Holding space for Wicked
In this overlong, hollow, and aesthetically displeasing adaptation of the the beloved musical, there is indeed a lot of empty space to hold.
It’s the meme that’s taken the internet by storm: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, stars of the new Wicked film adaptation, sitting side-by-side as an interviewer reports, “This week people are taking the lyrics of Defying Gravity and really holding space with that, and finding power in that.”
“I didn’t know that was happening,” replies Cynthia, so moved by the nonsensical observation that she has to place a hand upon her chest.
“I’ve seen it, yeah,” simpers the interviewer.
“That’s… really powerful,” stutters Cynthia. “That’s what I wanted.”
Ariana, watching tearfully, takes Cynthia’s finger (not her hand, just the finger).
Ariana and Cynthia act like the interviewer has asked them something profound, when really it’s meaningless, overly emotional twaddle (‘holding space for the lyrics’ - I’ve lost sleep wondering what on earth she was trying to say here).
However, this is much more than just a funny meme; it’s a perfect example of synecdoche. This silly little moment actually encapsulates the greater failings of the Wicked film project overall.
(No, I’m not reaching.)
I first saw Wicked aged twelve for a friend’s birthday. So overawed by what I’d seen, I spent months listening to the soundtrack on repeat and fantasising about playing Glinda myself (sadly, my atrocious vocal range killed this dream pretty quickly).
The chronically online are treating the Wicked movie as a masterpiece of cinema, worthy of Oscar nominations. Being a former fan of the original musical, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the film. But those praising Wicked to the skies are forgetting that the ideal audience for the material is in fact twelve year olds like my younger self.
Defying Gravity is a modern musical theatre classic. But is it that deep, really? Are any of the themes in Wicked? The internet has rightly mocked Cynthia and Ariana for behaving weirdly in every press interview they do, with even the most mundane questions about their time filming the project causing them to break down into tears. While it might have been a revelatory experience for them, Wicked is a story about a green woman who befriends another woman and becomes evil because of society or something. Its extremely vague message is that friendship is magic and discrimination is bad.
While I don’t want to take away from people who have found inspiration in the story of Glinda and Elphaba, you can find more nuanced discussions of these themes in episodes of Bluey, for crying out loud.
There’s something arrogant and delusional about the decision to split the Wicked film adaptation into two parts (for this is actually Wicked: Part One, although the marketing team don’t want you to know it). Part One is over two and a half hours long: you could watch the whole original musical in this time! Is this fairly light-hearted, simple tale about the early days of the so-called Wicked Witch of the West really so important that it requires a full five hours of screen time?
No, it doesn’t, and Part One suffers because of it. The Wicked musical’s fundamental shallowness is far less obvious on stage because the show leaps from musical number to musical number and location to location at an electric pace. To extend the runtime of the first film, big set pieces such as Dancing Through Life and Defying Gravity are frequently interrupted by unnecessary dialogue and drawn-out moments, thus killing the momentum and exposing the fragility of the whole premise.
The Wicked film draws heavily from the bold visual language of the musical, yet somehow manages to look completely bland. Although the movie’s marketing centred the rivalling colours of Elphaba green and Glinda pink, the cinematographer must have fallen asleep on set as the film is shot in an ironically colourless palette and with disgustingly low saturation. For a production that borrows so much of its style from the 1939 Wizard of Oz film - the first to be shot in technicolour - it is something of a disgrace that on screen Glinda’s pink outfits are nothing but a dull, watery rose, and Elphaba’s famous green skin looks so pastel as to make the audience question whether Cynthia Eviro is only seasick.
Wicked the musical is high melodrama; the songs are bombastic Broadway belting and modern pop styling. With its stale visuals, the film fails to match the energy of any musical material, making its protracted runtime all the more obvious.
I would be interested to see what someone who was not familiar with the original show thinks of the adaption. I was kept engaged by comparing it to my memories of the show and singing along in my head to the songs, which I’m embarrassed to say I could still perform word-for-word. My 2hrs41 mins (not including trailers) at Vue Shepherd’s Bush was pretty good, as Friday nights go.
But is there anything here for the average filmgoer? I think not. Ariana and Cynthia are decent as the leads, but a cameo from original Broadway stars Kristen Chenoweth and Adele Dazeem completely blows them out of the water and reminds you that you could and should be watching the musical instead. The film looks ugly, it’s too long, and the clichés of the storyline fail to justify its protracted runtime.
Maybe ‘holding space’ is actually the perfect term to use when engaging with the Wicked film: it's a hollow production lacking style and substance, a great, bland, pastel pink-and-green Easter egg. There’s a lot of empty space to hold.
Leaving some space at the end of this article so we can all hold the lyrics for Defying Gravity and find power in that together <33333 :
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(I promise at some point I will review something on this blog positively. That day was not today.)