Wicked’s Real Theme is … Wicked

In the movie theaters, everyone pulls for Elphaba. In the Real World, almost everyone religiously follows the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The official movie poster for Wicked proclaims: “You will be changed for good.” I hate to rain on the Yellow Brick Road, but nobody is going to be changed for good … and the Wizard himself tells us WHY this is so.

We will be changed for good or good will surely prevail, according to the film’s marketing.

Since Troy, Alabama no longer has a movie theater (thanks Covid response), our family travelled 35 miles to Enterprise Friday to see the opening-night showing of Wicked: For Good.

The movie was sold out and will clearly be a smash hit, just like the first installment, as well as the Broadway show and, before that, the book by Gregory Maguire that flipped the entire “Wizard of Oz” story on its head.

For those who might not be aware, in the much-more-believable “re-imagined” tale, the Wicked Witch of the West is actually the best and bravest person in Oz, not an all-time, despicable villain.

The “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (and the Deep State powers who control him) is a brazen liar and scam artist who uses non-stop propaganda to control the people and animals of Oz and bring about an authoritarian or fascist regime.

The pivotal scene in the denouement of the Wicked series is when Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard character admits to Elphaba (The alleged “Wicked Witch”) that he is a fraud and states confidently why Elphaba’s plot to expose him as a liar won’t be successful.

As even Google AI correctly summarizes:

“The Wizard tells Elphaba he won’t be exposed because the people of Oz do not want to believe he is a fraud. He understands that their desire for a powerful, wonderful leader is stronger than their desire for the truth.”

The Wizard tells Elphaba:

“I could tell them that I’ve been lying to them till I’m — forgive me, blue in the face — but it wouldn’t make any difference. They’re never going to stop believing in me. You know why? Because they don’t want to”.

This, potentially, is powerful drama

On multiple levels, this scene delivers a powerful message (aka “the truth”), a truth that to myself, is obviously germane to our New Abnormal times.

Alas, just like the Wizard predicted, the masses who have made Wicked one of the most popular movies in years are completely oblivious to the fact the writers are (inadvertently?) explaining or describing our own wicked times.

In the two Wicked movies, the Wizard - and his behind-the-curtains accomplice Madame Morrible - use a coordinated, multi-faceted propaganda campaign to denigrate and vilify Elphaba, who the public quickly perceives as the most wicked creature in Oz.

The same two characters also launch a program to round up, force into exile and literally silence all the talking animals of Oz. The main talking animal character is a college professor goat named Dr. Dillamond, who is supposed to symbolize the importance of academic freedom, the Socratic Method and the importance of teaching accurate history.

Elphaba is apparently the only student of Dr. Dillamond (and the only citizen of Oz) who realizes the Wizard is not wonderful and is, in fact, quite wicked.

Presumably, audiences respond positively to Elphaba’s lonely heroism, probably because they understand the analogy to Jews in the Nazi years or, perhaps, African Americans in the years of slavery and segregation.

But nobody thinks about the wizards who gave us Covid and the Wizards’ response to Covid ….

However, when I watch the Wicked films (and recall the themes of the book), I instantly think of Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden, the governor of my state of Alabama and every “leader” in society who participated in a conspiracy to punish, silence, intimidate and vilify every person who questioned any part of the authorized Covid narrative.

The difference between Wicked’s fictional story line and Covid reality is that no key academics or leaders ever questioned or fought the effort to denigrate and expose the scams of our own “wizards” (alleged experts and benevolent authorities.) Or … the similarity is that those who did try to perform this dissident role received the same treatment as Dr. Dillamond and Elphaba.

Regarding “Covid” and the real world, 85 percent of the population was easily manipulated by our own trusted Wizards, with many enthusiastically assuming the “mob” role depicted in Wizard: For Good.

(In one musical scene, the “good” citizens of Oz are depicted organizing into an irate mob and following and egging on Dorothy and the (evil) Tin Man as they embark on their quest to kill the Wicked Witch of the West (the one person who was trying to save and protect the people of Oz).

In prior scenes, the writers explicitly show audiences how the Wizard and Madame Morrible easily manipulated them into embracing the State’s authorized narrative.

This was accomplished by mass propaganda, including a rain of newspaper stories quantifying Elphaba’s alleged wicked ways. Posters on every street corner further educated those who might have missed the non-stop press blitz.

Still, like the wicked outcast cohort of “Covid Contrarians,” Elphaba persists in her efforts to show the people of Oz that their “wonderful” wizard is actually an evil “liar.”

In one scene, using chem-trails from her magic broom stick, Elphaba even spells out in the sky, “The Wizard is a Liar.”

Alas, seconds after she produces this dissident sky graffiti, the message is changed by Madame Morrible’s magic to “Oz must die.”

On the surface level, it appears that film-makers are trying to tell us that not only are society’s trusted wizards master liars, but the people who try to alert citizens to this truth will be branded and smeared as evil villains - i.e. “science deniers,” “Grandma killers” and “anti-vaxxers” - people who should be discriminated against (Cue Jimmy Kimmel joking about emergency medical services being denied to anti-vaxxers).

***

When I watched “Wicked,” I imagined Elphaba as being a character not unlike, say. RFK, Jr., who was and still is vilified as a wicked person who must be eliminated or whose messages should be ignored.

