The new film ‘Wicked’ takes the story we are all familiar with and asks what happened in Oz before Dorothy arrived

The new film “Wicked” ( 2024 ) takes the story we are all familiar with and asks what happened in Oz before Dorothy arrived.

Jeff Goldblum ’s Wizard oscillates between a P.T. Barnum figure and a dictator with Morrible at his side.

The people of Oz accept it because they’ve already been living in a society that has kept them artificially happy.

In the final song, “ Defying Gravity ,” Elphaba sings that if she’s “flying solo, then “at least, [she's] flying free.” The Good Witch Glinda turns out to be morally weak. Unlike Glinda , Glinda has no sense of true justice and does not speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.