The baffling thing about Wicked right now is how people have been calling it good because it lacks politics and isn't "woke" despite the story line being a person of color goes to school, gets discriminated, gets a questionable ally that doesn't stand by her when she goes against the grain, and is fighting the discrimination of a marginalized group. The book, and play, is a political FU to the conservatives and its been right over their head.
Not only that but the wicked witch herself has been political since her debut in the movie at least for the harmful Jewish stereotypes and stuff associated with her
I feel like I've watched other video essays here on YT that have talked about how conservatives generally have really poor media literacy skills, and I suppose Wicked is just further proving that point.
I mean, when most conservatives say "woke" they mean preachy. Movies that are the progressive version of PureFlix. Not just any movie that could have a progressive interpretation.
@@oliviastratton2169 Sure, I get that. I don't mind if someone chooses to watch a movie solely for the entertainment factor. It's when they try to say that a piece of entertainment isn't political simply because they don't recognize the message that I feel like they're being ignorant.
The film is DEEPLY sapphic, and I can't express just how much Ariana Grande (who I feel bad about doubting before seeing it) understands Glinda and leaned into her repressed queerness. It really really shows on screen, and in the music. We were FED by this movie, and I can't wait to be emotionally devastated by Part 2 (which I cautiously hope might have yet more sapphic vibes).
As a fan of the stage show, I was worried that the film wouldn't live up to the hype, but it certainly did. I loved that they kept all of the original songs, without adding any new additions, and the casting was sublime across the board.
They say in Wicked like 'Why do you keep harping on the past? Just teach us history.' I love how well researched this is. Also, I'm with you SUPPORT FOR MARISSA/NESSA. I agree, people should pay more attention when watching this movie.
1) I’m sure Jessica knows this, being British, but: everything about Anne Boleyn being a witch actually dates from the reign of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. People didn’t like a strong woman who refused to marry being in charge *shock*. They accused Elizabeth of being a man, and then went on to start slandering her mother as a way to prove that something must be wrong with the daughter. (Anne was also never terribly popular as Queen in the first place, but to quote another musical: “but that’s another story, nevermind, anyway…”) 2) Highly recommend the book “Witches, Midwives, and Nurses” for more on how strong women with “forbidden” medical knowledge had their positions in society downgraded over the centuries. It is a bit dated in some respects, first published in 1973, but it is still quite cohesive in outlining how women went from being the possessors of medical knowledge, to only being respected as the male-educated assistant to men educated in exclusively male educational institutions.
that's true but people did call anne a witch after her execution, it wasn't really separated from the accusations of adultery and incest it was all sort of rolled into one
I have not heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage before, but I will be seeking her out now! This is exactly why I love Jessica’s videos, so many of them leave me thinking “Why have I not heard of this before?” I am always thankful to learn something, especially when it is something that I feel I should have already known.
Im so glad princess Ozma was mentioned Many people dont know about her (despite her character being in almost all of the books) Because most people only know the first book which she was not in.
I had never heard of Gage. This video was phenomenol. The writing, delivery, and editing offer a compelling narrative. My brain feels like it is physically effervescing. I plan to share widely!!!
I remember watching the musical when it hit theaters in my country and going online the next day to defend Elphaba with all my might 😂 Cynthia and Ariana did a great job in the movie, they have great chemistry
Note: Jessica was talking about Wicked (the book) when discussing Elphaba’s possibly being intersex. Baum’s book doesn’t discuss the witch’s birth, and in fact, she doesn’t have a name at all. “Elphaba” was a name Maguire made up from Baum’s initials: L F B.
IDK if this is something that you might be interested in doing a video on, but this year there was a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that was cancelled by Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre because it contained references to contempory political issues including trans rights and free palestine. Theatre sat emptly for entire run rather than let it go ahead.
