Wicked: On Oz & Othering
If you haven’t watched Wicked: Part 1 don’t read any further — go watch the movie first so you can read this without it becoming confusifying.
The movie begins with propaganda and a puddle.
The poster lies on the ground: “Our Wizard Declares!” “Enemy of the People.” A scowling green witch hunched over. Then, we are transported somewhere over the rainbow into a field of tulips, children running and singing, “Good News! The Witch! She’s Dead!”
More signs flash before us: “Stop the Wicked Witch!” “Protect your Children!” The mood is jubilant. The people are singing of the death of someone they deemed to be the enemy. The people are united not by what they love, but by what they fear.
Then a question arises, curiosity still living in the mind of a child: “Why does wickedness happen?”
Glinda answers with more questions, “Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?”
Through these questions, we are transported from propaganda into personhood, and that is where the truth always comes spilling out, in all its beauty, connection, and complexity. This is true in the land of Oz and in the landscape of modern-day America.
The question is - who benefits from the fear?
In Oz, the Wizard trades in fear to maintain his illusion of power. “The best way to bring folks together,” he says, “is to give them a real good enemy.” Elphaba, who dares to shine light on the realities facing the animals, becomes the “Wicked Witch”. Meanwhile, harm to the most vulnerable endures in the shadows as the Wizard stirs fear and creates division.
In our world, we see the same spell cast again. A recent White House video shows border agents heavily armed, accompanied by a Bible verse: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1. The caption, addressed to “every criminal illegal alien in America” and declares that they “represent an existential threat” and that Border Patrol will “hunt them down.”
The language of control, dominance, and fear mirrors the Wizard’s tactics.The repetition of the words “criminal” and “illegal” functions like the label of “witch” in Oz – controlling the narrative, stripping humanity, and manufacturing fear.
In Oz, those in power make a scapegoat of the animals, and then shift the blame yet again to the one with eyes to see the truth and the courage to seek justice. The Wizard tries to silence and erase all the beauty and community that animals brought to Oz by diminishing their presence in everything from history to representation in the education system itself.
Animals gather together in secret to protect each other from the harms on the horizon, whispering, “Something bad is happening in Oz.” Every day, we hear echoes of the same cry in our streets.
In our world, immigrant neighbors are pushed into the shadows, caring for each other in this dark night of the soul.
However, solidarity will cost you something.
The empire – be it the Emerald City or D.C. – gives people “circuses” to numb them into disillusionment with excess.
And so the story repeats,
Make their neighbors enemies.
Call them invaders or illegals.
Those who contribute so much to society, make them invisible.
Disappear them in the night, or in the broad daylight with a crowd.
Scare them away “voluntary deportation” or “lock them up”.
In the Ozdust ballroom, we catch a vision of what could have been the future of Oz - animals playing music, people connecting across differences, and the genuine joy that comes from vulnerability and acceptance.
People expect greatness to come from someone who fits a certain mold. But glory and beauty often arrives from beyond our narrow expectations. Our world is full of magic and wonder, but so often we are too blinded by greed and power to notice it. We label differences as dangerous, call holy image-bearers “illegal”, and sow fear where curiosity should be cultivated.
Ephaba proclaims, “You have no real power!” and writes across the sky for all to see: “our wizard lies”. And this is all true, it is all an illusion.
When Elphaba was no longer useful to those in power, they turned her into the villain. She came to the curtain of power to advocate for those caged and silenced, only to find out that they wanted to use her magic for domination. They keep up the facade of magic, but have none.
The image of God, the goodness of God, is right in front of us —
and we destroy, cage, and kill.
So tell me, who is wicked now?
At the end of Wicked, Ephaba sings:
“Something has changed within me, something’s not the same, I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game”
I hope this will be true for all of us as we wake up to the reality of what this administration is seeking to normalize.
Now that you see how the powers that be love to give people “a real good enemy” how will you move forward? Will you take to the skies or will you stay in the system itself unable to let go of the allure of the illusion?
May ICE melt into a puddle, along with the propaganda.
May the people take to the skies and tell the whole truth, full of justice.
Written by Brooklyn Stephens, our Community Engagement Manager at We Choose Welcome. If you would like to connect with us about contributing poems or essays for our blog or social media, please fill out this interest form.
