Is ‘Wicked’ an allegory for the presidential election? Why it’s resonating with Black women.
Nikai Mitchell paid over $100 to see the “Wicked” movie four times since the film’s release on Nov. 22.
Initially, Mitchell, who had never seen a stage production of the Broadway musical, was drawn to see the film because of Ariana Grande, one of her favorite musical artists.
Decked out in hot pink fur bucket hat, a bright pink top, forest green cardigan and a curated makeup look, she strutted into a Holly Springs, N.C., AMC theater expecting to watch a lighthearted story about friendship and sisterhood.
But, on premiere night, she found herself “crying uncontrollably” while watching a green-skinned young woman grapple with being ostracized for her appearance, power and desire to advocate for others.
“I remember sitting in the theater and being in such a deep emotional state that I had never felt in my entire life when I first watched it,” said Mitchell, 22. “I felt really seen.”
For Mitchell, the story’s underlying narratives about racism, discrimination and privilege directly parallel her own upbringing as a young Black woman − sentiments she’s felt more dramatically since the 2024 presidential race.
Get the Daily Briefingnewsletter in your inbox.
The day's top stories, from sports to movies to politics to world events.
Delivery: Daily
Your Email
“Growing up, I went to a private Christian school in the South. It was all white, and I was friends with a lot of Glindas, people who in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd abandoned our friendship because I spoke too loud and my voice was just a little too distinctive and a little too sharp for their ears at the moment,” she said.
Since Jon Chu’s adaptation of “Wicked” hit the big screen, perspectives like Mitchell’s can be easily found across social media. Black "Wicked” fans have posted thousands of videos and photos to express their appreciation for the film’s nuanced presentation of Elphaba, a young Wicked Witch of the West, and her fight against political leaders who seek to divide people based on their physical appearance and class.
In TikTok videos, Mitchell and other Black “Wicked” fans point to characters like the Wizard of Oz and Madame Morrible as reflections of the 2024 Republican Party. Many say the characters’ rhetoric echoes statements made by incoming President Donald Trump.
Chu said in an interview with NBC News that when the story landed on his desk during the pandemic it felt “prophetic.”
“How does [the story] know that we’re going through this, where we’re questioning all the stories of America, of the world,” he said. “Who’s in control? What does a hero look like? What does a villain look like?”
'This is an allegory for what Black women deal with all of the time’
With Cynthia Erivo, a Black actress, in the film’s leading role, many “Wicked” viewers say the movie more effectively conveys its central plotlines about identity and marginalization and closely mimics viewers’ personal experiences of exclusion, self-affirmation and activism.
The film, a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz," follows a young Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, as she completes courses at Shiz University alongside her enemy-turned-best friend, Galinda Upland, Glinda the Good Witch. Under the tutelage of trusted professors, Elphaba works to improve her magic while striving to eventually meet The Wizard of Oz.
In the play’s 21-year history on Broadway, only a handful of Black women have taken on the role of Elphaba as standbys and understudies. A Black woman had never been permanently cast to play the role as a principal performer, committed to Broadway’s usual schedule of eight shows per week.
When Erivo was cast, she explicitly asked the production team to include elements of Black culture and styling into Elphaba's costuming, from braided hair to full sets of manicured nails.
"We wanted to keep that as a nod to Black women to remind them that they can do and be anything and should still be accepted for who they are,” Erivo's nail technician, Shea Osei told Elle.
Saycon Sengbloh, the first Black actress to portray Elphaba on Broadway, told USA TODAY seeing Erivo's performance reminded her why the character resonated with her nearly two decades ago.
“Having grown up in a dual household of an immigrant dad and American mom, there was always some kind of othering happening to me,” she said.
Like Elphaba, Sengbloh said she grew up being teased and bullied for having a unique name and looking different than her peers, but she said she found her power by embracing those differences.
“I think maybe I was designed for it and ready to perform that role of Elphaba,” she added.
She believes Black audience members and people from underrepresented communities connect with the character because they have had to squash or suppress aspects of their identity to make other people feel comfortable.
Grace Fell, a 25-year-old Chicago native, recalls seeing trailers for Wicked's national tour on TV for years but said the racial and political allusions in the plot never came across.
For Fell, elements of relatability came through both costuming and styling choices like Elphaba’s microbraids, a common hairstyle for Black women, and the film’s political undertones.
In one scene in the film, after a large group of students gossip and gasp about Elphaba’s green skin, Galinda (Grande) offers to help fix Elphaba’s “problem” by changing her skin color with magic. Shortly after, Bowen Yang’s character Pfanee remarks “I don’t see color.”
“She had the braids, she had the baby hair swoop, she had the half up-half down. She had all of it,” Fell said. “That is still a Black woman, and you could tell, just her having those braids reminded us of the fact that this is an allegory for what Black women deal with all of the time.”
Black viewers like Fell paralleled the experience to being told that they must straighten their hair or abandon certain types of clothing to look more respectable or appropriate.
Throughout the film, Elphaba is called “disgusting” and “vile.” Despite her efforts to gain the acceptance of her peers, professors and The Wizard, her outspoken criticisms of new Ozian laws that strip the rights of animals place a target on her back.
Fell feels that the storyline parallels a long history of Black women leading activist efforts like Black Lives Matter, the Suffrage movement and Me Too while not being granted allyship or support for their individual struggles.
“(Black women) are only given platforms when the powers that be can extract value from them, or they can extract capital from them, and that's ultimately the only reason why they decided to help Elphaba is because they're like, ‘Oh, well, she can provide value to us,’” Fell said.
At the center of the film’s narrative is a message presented by the magicless Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) who attempt to convince Elphaba to use her magic to further isolate and exclude animals from the human world.
"Where I come from, everyone knows the best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy," The Wizard, a character who hails from Omaha, Nebraska, tells Elphaba.
'Allow it to be that deep'
Horace Gold, a TikTok creator and actor, said that as a longtime fan of the musical, watching Erivo and Grande reimagine the roles reframed his entire understanding of the story.
“With no shade or assumption of nefarious intention, I had this experience watching it with Cynthia playing Elphaba, where I felt as though I had experienced retroactive blackface with all of the years of white women playing Elphaba,” Gold said.
Gold also praised Grande for accurately presenting the evolution of Glinda, a “selfish, self-promoting, self-aggrandizing person” who attaches herself to Elphaba when she has the chance to be seen as good.
Though Glinda ultimately chooses to align herself with the Wizard to avoid leaving the comfort of a privileged and powerful life, Elphaba’s attempts to empower and educate her are similar to Black women’s attempts to welcome and guide non-Black people into progressive and inclusive political movements, he said.
“I think the most real-world application that I can think of is the white women who voted for Donald Trump,” Gold added.
In 2024, exit polls revealed that 53% of white women supported Donald Trump while 92% of Black women supported Vice President Kamala Harris.
Ultimately, Gold was most grateful that the film can serve as a reminder to embrace diversity, show empathy, and reject oppressive governmental structures.
“I would encourage those who want to say, ‘Oh, well, it's not that deep. It's just acting,’ to allow it to be that deep. Allow it to affect you and change your world view, because that's the beauty and the point of art is that it is supposed to expand us and help us grow and change.”
Comments