Ariana and Kristin had been really outspoken about Glinda being gay, and both of them has so much gay energy for their respective Elphaba actors irl, so the movie still not having the gay kiss is insane to me
Nonbinary American person here, who is married to a Canadian, life feels very... Flying monkey here and your content is a much needed respite, because trust me, some of us here are very aware, we are now going backwards in time. 💔. Stay strong my friends, don't let the 🎃💩 take our light. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Flying Monkey. We have a restaurant-concert venue in Plymouth, NH with that name. I'm now convinced the real anti-hero is Glinda. In the end of The Wizard of OZ, she controls OZ by getting her fellow witches killed by Dorothy Gale and OZ leaves. But Glinda gets past the schemes of the Wizard and fights misogyny and her competition. But there was something special between her and Elphaba.
This is local history for me! But I’m still learning a lot from your video. Thank you for elaborating on Gage’s life and activism. People need to know more about her! Thank you so much for this video! (I also love Wicked and it makes the stories so much better to know that a feminist was an inspiration for the original books.)
While I hadn’t heard about Matilda I had heard about the women protesting the statue of liberty. They actually tell you about and there is a sign at liberty island. I’m glad to know who one of those women were.
I live in Czechia, originally from Australia, & haven't heard of Matilda Joselyn Gage, but I'm initerested to do some research into her now. I have read a biography of L. Frank Baum, so should revisit it to see what I missed first time round!
Read the book, never saw the musical, might now see the movie. Had never heard of Gage but appreciate the introduction and new material to look through to learn more about her. Have you ever delved into Margaret Sanger, the "mother of birth control" in America but really was working to cut down on the number of non-white people in America?
I'd never heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage before, but I like the information you've presented in this video and am interested in learning more about this forward thinking woman. I might just have found a new role model. Thank you!
My suggestion for historical queer erasure (besides "they were roommates") would be Leonardo for how frequently Leonardo DaVinci's sexuality is erased, including that recentish TV series.
Another splendid, informative, and entertaining video, Jessica! Thank you! And no, I had not heard of Gage, and I’ve heard of several feminists from her time period. 🎀💖🎀
I really think you’d like the book ‘notorious strumpets and dangerous girls’. It follows the convict women held on lutruwita (Tasmania) in the earth 1800s, particularly those associated with the organisation ‘the flash mob’, a group that ran the female factory and was known for dressing ‘flash’, with bright handkerchiefs and shaved heads. There are many records of them cross dressing and having relationships with other women. I think the book also touches on non-white convicts? Not much, it’s been thoroughly erased, but there was a large population of Sri Lankan women brought as convicts, which has been conveniently erased.
I read "The Wizard of Oz" in elementary school, and it was my first 'the book was better' moments in my life. The journey in the book gose through these other lands that i thought were more interesting then the what seems like a day or 2 stroll down the yellow brick road in the film. I should re-read the books becouse I know he wrote in so much political subtext that went right over my 9yo head. I do think I have read about Matilda Gage before in passing and I have read accounts that S.B. Anthony was "problematic" to say the least. Look forward to leaning more about Matilda.
I have watched Wicked. I listened to the book on audio. I have ALL of the L. Frank Baum books (and wrote a small fiction based in Oz.) I didn't know Gage's name, but I did know that Baum's mother-in-law and wife both encouraged him to write the stories he told his children. Do I think Baum is a great writer? No. But I do think he created a wonderful place and I, while I hate what I call 'travelogs,' it doesn't mean I hate the Oz books. Oh, and I wrote the Oz story back in the 1990s.
It’s creepy how much older media is combining. I am picturing a wizard still handing out special privileges from his magical bag over there…. Please pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! The guy in the balloon when people are cheering because he doesn’t know how to work a hot air balloon. He is truly the one with out courage, with out a heart and without a brain; but he doesn’t need his own home, because he will crash land in the next small town and be leader there too for a while and he’ll try and hire your daughter to run off to kill his enemies. Or just the woman trying to blow the whistle on how small his power actually is.
