Credit: Universal Studios
Film
“I loved Wicked as a kid – and the film made me more nostalgic for the past than ever”
By Meg Walters
3 months ago
4 min read
A childhood Wicked fanatic on the highs and lows of seeing the film adaptation.
When I was 12, I made a flimsy Wicked book out of sheets of paper and flyers I had found during a holiday. I spent days painstakingly filling this book with every single lyric from memory. I suppose I wanted something that was mine. Something that I could look at and hold and keep forever. Something that would externalise the pure, all-encompassing love I felt for this musical.
And that’s not all. I also cut up a poster from a magazine and made a makeshift cover for my first phone (a chunky little Nokia flip, to be precise). And, of course, on every family car journey, I begged my parents to put on the soundtrack so that my sister and I could belt out the songs just one more time.
When I finally saw the show in 2006, I did some internet sleuthing afterwards (I was very ahead of my time), found the email address of the understudy who had played Glinda and sent her a giddy message about how the performance had changed my life. And, of course, I spent months on end wishing and praying for a film adaptation.
Credit: Getty
Why did I love Wicked so much? Probably for the same reasons as so many other preteens who felt the same way. The story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy’s house fell from the sky enchanted me. I loved the magic of Shiz University. I loved the incredible music by Stephen Schwartz. But most of all, I loved the tender story of two unlikely friends. Few musicals have captured the profundity of young female friendships quite like it.
I loved the tender story of two unlikely friends
As I sat in the cinema last night for a press screening of the new film, two entire decades years later, all of these memories ran through my head in a blur. I looked at the little girl sitting in front of me, clearly completely giddy with excitement, and I realised I felt completely disconnected from the obsessive, passionate girl I had once been. Of course, part of me was utterly thrilled to be there. Wicked was finally a real movie; it was my dream come true! But there was another part of me, niggling away in the background of my mind, telling me to reign that excitement in. After all, like everyone else, I was exhausted by the film’s maximalist marketing campaign. I had seen all of the tweets about the desaturated colour grading. I had rolled my eyes along with the rest of the world at the over-the-top method dressing and endless tears from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo throughout their press tour. Could I really enjoy this corporate, glossy version of Wicked knowing all that I knew?
![Wicked](https://d1rig8ldkblbsy.cloudfront.net/app/uploads/2024/11/2551_d133_00142r-min.jpg)
Wicked really did work its magic on me
Yet, the film surprised me: it is a great adaptation of the stage show I had once adored so much. As I heard the familiar crash of those opening chords, the sceptical, snarky voice in my head got a little quieter. Grande, as it turns out, is actually a pretty hilarious and assured Glinda, who captures both the poise and clownery of the beloved blonde. Erivo is a powerful, soulful Elphaba. The sets are beautiful, detailed constructions that draw inspiration from the trademark steampunk gears of the theatrical production. Perhaps most crucially, not a single word or note is cut from the score (although quite a few are added) – a notable rarity in the world of musical film adaptations. Evidently, this film was made by people who had a real reverence for their source material.
Of course, the grown-up film critic in me, the one who lives in the same place as that inner snarky voice, saw the flaws. The added dialogue sometimes chops up the showstopping numbers in a way that means they lose a little of their impact. Some of the choreography felt just a little too TikTok-y. The lighting during Dancing Through Life is, well… it’s a shame. Certain scenes that were pulled straight from the stage show don’t make much logical sense and could have been successfully tweaked in a film version. The insertion of a final Tom Cruise-esque action sequence was totally unnecessary.
Credit: Universal Studios
But despite all of that, there were moments as I watched the film when that critical voice simply fell away – moments when I almost felt myself returning to that little girl, with all of her youthful enthusiasm and unquestioning acceptance.
Of course, when the film ended, she was gone again, and as I left the cinema, I felt the return of the reality of the world like a slap in the face. After all, I grew up and grew out of that kind of pure passion – and as the witches of Oz would say, I’ve been changed, for good. But for a few short moments, Wicked really did work its magic on me.
Images: Universal Studios; Getty
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