I was in the room with the computer for a significant part of my childhood, brows furrowed and eyes squinted as I tried to remember how to navigate iTunes. Finally, I would find the album and click the mouse on the “play” button in excitement. At eight years old, I didn’t have Spotify, but if I had, my Spotify Wrapped would have been entirely the Original Broadway Cast Recording of “Wicked.” Blasting from two speakers was the triumphant orchestra from the overture, and immediately, I was transported into Oz. 

For my 13th birthday, my grandparents let me pick a Broadway show for them to take me to. Naturally, I chose “Wicked” and brought my sister along to New York City like Elphaba did to Glinda on the train to the Emerald City. Seeing the musical gave me a whole new perspective on the show. Before then, I was only familiar with the soundtrack. I didn’t know what the costumes or set looked like, nor had I realized there would be plotlines and plot twists not revealed within the music. I had been especially distressed over Glinda’s stage persona, as she had always been my favorite of the two witches. Behind the emerald curtain of the score was a mean, jealous school girl, not the nice, popular girl I had assumed she was. 

But one thing did stay the same after seeing the musical on Broadway: I disliked Fiyero for his arrogance and arguable infidelity. 

Seeing the movie at 20 years old then gave me another new perspective on “Wicked.” I went to the movie theater with my grandparents and sister again, but also my mom, aunt and cousin — a full family affair dressed only in green, black and pink. I was elated to see the incredibly talented, Tony Award-winning Cynthia Erivo play the difficult yet paramount role of Elphaba, the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West, and I was also curious to see if Ariana Grande would fully immerse herself in Glinda and keep her pop star image from slipping out. Both actors defied the gravity of my expectations. Erivo captured the strong-willed morality of Elphaba, risking everything for what she believes in, and used her experience as a Black woman to elevate her performance, comparing the prejudice Elphaba faces because of her green skin to racism in real-world society. And Grande went back to her musical theatre roots, capturing the blissful ditziness of Glinda and the complexity of her need to be liked that clashes with her knowledge of what is truly right. Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, the original Elphaba and Glinda on Broadway, even made a cameo which, of course, made me cry, even if it had been a little over the top with Menzel doing her iconic “Defying Gravity” battle cry. Naturally, I was brought to tears many more times during the movie.

But it wasn’t the same fun yet empowering musical I remembered from my childhood. 

Art always has a curtain that its true meaning hides behind, however obvious it may be. “Wicked” is no different. Although the movie came out on Thanksgiving to pay homage to “The Wizard of Oz,” which is always aired on television that day, it came out a few weeks after the presidential election in which the man elected promised to legislate against certain marginalized groups of people. The plotline of the animals being alienated from Ozian society is relevant to the world we live in today, in the year 2025. Although the animals in Oz could speak, were educated and intelligent, they were pushed out of society by the government. The Wizard began manipulating his citizens to fear the animals as if they posed a threat to their safety. This can directly compare to our own present society, where minorities are being ostracized, some even physically forced out of the country. Thus, this movie is relevant in teaching the importance of empathy to marginalized communities who stand to lose much. 

The “Wicked” movie that came out in November of 2024 was only the first part. “Wicked: For Good” will come out this November, and I’m excited to see all the new additions they make to the musical, as Erivo is said to have written an original song to elongate the second act. But it’s worth noting that this second part will come out just over a year after President Donald Trump was elected. This coming November, we’ll watch as more minorities are stripped of their rights, both on the screen and in our reality. In the Broadway show, the animal plotline succumbs to silence. There’s no resolution, no fight. I hope that in “Wicked: For Good,” they’ll address this plot hole and work towards a resolution. Hopefully, we will be able to gain inspiration to not succumb to silence ourselves.