In terms of stage productions of Wicked not casting disabled actors to play Nessa, I suspect that there are practical factors which often make it significantly more difficult than it needs to be. And my take is that those practical factors need addressing, to be clear! But until they are, I can see why there might be an increased reluctance to cast appropriately. My knowlege is limited, but I have a small amount of theatre experience so I'm extrapolating from what I have encountered. The biggest practical factor, in my opinion, is that many venues were originally built in times when wheelchair access (and similar accommodations) were simply not considered as a routine part of the design process. There may be multiple sets of stairs encountered between arriving at the stage door, heading to a dressing room to get into costume, moving to the green room until you're needed, and finally heading into the wings ready to go on stage. For a show that's remaining in one venue, especially if it's planned to be a long run of performances, it may be practical to make adjustments to the space to allow wheelchair access everywhere a cast member would need to go. But for a touring production? That's a significant level of extra work to ensure all the venues on the tour can be made accessible if they aren't already. And to reiterate, I'm not saying that it's fine not to cast disabled actors to play disabled characters because it's "inconvenient" or anything like that! I think the inaccessible designs of many older theatres is a problem that needs tackling, but isn't going to be simple, and in the meantime I'm unsurprised (though still disappointed) that factors like this may be affecting casting decisions
I was thinking this. Many Broadway theaters in New York are notorious for this. A lot of them are registered historic sites, which further protects them from having to do much in the way of extensive renovation to make them ADA compliant. The Richard Roger's theater where Hamilton plays is a perfect example. The restrooms and water fountains are down 2 flights of stairs. Everything in the building is narrow and/or steep. Frankly, the place barely seems to meet fire code, let alone be accessible for varying levels of mobility.
Also, in the past versions of the play, Nessa had to get up and walk in Act 2, so she had to be played by an abled actor. The movie is choosing to deal with her role quite differently, it seems. It will be interesting to see what they do in Part II to rewrite this aspect.
I did not know about Matilda Jocelyn Gage before, and I have a bone to pick because I am a huge Suffs fan. I love learning about women who were ahead of the women who were ahead of their time. Oh, and while the Wicked movie keeps it subtextual, as others note, Ari REALLY leans into the subtext and gives a very sapphic performance. The heart eyes she gives Elphaba are every Gelphie shippers' dream. 🩷💚🩷💚
Absolutely! Everything Oz already had queerness etched in, but it did feel like an especially queer reading. Still mainly subtext, which is sad, but I'd argue Dancing Through Life is almost explicitly queer in the film.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
The baffling thing about Wicked right now is how people have been calling it good because it lacks politics and isn't "woke" despite the story line being a person of color goes to school, gets discriminated, gets a questionable ally that doesn't stand by her when she goes against the grain, and is fighting the discrimination of a marginalized group. The book, and play, is a political FU to the conservatives and its been right over their head.
Not only that but the wicked witch herself has been political since her debut in the movie at least for the harmful Jewish stereotypes and stuff associated with her
I don’t know how you can watch the movie and not think it has a political message!
I feel like I've watched other video essays here on YT that have talked about how conservatives generally have really poor media literacy skills, and I suppose Wicked is just further proving that point.
I mean, when most conservatives say "woke" they mean preachy. Movies that are the progressive version of PureFlix. Not just any movie that could have a progressive interpretation.
@@oliviastratton2169 Sure, I get that. I don't mind if someone chooses to watch a movie solely for the entertainment factor. It's when they try to say that a piece of entertainment isn't political simply because they don't recognize the message that I feel like they're being ignorant.
The film is DEEPLY sapphic, and I can't express just how much Ariana Grande (who I feel bad about doubting before seeing it) understands Glinda and leaned into her repressed queerness. It really really shows on screen, and in the music. We were FED by this movie, and I can't wait to be emotionally devastated by Part 2 (which I cautiously hope might have yet more sapphic vibes).
As a fan of the stage show, I was worried that the film wouldn't live up to the hype, but it certainly did. I loved that they kept all of the original songs, without adding any new additions, and the casting was sublime across the board.
Yes, it was great!
