” or biased take. This is not just applicable to politics, but also in entertainment podcasting. Yet, it has led to cases where what is done for good is distorted and what is done for evil is championed. And both sides of the aisle think the problem lies with each other. Wicked makes this a focal point, and I, for one, think it is past time that this news trend reverse course.
From conservative Christians especially, because it is inherent in our faith, truth should be something we advocate for, and a story that reveals to the masses that (gasp) the media lies or collaborates on a narrative to suit questionable purposes is exactly the type of plot I think people most need to see. Because of changes to the way news platforms are governed, everything is slanted, and without discernment to ask more questions or dig deeper, we just buy into the narrative of our own biased selection. From Epstein files to Covid vaccine injuries to election integrity to the latest shootings or murders, it shouldn’t matter what side of the aisle you sit on–we should all be demanding that truth prevail. We have to stop silencing our opponents and reading only that which affirms our bias. We have to force the two viewpoints to bring their complete set of facts together and present married, unified, purely objective narratives again.
Psychologists have referred to a pattern called the “continued influence effect,” finding that repeated exposure to a false story builds such a strong mental model that later corrections and even the most verifiable facts can rarely unseat. Experimental work on belief perseverance shows that when people have heard a misleading narrative many times, they tend to keep relying on it in their judgments even when they understand and can recall the debunking, and in some cases a direct confrontation with the facts can make them double down on the original error. In other words, the longer and more often a lie has shaped how you see the world, the harder it is to let it go, even when the truth is laid out in front of you.
As the Wizard tells Elphaba, she’s facing a losing battle: “Take it from a wise old carny, once folks buy into your blarney, it becomes the thing they’ll most hold onto. Once they’ve swallowed sham and hokum, facts and logic won’t unchoke ’em. They’ll go on believing what they want to. Show them exactly what’s the score; they’ll just believe it even more.” Later in the song “Wonderful,” the wizard acknowledges, “Truth is not a thing of fact or reason; truth is just what everyone agrees on.” Watching this, the critically-commentating crowd saying that the narrative of this movie is to make Elphaba’s evil look like good are the “Sheeple” that are just as easily manipulated in their beliefs as the folks of Oz are.
One element of Christianity that does come through is that even when Elphaba tries to “do good” with her powers, things don’t always work out the way she hopes. She accomplishes her goal of saving certain characters’ lives, but at significant physical and functional detriment to them, and often misguided rage against her. This reminds us that even when we try to do what is good in our eyes, it still falls short of True Good. Romans 7:15-20 says, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me,” highlighting that sin sabotages even good desires and actions. And in Psalm 14:3 we are told, “All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Elphaba’s song “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” tells this quite well: “Sure, I meant well, but look at what well-meant did…”
She then faces her worst temptation to never attempt to do good again (“I promise no good deed will I attempt to do again. Ever again.”), which I think if we’re being honest, is something we have all been tempted with at one point or another. If being good doesn’t pay off, what’s the point in even trying? That must be the subject of a much lengthier future article. But, being the good character she is, she can’t hold on to that sentiment for long. Quickly, her narrative shifts to “I have been changed for good.”
Elphaba has always been rejected for being different, yet blessed with gifts others only dream of having, so almost everyone in her life feels both envy and disdain for her at the same time. She gets momentary glimpses of what a healed life might look like, but at a cost to her morals, which she will not sacrifice just to fit in and be loved. She continues to wish that she could work with the Wizard and do good at a large scale, falling for his tricks many times, and each time truly approaching the possibilities of a bright path ahead, filled with sincerity and hope. She has so many dreams of how to do what is good, and every time sees those aspirations dashed in front of her eyes.
Elphaba’s external differences, coupled with her magical differences, leave those who don’t take time to know her terrified, but they are a façade; what upsets them most is her differences in ethical values and willingness to fight for what is right, even if she is alone in doing so. I am reminded of a point made in a wise teacher’s book “Disability and the Gospel” that one of the reasons those with visible disabilities make us so uncomfortable is that while their brokenness is readily recognized, it reminds us that we too have brokenness that we are so careful to mask. While their weakness is on physical display, ours is metaphysical, spiritual, which is, ultimately, much worse. “Glinda, the Good Witch” is even referred to as “the goodliest” for being the one who best wears the mask of blissful happiness and righteousness while broadcasting falsities to everyone she encounters.
Those who recognize their weaknesses, and are forced to publicly own their flaws, while nevertheless fighting for some sense of what is right and good, being willing to challenge distorted or dysfunctional narratives are often labeled the “Black Sheep.” Regularly noted in psychology discussions, the Black Sheep is often just the one who sees through narratives and manipulation, possibly the only one willing to confront this behavior, speak truth, and officially name reality. No matter what truth and wisdom they show, their boundaries will be crossed, they will be insulted and criticized, and they will face mounting obstacles and barricades, as those with less visible but more moral weaknesses band together to maintain their carefully constructed and often cruel world. The reality is this: Sheeple will always identify, call out, and blame the Black Sheep in order to deflect what is spiritually missing from their own character and behavior. And the Black Sheep will do what they do: disappear. They will be quite frank in their decision to excuse themselves from the narrative building to choose solitude over complicit participation.
As judge, jury, and executioner, the Sheeple of Oz take a mass vote and announce their assessment: “I hear her soul is so unclean, pure water can melt her.” Their judgment says that even this baptism of sorts with the “fatal” bucket of water is insufficient to cleanse her soul, at least by their eyes. How true is this of so many of us? We believe that our view of right and wrong, and possibility of salvation, somehow trumps God’s? Perhaps the acknowledged Black Sheep is the one who has walked through the fire and has seen the real light, but we’ll never admit it.
This tale forces us to face our own need for internal evaluation and for discernment of right and wrong. Who in our society is making good “evil” and evil “good”? Who in your immediate world is leading you astray, whispering in your ear as you judge others, while ignoring your own flaws? How willing are you to fight for what is right, even if you have to do so alone?
I’ll leave you with a quote from “Atlas Shrugged,” regarding that fictional world’s version of heaven: “No one gets in by denying reality in any way.”