No One Wins in Wicked

This past weekend, I had the fantastic opportunity to see the musical Wicked with four of my friends from college. I was so pumped. I knew all the songs and I'd read the book, so I was more than prepared.

However, I've been struggling with mixed emotions since Saturday.

I don't know how much everyone knows about the plot of Wicked. It's basically a retelling of Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz focusing on the lives of the witches, Glinda and Elphaba. In Wicked, the wicked witch of the west is not actually evil, but instead a radical who wants to overthrow a corrupt government. Glinda is "good", but only in the sense that she tries to maintain the country's positive outlook, though that outlook is based on lies.

I was intensely struck with the fact that I as a person tend to lean more on the side of Glinda's personality. I would love to say I have Elphaba's integrity, but I really don't think it's true. I care entirely too much about what other people think. In my mind (too often), making everyone happy seems like the right thing to do.

I guess the thing that bothered me most is this: No One Wins in Wicked. Elphaba exiles herself by f aking her own death and Glinda ends up alone as the leader of OZ. At the end of the play Glinda gets to set things right, but only because Elphaba has laid the foundation for it. Glinda's popularity does give her a crown, but at a cost: the loss of those closest to her.

If Glinda had decided to back Elphaba up earlier on in the story instead of selling out, could things have been different? Unfortunately, probably not. I think Wicked is an accurate representation of how things go in society, how blinded humanity can be. People see want they want to see.

Anyway, there are my thoughts on the show (sorry they're a bit jumbled). The music was lovely and I've been enjoying the afterglow all week. Ciao for now.