I'm stealing the misogyny jazz hands as I work in the space industry, they'll come in super handy :D
Plus the video is amazing as always Jessica :)
Hah I too worked in the space industry until recently! Wishing you luck as misogyny is part of why I left aerospace (wield those misogyny jazz hands!)
They say in Wicked like 'Why do you keep harping on the past? Just teach us history.'
I love how well researched this is. Also, I'm with you SUPPORT FOR MARISSA/NESSA. I agree, people should pay more attention when watching this movie.
1) I’m sure Jessica knows this, being British, but: everything about Anne Boleyn being a witch actually dates from the reign of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. People didn’t like a strong woman who refused to marry being in charge *shock*. They accused Elizabeth of being a man, and then went on to start slandering her mother as a way to prove that something must be wrong with the daughter.
(Anne was also never terribly popular as Queen in the first place, but to quote another musical: “but that’s another story, nevermind, anyway…”)
2) Highly recommend the book “Witches, Midwives, and Nurses” for more on how strong women with “forbidden” medical knowledge had their positions in society downgraded over the centuries. It is a bit dated in some respects, first published in 1973, but it is still quite cohesive in outlining how women went from being the possessors of medical knowledge, to only being respected as the male-educated assistant to men educated in exclusively male educational institutions.
The more things (seem to) change, the more they stay the same... 🙄
that's true but people did call anne a witch after her execution, it wasn't really separated from the accusations of adultery and incest it was all sort of rolled into one
I have not heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage before, but I will be seeking her out now!
This is exactly why I love Jessica’s videos, so many of them leave me thinking “Why have I not heard of this before?”
I am always thankful to learn something, especially when it is something that I feel I should have already known.
Im so glad princess Ozma was mentioned
Many people dont know about her (despite her character being in almost all of the books)
Because most people only know the first book which she was not in.
I had never heard of Gage. This video was phenomenol. The writing, delivery, and editing offer a compelling narrative. My brain feels like it is physically effervescing. I plan to share widely!!!
Here goes Jessica again, educating us about the erased heroes of our world!
I remember watching the musical when it hit theaters in my country and going online the next day to defend Elphaba with all my might 😂 Cynthia and Ariana did a great job in the movie, they have great chemistry
That Elphaba started out as intersex instead of green in the original material just makes me happy :) And I loved the movie.
Note: Jessica was talking about Wicked (the book) when discussing Elphaba’s possibly being intersex. Baum’s book doesn’t discuss the witch’s birth, and in fact, she doesn’t have a name at all. “Elphaba” was a name Maguire made up from Baum’s initials: L F B.
She’s still green
In the original wizard of oz, she’s also disabled! She only has one eye
Wicked Part 1 certainly passes the Bechdel Test.
IDK if this is something that you might be interested in doing a video on, but this year there was a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that was cancelled by Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre because it contained references to contempory political issues including trans rights and free palestine. Theatre sat emptly for entire run rather than let it go ahead.
😮
Ariana and Kristin had been really outspoken about Glinda being gay, and both of them has so much gay energy for their respective Elphaba actors irl, so the movie still not having the gay kiss is insane to me
I named my motorized wheelchair “Matilda” after the magical child, but I think Gage definitely fits better.
Nonbinary American person here, who is married to a Canadian, life feels very... Flying monkey here and your content is a much needed respite, because trust me, some of us here are very aware, we are now going backwards in time. 💔. Stay strong my friends, don't let the 🎃💩 take our light. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
There are so many times I wish I had a love button or the ability to like multiple times, and this is one of them. Thank you for the new knowledge.
So basically Oz Lore is feminism all the way down.
Flying Monkey. We have a restaurant-concert venue in Plymouth, NH with that name. I'm now convinced the real anti-hero is Glinda. In the end of The Wizard of OZ, she controls OZ by getting her fellow witches killed by Dorothy Gale and OZ leaves. But Glinda gets past the schemes of the Wizard and fights misogyny and her competition. But there was something special between her and Elphaba.
first time hearing of Mathilda Joslyn Gage, thank you
Yes😁❤️ My daughter born 1984 has Matilda as her middle name after Matilda Joselyn Gage.
