“Wicked: For Good” is one of the most political films of the year

 - Analysis/Opinion
   by Dan Heching, CNN

Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for the new movie “Wicked: For Good.”

(CNN) — For anyone who loves “Wicked,” it’s easy to get swept up in the magic, the music and the sisterhood between the central pair of star-crossed friends at the heart of the story.

But it was also hard to ignore the first film’s political underpinnings, which shine even brighter in the follow-up “Wicked: For Good,” in theaters now.

In the first part of the cinematic adaptation by director Jon M. Chu, which was nominated for best picture at last year’s Oscars, themes of racial tension were the backdrop to the story – which imagines an origin for the Wicked Witch of the West made famous in the 1939 classic film “The Wizard of Oz,” and explores her relationship with Glinda the Good.

Woven into the premise are questions about how we embrace (or reject) those we feel are Other, as we see Glinda (Ariana Grande) first denigrate green-skinned Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) before warming to her.

Their fragile bond is tested, however, when they come to discover that the feared and respected Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) is, in fact, a grand manipulator who intends to use Elphaba to achieve his goal of silencing the enchanted animals of Oz, who are seen having their rights increasingly stripped away and losing their ability to speak. The Wizard works with Elphaba’s teacher, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), to devise propaganda throughout Oz about Elphaba, thereby bestowing on her the identity of a “wicked witch.”

The concluding chapter raises the stakes and leans hard into another scorchingly hot political topic: immigration.

In one scene, Boq (Ethan Slater) from Munchkinland goes to the train station to fulfill his desire to travel to the Emerald City and profess his love to Glinda. However, when he arrives at the station, he is horrified to learn that animals and Munchkins are restricted from traveling and require a permit to do so. The policy was orchestrated by the newly appointed Governor of Munchkinland, Nessarose Thropp (Marissa Bode), who pines for Boq.

The scene depicts dramatic, harrowing moments in which Munchkins are prevented from moving freely. Later in the film, some of Oz’s animals are seen hidden in a basement within the Wizard’s palace in Emerald City, locked away in cages.

The scenes bear an eerie resemblance to familiar images seen and stories heard from those affected by the Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Cities and regions across the country – from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Chicago – have been left on edge as immigration raids have taken place there. In Charlotte, businesses closed in the wake of federal agents descending upon the area, and more than 200 people have been arrested since what the Department of Homeland Security referred to as “Operation Charlotte’s Web” began last weekend.

The Trump administration continues to say its enforcement is targeting criminals and gang members. In June, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targets “the worst of the worst,” adding that “in President (Donald) Trump’s first 100 days, 75% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges.”

McLaughlin did not respond to a request at the time to clarify the nature of those convictions or pending charges.

Countless cases contradict the administration’s claims. Internal government documents obtained by CNN this summer showed that only 10% of migrants booked into ICE custody since October 2024 had been convicted of serious violent or sexual crimes.

A “good enemy”: In the world of Oz, the Wizard also highlights groups that he terms as unsafe, at one point saying, “The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.”

That enemy is the animals, a notion that Elphaba wholeheartedly rejects. And in “Wicked: For Good,” we see her actively intervening against the Wizard’s activities, disrupting construction on the Yellow Brick Road and attempting to spread the word that he is lying to the people of Oz and causing the animals to flee in fear, which we see them attempt to do via an underground tunnel beneath the Yellow Brick Road.

“Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel on which the films and Tony-winning Broadway musical are based, is, of course, a dark text itself.

Philip Lightstone, who served as a swing and dance captain over two runs of the official “Wicked” national touring production in the US, said he thinks the movies have benefited from having more space to show various facets of Ozian society that are described in the novel, elements that the long-running musical was never able to delve into.

In “Wicked: For Good,” the notion that political power amounts to who has the power to disseminate information – even if the truth behind said information is questionable – comes to a head.

“The backdrop really is this political, propaganda, whose truth is real, kind of thing,” Lightstone said. “Whoever’s in control gets to say what the quote-unquote truth is, what’s real.”

The weightier scenes in “For Good” will likely, in equal measure, hit home and stir some backlash, just as the first film did.

But those who take issue with the film for getting political, frankly, have greatly missed the point of the work in all its forms.

Lightstone recalled that the tour’s directorial team, led by Joe Mantello, and its choreographers, led by Wayne Cilento, would often use political events to help the company connect to what was happening on stage.

“They were always talking about connecting whatever was happening politically – even if there was something super specific, travel bans or this or that – to be able to have the cast connect with that,” said Lightstone, who toured with the show from 2006-2013 and again from 2016-2020. “People have to be able to relate to something that they understand politically for the show to work.”

The same goes for the films.

Another scene in this weekend’s “For Good” shows Elphaba standing over the hole in the Yellow Brick Road leading to the underground tunnel. It won’t be lost on many that Erivo also portrayed slave liberator and Underground Railroad figure Harriet Tubman in the 2019 Oscar-nominated film “Harriet.”

CNN has reached out to “Wicked: For Good” director Chu, along with writers Winnie Holzman, Stephen Schwartz and Maguire for comment.

Releasing just in time for award season to kick into high gear,

“One Battle After Another,” directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and already at the forefront of the Oscar conversation, follows a down-and-out former revolutionary whose daughter becomes a pawn in a conflict with a demented, racist old foe tied to a nefarious underground network. Other buzzy entries that have also hit on political themes this year include Ari Aster’s “Eddington,” a treatise on the pandemic and a lot more, and Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” which angered the Pentagon due to its commentary on the US’s nuclear capabilities and handling of its weapons.

Escapism will always come into play for holiday moviegoing. Still, the prospect of a movie – even one set in the magical land of Oz – inspiring conversation about serious, real-world matters affecting lots of families this season would be a change for, well, the good.

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