Maybe I wrong, but I suspect millions of citizens who were told they would lose their jobs if they refused to get “vaccines” (and follow the Wonderful Wizard’s dictates) can clearly relate to the fleeing and caged talking animals of Oz.

While tens of millions of citizens on the Left and the Right cheer the “Good” Message of Wicked, it takes an obscure Substack author like myself to remind them that no important or powerful person on planet earth ever defended the contrarian minority who were also screaming, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a Liar!”

Still, I appreciate script writers including the scene that explained to citizens why they are eager to support evil and lying authorities or Wizards:

To again quote the Wizard, a former carney who fully understands the key elements of human nature: “They’re never going to stop believing in me … Because they don’t want to”.

As Google AI tells us, (The Wizard) “understands that their desire for a powerful, wonderful leader is stronger than their desire for the truth.”

So, while movie-goers pull for Elphaba in film treatments, they didn’t or won’t do this in real life. They’ll continue to believe in and follow the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Indeed, I’m not going award film-makers any kind of Oscar for telling the public painful truths.

I’m not going to do this because I know that everyone in Hollywood went along with the real wizards of the world during Covid. They supported the “Wizards’” efforts to vilify, silence and discriminate against people like myself … and would do this again in a heartbeat.

That is, in all the promotional interviews being conducted to promote this movie, no cast member, director or producer is going to say anything like …

“This film is actually a warning about the dangers of obeying lying and evil leaders. It also shows how minority citizens can be persecuted and the public can be easily manipulated by fascist conspirators who are seeking greater control - just like what happened in Covid.”

Also, not unlike the character of the Wizard, the film producers knew they could highlight this message - but that there’s no way said message would ever resonate with 95 percent of film-goers.

That is, like the Wizard, Hollywood executives know the public is too obtuse (or cowardly) to understand the real-world relevance of the film’s message.

To my mind, the two Wicked films actually insult - or acknowledge - the public’s lack of intelligence. (That is, producers knew that nobody will figure out the film is actually mocking the gullibility of an easily-duped public). In reality, film-makers produced a film that proves or confirms this depressing aspect of human nature.

Yes, the film shows that the Wizard was wicked, but so too was everyone else in Oz, who went along with the Wizard’s programs. Except for Elphaba and her boyfriend (who is turned into a scarecrow), every citizen in Oz possessed less courage than the world’s most famous cowardly lion.

The real message of Wicked is that the masses, who don’t think of themselves as wicked, will, in fact, follow and believe wicked leaders - which is how the world gets wicked leaders in the first place. (I doubt anybody enjoying their popcorn in the film’s mob scene instantly thought, “Hey, look … that’s us.”)

An analogy that might lose me more subscribers …

In watching the movie, I also couldn’t help imagining Donald Trump as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, an all-wise leader who (almost) everyone (on the Right) will support.

For months, Wizard Trump has been calling Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wicked Republicans (“losers”) who must be ostracized from the Emerald City (Washington D.C., once known as the “swamp.”)

Why are these politicians “wicked?” Because they said and did things the wizard didn’t like. (I also now wonder who, behind the curtain, is actually making the decisions our Wizard enacts.)

Other films developed similar themes …

It also occurs to me that Hollywood has always produced excellent movies that tell similar stories.

For example, my favorite movie is Casablanca, which develops the theme that, in the eyes of the authoritarian or fascist villains, all resistance leaders are not the same.

In Casablanca, the Nazi’s made a special effort to stop “resistance” leader Victor Lazlo … because he had the charisma and leadership traits to galvanize the public and perhaps expose and defeat the resistance (just like Elphaba).

This film lesson mirrors a real-world history lesson, including a key key lesson from Covid - namely, all resistance figures are not equal. Wizards and their allies will always target figures who are perceived as the greatest threat to their continued rule.

In Three Days of the Condor, film audiences learned that even when a brave whistleblower takes a “thermo-nuclear” truth bomb to The New York Times … the paper of record is (almost certainly) not going to publish the story.

In High Noon, film-goers learned that everyone who said they would help out the film’s hero when he needed it most … will abandon him at the “moment of truth.”

The Bridge on the River Kwai reminds film-goers that even leaders of the Good Guys can be persuaded to assist the enemy.

In Star Wars, Luke and Hans Solo join the resistance to fight an evil empire and everybody pulls for them to defeat the Evil Emperor and Darth Vader. However, in the real world George Lucas and Mark Hamill were vaxxed and no doubt joined the chorus attacking anyone who was resisting Big Brother and standing up for real freedom (just like, I’m sure was the case with the cast from Wicked).

Another film that resonates with me is Aliens, where we learn that the evil Establishment character doesn’t want to eradicate the aliens, he wants to bring them back to earth where their lethal power can be studied and converted into weapons.

Here’s the key lesson …

In the Real World - in every important organization - it’s simply safer to support or go along with the mandates imposed by authorities, who are deemed wise, all-knowing and wonderful public servants and leaders.

The Ephalba’s of the world are going to be demonized as “wicked” and everyone will be taught these citizens are spreaders of dangerous disinformation and are “threats” to “democracy” and freedom.

The reason this Wicked film has the sub-title “For Good” is film-makers are trying to make us feel better about the world because “Glinda The Good” is supposedly going to end up doing good works and defeat all wicked leaders.

That is, the right character belatedly had the right epiphany and will now spread truth throughout the land.

Which, I guess, is possible in Hollywood scripts in the fictional Land of Oz … But not in the real world in Kansas.

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