Happy 40th to her! ❤
@ ❤️❤️❤️
Nice!
Awesome!
Thanks so much for this video. I got here because of Wicked and was so thankful to learn about Matilda Gage!
This is local history for me! But I’m still learning a lot from your video. Thank you for elaborating on Gage’s life and activism. People need to know more about her!
Thank you so much for this video!
(I also love Wicked and it makes the stories so much better to know that a feminist was an inspiration for the original books.)
I grew up in Fayetteville ny, where Matilda Joslyn gave lived and near where l frank baum lived! Thanks for mentioning her!
Merch!!!!!!! Can wait to check everything out!
Season Greetings from USA 🇺🇸.
I watched the movie, the casting was great, I loved the costumes, and of course, the singing! Can’t wait for part II
Omg I'm going to see this today! Bookmarking this so I can watch it tonight!
Omg, the t-shirts are amazing!! Love them!
While I hadn’t heard about Matilda I had heard about the women protesting the statue of liberty. They actually tell you about and there is a sign at liberty island. I’m glad to know who one of those women were.
I live in Czechia, originally from Australia, & haven't heard of Matilda Joselyn Gage, but I'm initerested to do some research into her now. I have read a biography of L. Frank Baum, so should revisit it to see what I missed first time round!
Thank you for all your hard work (in making these videos) . I appreciate your sharing💚
I want to get the out of the closet t-shirt to come out to my family. But I'm scared. My mom says it's just a phase.
❤
You mentioned intersex, have discovered the Australian intersex singer Blume? She is on UA-cam. Her band is Mystic Tea Party there on Spotify.
Read the book, never saw the musical, might now see the movie.
Had never heard of Gage but appreciate the introduction and new material to look through to learn more about her.
Have you ever delved into Margaret Sanger, the "mother of birth control" in America but really was working to cut down on the number of non-white people in America?
I'd never heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage before, but I like the information you've presented in this video and am interested in learning more about this forward thinking woman. I might just have found a new role model. Thank you!
My suggestion for historical queer erasure (besides "they were roommates") would be Leonardo for how frequently Leonardo DaVinci's sexuality is erased, including that recentish TV series.
Without spoilers, they change how Nessa is treated in regards to her wheelchair in the movie in what feels like an encouraging way!
You might like the book Waking the Witch: Womrn, Magic and Back power by Pam Grossman
me, a wicked book/musical/now movie fan and queer+feminist history enjoyer when this video popped up in my subscribe box: 🤯🤯🤯
I did feel like there was an awful lot of politics missing when I watched the play 😅. Thanks for filling that in, it was juicer than I thought.
Another splendid, informative, and entertaining video, Jessica! Thank you! And no, I had not heard of Gage, and I’ve heard of several feminists from her time period. 🎀💖🎀
I hadn't heard of Matilda Joslyn Gage! It's cool to know about some intersectional suffragettes
This movie terrified me to the point of a panic attack and i dont mean that lightly. The messages terrify me. I hope act 2 is better
I really think you’d like the book ‘notorious strumpets and dangerous girls’. It follows the convict women held on lutruwita (Tasmania) in the earth 1800s, particularly those associated with the organisation ‘the flash mob’, a group that ran the female factory and was known for dressing ‘flash’, with bright handkerchiefs and shaved heads. There are many records of them cross dressing and having relationships with other women.
I think the book also touches on non-white convicts? Not much, it’s been thoroughly erased, but there was a large population of Sri Lankan women brought as convicts, which has been conveniently erased.
Man I still gotta read all the books!!
I will always ship Glinda x Elphaba x Fiyero, all three together ❤️
I read "The Wizard of Oz" in elementary school, and it was my first 'the book was better' moments in my life. The journey in the book gose through these other lands that i thought were more interesting then the what seems like a day or 2 stroll down the yellow brick road in the film. I should re-read the books becouse I know he wrote in so much political subtext that went right over my 9yo head.
