How to Navigate Conflicting Values in Friendship, According to "Wicked"

Part 2 of the cinematic adaption is set to address a deep divide, and Entertainment Contributor Rachel Persson breaks it down.

*Spoilers ahead*

Considering how long Wicked has been around, one might presume that I do, in fact, live under a rock to have never seen the whole show prior to its release on the silver screen. However, I’ve fallen victim to a classic case of FOMO and watched the first installment of the award-winning musical’s first reprise on the big screen just over a month ago. Bear in mind this analysis of the show is shaded by my initial evaluation of the show. The 2024 show was critically acclaimed. Best costume design, best production design, best sound, best makeup… you name it, this production was awarded for it. Needless to say, my expectations were high.

I was initially disappointed. The costumes were great, makeup, great, but I felt that the music and message of the film fell short. Maybe it was because I lack the full picture, having never seen the rest of the show and not knowing what Part II will bring. The message was hard for me to find given where they chose to end the first installment of the tale. After much reflection, I’ve managed to glean a small lesson from the approximately two hours of my life given to the film.  Wicked (Part I) is a cautionary tale about understanding the limits of our values and what it will cost us. 

Young Elphaba, Universal Pictures 2024

Elphaba has a rough upbringing with what we can see from the first few moments of the film is a lack of oversight and relationship with her parents. In the formative years of her life she’s shown to be bullied, brushed off and belittled by her father - the one man who is meant to love her like none other. Lack of his involvement has forced Elphie to deduce what she could on her own, which sets her up for the jarring experience toward the end of the film with the Wizard. Many of us can relate to when Elphaba first moves out of her parents home to go away to college at Shiz University. She’s thrust into a new world with new people and puts on a harsh exterior to keep her feelings from getting hurt. 

Glinda On High, Universal Pictures 2024

Glinda on the other hand clearly has a set of values that she has subscribed to, the most obvious one being self-serving. She alludes to it many times and explicitly states it in others, but we can see it come to the forefront from her very first scene at Shiz. Glinda wants her private suite and resolves to make the most of it by barely sharing and showing nearly no good-will towards her roommate. We can most clearly see her selfishness in the scene where Prince Fiyero congratulates Glinda manipulating fellow students to her benefit at the end of the “Dancing Through Life” number stating “You’re good.” to which Glinda replies, “I just love helping people.” which displays her pretense all the more. The student who will become the Good Witch loves manipulating people to serve her own goals and she does it so masterfully, that those around her fall right for her mask of niceties.

Glinda and Students at Shiz University, Universal Pictures 2024

From her first day in Dr. Dillamond’s classroom, Glinda’s care is on his correctly knowing her name, despite the fact that the character is a goat and explains to her that this bleating sometimes affects his pronunciation. Glinda’s behaviour toward the professor is a stark contrast to Elphaba’s who immediately feels a bond with him, given her history of being the outcast as well. Elphaba cares much for his plight as a talking animal and goes so far as to follow him home where she learns that more and more speaking animals are going missing or moving away out of fear.

Later, when he is removed from his post as professor and replaced with a human who instructs the classroom on how to prevent the animals from learning to speak in the first place, Elphaba is so upset that her magic unintentionally puts the room into a deep sleep where she and Prince Fiyero escape with the precious animal. This is the first foreshadowing in the film where Elphaba was so shaken that she impulsively and some might argue intuitively takes a stand against the oppression the animals face. Later in the film, we see more clearly that Glinda’s sweetness is purely performative. It’s most clearly shown when she decides to change her name from “Galinda” to “Glinda” to honor Dr. Dillamond, a teacher whom she unceasingly corrected from mispronouncing her name and held no affection.

Chaotic Press Tears: Stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Weeping, Entertainment Tonight 2024

The performative nature of the film’s main character is underscored by the press tour. Critics have called the interviews on the press tour “weird” and “over the top” given the fawning over one another that the two main actresses display. It only makes one think that the press tour’s “Holding Space” interview which went viral was not genuine. The two women show much affection for one another, but the amount of hand holding and crying that follows leads audiences to assume that the emotions behind them are being magnified in order to sell tickets and blown way out of proportion. We cannot fault them for trying to bring Wicked more attention–that is, after all, the purpose of a press tour in the first place.

It just seems that the dramatics in the media that preceded the film colored my experience of it and made Glinda’s character seem shallow, vapid and fake. We can see in progression in the film as she and Elphaba become friends, but audiences, myself included, surely wonder if the friendship is true or merely a tactic Glinda employs to gain access to the Wizard of Oz. 

Wicked's Famed Defying Gravity, Universal Pictures 2024

When we reach the final scenes of the film with the fallout from Elphaba denying the Wizard and fleeing, we find the two women beginning the iconic “Defying Gravity” in a spat with one another. “I hope you’re happy now. Now that you’ve hurt your cause forever.” Glinda sings to Elphaba. Glinda is unprepared for Elphie’s reply when she sings back “I hope you’re happy too. I hope you’re proud of how you’d grovel in submission to feed your own ambition.” The two women are coming to terms with their differences in values. When Elphaba says “I can’t want it anymore.”

Before breaking into the rest of the song, we can see that it’s the opposition and trickery from the Wizard that so jarringly helps Elphaba figure out her core values and she eventually chooses to place the needs of the animals above her own desires. She’s confident and emboldened to flee and chooses to recast herself as the true Wicked Witch.  “Something has changed within me. I am not the same.” Elphaba sings, “Too late for second guessing… It’s time to close my eyes and leap.” The women decide to go their separate ways only after Glinda refuses to go with Elphaba. She wanted Glinda to come with her and be partners, but Glinda’s values have her choosing the path of least resistance which takes her back with the Wizard. 

On Set of Wicked Part 1, Courtesy of Medium Online

There’s nothing worse than a friend breakup, which these two women are learning the hard way. Their values are misaligned and Glinda did not choose to leave as well, but they are capable of remaining friends and wishing well to one another on their respective journeys.

We can all hold our values dear and stand strong in not compromising them for our friends. Even more important than the breakup itself, is what precedes- making sure that we, as women, have a clear picture of our values will prepare us so that when faced with a sudden opposition to them, like with Elphaba and the Wizard, we do not react so strongly that we’ve created an unfixable break.

Whether the opposition to our values comes from friends, coworkers, superiors or any other place, having a solid foundation of knowing why our values are as they are will prepare us to better face them with clarity, class and grace.