Happy Halloween Readers,
I have already posted a review of
Wicked for Halloween
back in 2018. With the movie release just around the corner on the 22 November I
had to reread the book. Also please DO NOT buy this book for child as it covers
some harsh topics, I know it looks nice and friendly with the movie tie in cover
but please don’t be fooled.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual Content, Animal Cruelty, Bullying,
Racism and Classism.
I love wicked and have done since I saw the Musical when I
was a teenager. Originally, I adored Gregory’s origin story for the “Wicked
Witch of the West” who he has named Elphaba. Stick with me on this path for a
second but I have also been fortunate to see the musical a couple of times in
the West End and I think that has slightly rose tinted my view on the book.
I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy rereading the book there
was just some bits I had clearly forgotten and was like “Oh yeah…Now I remember”.
Despite that little negative I love the origin story that that Gregory has
created for Elphaba. We all think we know the story of the “Wicked Witch of the
West” from the Wizard of Oz the Witch is a clear-cut character… She’s green, she
is evil, and she is scary.
Wicked does a splendid job of giving us a back story, as Gregory
turns this well-known story on its head it takes the evil, green, and scary
witch and turn her into a person we can like. We also get to see how poor Elphaba
has spent her whole life being followed by extremely exaggerated rumours. Instead,
we learn the misunderstandings that turns the Wicked Witch of the West from villain
into someone you can understand.
Gregory has also created layers of politics to this
magical land of Oz. Elphaba is not a scheming villain like she appears in the
Wizard of Oz here she is so much more as she is a young woman trying to find
herself and who gets caught up in an underground resistance against the
imperialist forces of Oz. It’s happened to us all at least once... right? Elphaba
soon starts to engage in acts of rebellion against the corrupt reign of the
Wizard.
This story is raw is raw and if you have only seen the musical
the truth of the source material might surprise you. I am also so excited for the film to come out after years of rumours.
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