I do think I have read about Matilda Gage before in passing and I have read accounts that S.B. Anthony was "problematic" to say the least. Look forward to leaning more about Matilda.
I have watched Wicked. I listened to the book on audio. I have ALL of the L. Frank Baum books (and wrote a small fiction based in Oz.) I didn't know Gage's name, but I did know that Baum's mother-in-law and wife both encouraged him to write the stories he told his children. Do I think Baum is a great writer? No. But I do think he created a wonderful place and I, while I hate what I call 'travelogs,' it doesn't mean I hate the Oz books. Oh, and I wrote the Oz story back in the 1990s.
Thank you
Informative
*Misogyny jazz hands* XD
Trying to avoid spoilers be like.
TEA ☕️
💗💚💗💚💗💚💗
It’s creepy how much older media is combining. I am picturing a wizard still handing out special privileges from his magical bag over there…. Please pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! The guy in the balloon when people are cheering because he doesn’t know how to work a hot air balloon. He is truly the one with out courage, with out a heart and without a brain; but he doesn’t need his own home, because he will crash land in the next small town and be leader there too for a while and he’ll try and hire your daughter to run off to kill his enemies. Or just the woman trying to blow the whistle on how small his power actually is.
In terms of stage productions of Wicked not casting disabled actors to play Nessa, I suspect that there are practical factors which often make it significantly more difficult than it needs to be. And my take is that those practical factors need addressing, to be clear! But until they are, I can see why there might be an increased reluctance to cast appropriately. My knowlege is limited, but I have a small amount of theatre experience so I'm extrapolating from what I have encountered.
The biggest practical factor, in my opinion, is that many venues were originally built in times when wheelchair access (and similar accommodations) were simply not considered as a routine part of the design process. There may be multiple sets of stairs encountered between arriving at the stage door, heading to a dressing room to get into costume, moving to the green room until you're needed, and finally heading into the wings ready to go on stage. For a show that's remaining in one venue, especially if it's planned to be a long run of performances, it may be practical to make adjustments to the space to allow wheelchair access everywhere a cast member would need to go. But for a touring production? That's a significant level of extra work to ensure all the venues on the tour can be made accessible if they aren't already. And to reiterate, I'm not saying that it's fine not to cast disabled actors to play disabled characters because it's "inconvenient" or anything like that! I think the inaccessible designs of many older theatres is a problem that needs tackling, but isn't going to be simple, and in the meantime I'm unsurprised (though still disappointed) that factors like this may be affecting casting decisions
I was thinking this. Many Broadway theaters in New York are notorious for this. A lot of them are registered historic sites, which further protects them from having to do much in the way of extensive renovation to make them ADA compliant.
The Richard Roger's theater where Hamilton plays is a perfect example. The restrooms and water fountains are down 2 flights of stairs. Everything in the building is narrow and/or steep. Frankly, the place barely seems to meet fire code, let alone be accessible for varying levels of mobility.
Also, in the past versions of the play, Nessa had to get up and walk in Act 2, so she had to be played by an abled actor. The movie is choosing to deal with her role quite differently, it seems. It will be interesting to see what they do in Part II to rewrite this aspect.
8:39 Well well well...there is a link between Violet and queerness, no wonder why Vi from Arcane likes Caitlyn.
❤❤❤
YeeeeeEEEEEEESSSS
First comment! 🎉
❤
You could of said sexual assault
I did not know about Matilda Jocelyn Gage before, and I have a bone to pick because I am a huge Suffs fan. I love learning about women who were ahead of the women who were ahead of their time. Oh, and while the Wicked movie keeps it subtextual, as others note, Ari REALLY leans into the subtext and gives a very sapphic performance. The heart eyes she gives Elphaba are every Gelphie shippers' dream. 🩷💚🩷💚
Absolutely! Everything Oz already had queerness etched in, but it did feel like an especially queer reading. Still mainly subtext, which is sad, but I'd argue Dancing Through Life is almost explicitly queer in the film.