If nothing else, I'm sure that the Wiked film has introduced interest in history and mythology of Oz to a new generations of readers, that have been a constant through generations in my family. In fact, I obtained an early job post university due to my understanding of book collection of this series. It began in my father's childhood, and his family's collection of books which were split. The result was we spent our childhood hunting in flea markets and antiquaariate shops for good deals, and early additions, to fill the holes in our collection. Long before Wiked was even the first thuoght in the mind of the Gregory Macguire let alone Winnie Holzman. It was my Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia.
A friend first told me she had read the book Wicked twenty years ago, so I bought a copy and could not read past the first chapter. I did not like the book at all. My father, however, was able to finish it. It was that conversation that became interesting when I called him after seeing the film. The film is the only rendition of Wicked I have finished to completion.
However, the film turned out to be interesting to me, because it introduced some history or mythology to the Oz world that at least fit into what happens later in the timeline laid out by the original author. What were the differences that my father and I found between book and film? *Spoilers Ahead* if there's anyone who really does not know what happens in this story.
For me I knew in the original story there were four quarters of Oz, each overseen by a "Witch." The Witches of the East and West were said to be bad, and the Witches of North and South were thought to be good, of which Glinda "the Good" ruled the South. There was not an explanation of why or how that was the structure at the time.
My father said in the book, the "hero" i.e. the Prince appeared in the last line hinting very clearly that he was gay. That was one difference in the film where it's suggested maybe he and Elphaba might have chemistry and wonder if they might get together, but this issue is unresolved. The end focused solely on Elphaba's transformation and "freedom" from expectations to support people with an agenda who wanted to manipulate her abilities to exert power and control over others. And they control the narrative that she is "wicked" because she is opposed to supporting their "order" of things which are built on lies. In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy discovers the Wizard to be a "Humbug" devoid of any magical talent, and in the Wicked film, it proposes that Elphaba was the one to discover this earlier. I certainly identified with the end, and the dilemma she discusses with Glinda no longer being able to want her previous ambtious goals if it compromised her principles, and facing a smear campaign to discredit her. Something I've faced a number of time in my life and career, personally and professionally.
The central conflict of the film revolved around the speaking abimals of Oz previously having all rights and careers in society, being stripped away. At the end, the Wizard reveals this is a method to unite people against a common enemy by "othering" the animals and prohibiting them from partcipating in society. In the film, they propose that Elphaba's "proof of magic" test was to be the one to create the flying monkeys we meet in the Wizard of Oz narrative. As my father said, it is a different story than the book.
The theories introduced which I found most interesting revolved around the "history of Oz" show - referencing previous magical rulers, and a prophecy that a ruler would return who could access their magical leadership and rule. This involved an artifact of a magical book. The history was appropriated by the Wizard who arrived in a balloon. Why is this mythology interesting and how does it connect to the actual original history written by Baum?
Few people realize there is an entire series about Oz, despite the beloved Wizard of Oz being read by many. The later events tell a history that the rightful magical ruler (who looks somewhat like the representation of former rules in the play), was hidden by the Wizard with the Witch of the North - on of the "good" wizards named Mombi. Glinda becomes the one who discovers this after the departure of the Wizard, and forces Mombi to release Ozma, who has been tranformed into a boy. Yes, Oz had genderbending over 100 years ago. The history of Ozma varies throughout the stories, but she is stated to be immortal, and her age unknown.
None of these detais were contained in the book version of Wicked, and therefore, I could at least appreciate that the film made more of an effort to pay more respect to the original events outlined in the worldbuilding of the Oz creator L. Frank Baum.
Comments