Pulse: ‘Wicked’: Holding space for difference

Published Feb. 3, 2025, 6:49 p.m., last updated Feb. 7, 2025, 7:19 p.m.

In “Pulse,” columnist Madisyn Cunningham ’27 reviews albums that spotlight the Black Queer experience.

This is going to sound crazy, but stick with me here… this week I want to write about “Wicked.” Yes, that “Wicked.” The film whose press tour has been less about the movie itself and more about the strangely intimate — and even that seems like an understatement — relationship between lead actresses, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and whose choreography has taken TikTok by storm. While it is a great movie that has been on many people’s minds for many different reasons, the film and its soundtrack has many themes, including desirability politics and rejecting the status quo, that have resonated especially with Black queer audiences.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the blockbuster hit comes 21 years after the musical’s Broadway premiere. Since then, “Wicked” has been a cultural staple — it hasn’t left Broadway since its debut in 2003, making it the fourth longest running Broadway musical in history. Most people, even those who wouldn’t consider themselves theater buffs, can hum along to “Defying Gravity” and “Popular,” two of the musical’s most well-known songs.

“Wicked” is a retelling of the classic story “The Wizard of Oz.” Adapted from the 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” and written by Steven Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, the story is one that humanizes the Wicked Witch of the West, named Elphaba (played in this adaptation by Cynthia Erivo). The plot details her tumultuous childhood, unlikely friendship with Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) and unfortunate shift to the enemy of the public. 

It’s a beautiful story about government propaganda, what it means to take a stand and the ways in which being different opens one up to scrutiny. Grammy, Oscar and Tony award winner Idina Menzel, who you might know for voicing Elsa from “Frozen” or her portrayal of Maureen in “Rent,” was Broadway’s first Elphaba, and she played it beautifully. Since her stint, Elphaba has been played by hundreds of actresses, and a few Black women have been cast as an understudy, but in its two-decade history, none have signed on to play her on a consistent basis.

New fans to “Wicked” have the complete opposite experience though. Their first and only Elphaba so far is Cynthia Erivo, the insanely talented British Black actress who is on pace to become the youngest ever EGOT recipient (in fact, all she needs is an Oscar, and from the critical reception of “Wicked,” it seems like she will achieve it). For many new watchers, Elphaba being played by a Black woman makes sense. Of course, there’s the obvious reason: the premise of her character is a young girl who has been bullied and ostracized for the sole reason of her skin color, and she must navigate the ways in which she is villainized for it. 

Diving deeper, however, there are themes of desirability politics that many Black watchers can relate to. In the story, there’s a love triangle of sorts. Fiyero, the young prince from out of town, is immediately swept up by Glinda, the pinnacle of beauty and celebrity in Oz. But as time goes on, Elphaba and Fiyero’s connection grows. At first, Elphaba is convinced that love will never happen between them, because, as she sings in “I’m Not That Girl,” Glinda, the girl with “gold hair with a gentle curl / [is] the girl he chose / and Heaven knows / [Elphaba’s] not that girl.” On TikTok, Black women young and old have recalled crying in the theater to this line, as it mirrors the helplessness they felt in their youth having to compete for male attention with their white counterparts.

There is also the commentary on white allyship that Glinda perfectly fuels. What she does to Elphaba is a far too common story — she supported her when it was convenient, but as soon as her friendship meant sacrificing power and status, Glinda chose fame. As she says herself in “Popular,” “It’s not about aptitude / It’s the way you’re viewed.” From the first scene, in which Ariana Grande beautifully delivers the lyrics of “No One Mourns the Wicked,” the audience sees that Glinda is willing to publicly condemn and celebrate the death of her best friend to maintain her image, an action that we know deep down Elphaba could have never stomached. With this in mind, we come to wonder, “What good was Glinda’s friendship if she didn’t go all the way with Elphaba?” and more personally, “Would my white friends have gotten on the broom with me?”

Then, of course, there’s the flagship song, “Defying Gravity.” In the film, it was split into a longer sequence chock full of action and emotion, but the impact of the song remained the same. This song has caught the attention of many queer watchers — I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the infamous “holding space” meme, which stems from the hilarious interview during which an interviewer informed Erivo and Grande that those in “queer media” have been holding space for the lyrics of the song, and was immediately met with tears. While this moment is hilarious, and no one really knows what it meant, even in the words of Erivo and Grande themselves, there definitely have been talks about the impact of the song on queer audiences. 

The song itself is queer in the sense that it is about living on the margins and being okay with it. In it, Elphaba sings, “Something has changed within me / Something is not the same / I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game / Too late for second-guessing / Too late to go back to sleep / It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap.” Despite Glinda’s pleas, Elphaba is headstrong, assured that she can no longer sit and conform to what society asks of her, an experience most, if not all, openly queer people have had. There is an intentionality to living and being out and proud: “Defying Gravity” is a perfect example of the push and pull present in the choice to rise above the mainstream and dive into who one truly is. 

In fact, TikTok users have described experiences as extreme as seeing the scene in theaters and immediately divorcing their spouses, knowing that it was time to “close their eyes and leap” into the lives they have always wanted to live.

The amazing thing about “Wicked” is that, despite me covering a few of the album’s most popular hits, I haven’t even scratched the surface. Songs like “The Wizard and I,” “What Is This Feeling?” and “Dancing Through Life” have been on repeat for the past month or so, and my love for the soundtrack has grown as time goes on. If I may say so, “Wicked” is a must-watch in all its forms.

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.

Madisyn Cunningham ’27 is a Vol. 266 Arts & Life Columnist. She is from New York, NY and studies English and Communications while playing on Stanford’s Women’s Rugby team.

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