Is Watching Wicked All That Wicked?

Last week I shared a The Gospel Coalition article by Brett McCracken, about the movie Wicked, and how its theme is counter to the gospel framework.  I thought it was a good piece by Brett.  But I did get some pushback from some well-thought out Christians, including a friend, Amy, who we did church with in the UK back in 2006-07. Amy is also an English teacher, and has a hubby and young family. She has read a lot of texts – both ancient and modern. She’s well thought out theologically, has a good grasp of culture, and her contention was that Brett was over-egging the cake a little. So I asked her to respond with a guest blog post.  Here’s Amy’s piece; it’s a good read, and a considered response, that takes McCracken’s piece seriously, while arguing it’s possible to enjoy the movie lightly.

Have a read. Let me know what you think.

It’s Time To Try…Enjoying Musicals

Wicked Grosses Big

In a fact which won’t surprise anyone who has spent many moments in the last ten years singing ‘The Wizard and I’ at top volume in the car (surely not just me?), ‘Wicked’ is projected to become the highest grossing Broadway musical-to-film in the UK and North America.

Social media is full of memes, reels and reviews about the film: the phenomenal live singing of the two lead actresses, their inability to stop crying in all of their press interviews, the beauty of the sets and the impressive dance numbers that took weeks to choreograph.

It’s clear that millions of its viewers, so many of them self-confessed ‘theatre kids’ who have waited twenty years for the arrival of this film onto the big screen, are fully invested in its history, its plot, its characterisation, and the emotionally-driven songs.

Joy To The World?

One thing is very evident: it has brought a huge number of people a great deal of joy.

But there’s another camp: those who want to critique the film by highlighting how it perpetuates an all-too permissive view of evil and, in the case of Christian reviewers, sin.

Elphaba, once known only as the Wicked Witch of the West, now has her own much more sympathetic back-story, and this is troubling for some. How can we truly enjoy a film that portrays a ‘wicked’ character in such a morally vague manner, they ask? 

Brett McCracken’s review of the film and its narrative is one such piece. I read his article the evening before I went to watch ‘Wicked’ here in the UK, with my eight year old daughter and some friends from church.

And while I absolutely agreed with some of his commentary, I was left with two questions:

What’s the right balance for us between critique and enjoyment with something such as ‘Wicked’? And, can we realistically expect a secular story to adhere to a narrative of Biblical truth? 

As a secondary school English teacher, I’ve spent almost two decades helping students to ‘read between the lines’. (“But, Miss, does it really matter that Othello’s handkerchief has strawberries on it?!”) So, I like to think I  know a thing or two about critiquing a narrative.

There’s no doubt that many of the messages in ‘Wicked’ are exactly as McCracken outlines. Take, for instance, his comment that our post Christian world reframes ‘virtue and vice.

A Familiar Narratival Arc

To be radically autonomous, fiercely whoever you want to be: this is high virtue.’ The examples of this in the culture today are too many to number, and ‘Wicked’ most certainly retains this as one of its central themes. 

But I have to wonder whether ‘Wicked’ is the first narrative to do this. Those criticising the film through this lens start to falter when we look back and see that the world has a long-running fixation with villains in all their forms.

Iago in Othello. Hannibal Lecter. Darth Vader. Rebecca’s Mrs Danvers. Lady Macbeth. Indeed, some of these have already been given their own backstory in other subsequent literature and film.

And this is hardly surprising: the world is searching for answers. People want to know why evil happens, and why people do bad things.

It isn’t just ‘Wicked’ that offers an unsatisfactory answer to this question and swerves the truth of sin. Literature and film have explored this issue as their bread and butter. They’ve just never given us an adequate answer.

My main concern with McCracken’s perspective was his seeming determination to find meaning, and ideology, where many simply wouldn’t pinpoint it.

Centrally, he asserts that it’s ‘intentional that Elphaba is played in the film by a queer, black woman (Erivo).’ This, to anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Erivo sing live (as I did in the West End a decade ago) seems just disingenuous.

Erivo’s voice, and her ability to relay the vulnerability of Elphaba’s character, is one of the great joys and successes of the film.  

Sucking Out the Joy?

And that’s my main point – really. The film is joyous.  As I expected, I loved ‘Wicked’. As a huge musical theatre fan and someone who minored in and, for a while, taught Drama, you could argue that this is hardly surprising.

But it’s difficult for anyone to overlook the talent of Grande and Erivo. Their on-screen chemistry as bitter rivals who form a deep friendship is deeply moving. The choreography and ensemble numbers are magnificent. It’s visually stunning. Grande and Erivo’s voices are powerful and emotive. 

So, is it too much of a stretch to believe that ‘Wicked’s’ hordes of fans might not have been enticed to movie theatres purely by its supposedly post-Christian ideology? The original novel ‘Wicked ‘was, after all, written nearly thirty years ago.

As Christians, we need to be careful about assuming intentions and motivations that aren’t there. God is not a cosmic killjoy, and neither should we represent him as such by critiquing what is arguably a joyful and beautifully produced musical. 

When we expect secular literature, TV and film to have the answers to the question of what sin is, and what the remedy is, we are always going to be sorely disappointed.

It’s much too big a burden to place on a film – even a record breaking one. In seeking to critique our post-Christian culture, let’s not forget that the world, as it watches ‘Wicked’ and sings its songs in theatres, or identifies with its characters, is really looking for joy. 

Living as Christians in a post-Christian world, we have to take care not to alienate post-Christian adherents by appearing to determinedly suck all of the joy out of things that are ostensibly harmless fun, and that bring great enjoyment to others. 

The world is looking for joy. Right now, some are finding it in ‘Wicked’. So, sure, let’s be aware of its post-Christian ideology. But let’s not throw ourselves headlong into a moral panic over a musical, and lose sight of the fact that we know where real joy can be found – and let’s do better at sharing this real, meaningful source of joy with people. 

Amy