Syan Swanger
Staff Writer
I read the book ‘Wicked’ about two years ago and instantly fell in love. I was so excited when the movie adaptation was announced. However, that excitement quickly dissolved after I watched the trailer.
The problem with movie adaptations is that many times the film has to cut out parts of the book. This is not possible for a book like ‘Wicked’. Every single chapter, every single moment, is integral to the story of Elphaba. By taking out even one scene, the entire narrative of the book changes.
Some hope was revived after learning the movie would be split into two parts, but I still don’t think the movie is going to live up to the book. Granted, I only saw a three-minute and 30-second trailer compared to reading the 406 pages.
My main concern about the movie is that it won’t do an adequate job of explaining the numerous traumas of Elphaba’s life that led her to become The Wicked Witch of the West. The book depicts how other’s cruelty affected her life. It demonstrates how others were inherently wicked and she is just a product of her environment. The book is able to show her grief, rage, loneliness, desperation, and need for vengeance. From what I’ve seen in the trailer I don’t have a lot of faith that this will be conveyed. The movie almost seems to dumb down her experiences. It makes her out to be a girl who was bullied because she was different, who was devastated when her idol turned out to be a fraud and spurred her into action. It washes over the fact that her mother resented her, the fact that her father was absent, the brutal death of her mentor, her estranged friendship with Glinda, her constant skepticism of Oz, and so much more.
It seems to me that the movie is trying to fit Elphaba into the classic trope of a young woman who had a very difficult life and inevitably becomes the villain instead of letting the events of her life lead the viewers to see how and why she became The Wicked Witch of the West and develop their own opinions of her.
Although I have many criticisms of the movie, I do believe it will be good. The cinematography is beautiful and the vocals are outstanding. I’m eager to see Ariana Grande as Glinda. I think she embodies the character. She’s bubbly and a little ditzy on the outside, but inside she’s extremely caring and passionate. I predict that the movie itself will be a good movie and I’m definitely going to see it. I just don’t think it will compare to the actual book.