Saw a bootleg of Wicked, because my girlfriend wanted to watch it. It inspired me to rant, because I’m sick of deconstructionist, subverting expectation dogshit cinema. Enjoy my wall of text below.
*****
Wicked shares an achievement with the Disney Star Wars trilogy: it’s so horrendous, it makes Lucas’s prequel trilogy look competent.
Stupid premise aside, Wicked’s worst crime is undermining the wonder and beauty of The Wizard of Oz - both Baum’s book and the 1939 film. It “subverts expectations” (anyone else sick of that term?), by telling you that The Wicked Witch of the West was a misunderstood victim.
If that’s not bad enough, you’re led to believe that the Munchkins were assholes. Further, Glinda was a jealous bitch , who’d one day manipulate Dorothy into destroying The Wicked Witch. Also, The Great Oz is a power-thirsty prick, who feels threatened by talking animals. Not shitting you.
In short, the only OG characters to remain intact (for now) are Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Dorothy. I’m sure their deconstruction will come in Part 2.
Where Lucas succeeded with the prequels was how well he displayed Anakin’s trajectory to the Dark Side. It was never at the expense of the characters around him.
Despite Obi-Wan’s failure, you still like him, as he tried to save Anakin. Padme begged Anakin to stop his evil deeds. The other characters’ integrity remained intact, as they did nothing to drive Anakin into the hands of Palpatine.
Additionally, Anakin did horrendous shit. He slaughtered defenseless kids. I’ll say that again: ANAKIN MURDERED KIDS. There’s no misunderstanding that. He had no remorse either, because Lucas wanted us to know Anakin was pure evil and Palpatine’s puppet. No nuance there. No certain point of view.
In essence, the worst crime that can be done with established, beloved characters is to run them into the ground (like Disney did to Luke, Han, and Leia), just to make your shitty new or co-opted character look better. Some may praise you, but you also draw a sea of ire from legacy fans, who don’t like their hobbies fucked with.
So, trash the prequels as you will - Jar-Jar and all, but at least Lucas didn’t destroy other characters or make Anakin look like a misunderstood victim. Fuck Disney and fuck Universal Pictures.
*****
Wicked shares an achievement with the Disney Star Wars trilogy: it’s so horrendous, it makes Lucas’s prequel trilogy look competent.
Stupid premise aside, Wicked’s worst crime is undermining the wonder and beauty of The Wizard of Oz - both Baum’s book and the 1939 film. It “subverts expectations” (anyone else sick of that term?), by telling you that The Wicked Witch of the West was a misunderstood victim.
If that’s not bad enough, you’re led to believe that the Munchkins were assholes. Further, Glinda was a jealous bitch , who’d one day manipulate Dorothy into destroying The Wicked Witch. Also, The Great Oz is a power-thirsty prick, who feels threatened by talking animals. Not shitting you.
In short, the only OG characters to remain intact (for now) are Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Dorothy. I’m sure their deconstruction will come in Part 2.
Where Lucas succeeded with the prequels was how well he displayed Anakin’s trajectory to the Dark Side. It was never at the expense of the characters around him.
Despite Obi-Wan’s failure, you still like him, as he tried to save Anakin. Padme begged Anakin to stop his evil deeds. The other characters’ integrity remained intact, as they did nothing to drive Anakin into the hands of Palpatine.
Additionally, Anakin did horrendous shit. He slaughtered defenseless kids. I’ll say that again: ANAKIN MURDERED KIDS. There’s no misunderstanding that. He had no remorse either, because Lucas wanted us to know Anakin was pure evil and Palpatine’s puppet. No nuance there. No certain point of view.
In essence, the worst crime that can be done with established, beloved characters is to run them into the ground (like Disney did to Luke, Han, and Leia), just to make your shitty new or co-opted character look better. Some may praise you, but you also draw a sea of ire from legacy fans, who don’t like their hobbies fucked with.
So, trash the prequels as you will - Jar-Jar and all, but at least Lucas didn’t destroy other characters or make Anakin look like a misunderstood victim. Fuck Disney and fuck Universal Pictures.
Have you read the book?
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@Doll @txt or seen the musical stage play? Because the movie is quite accurate to the musical on stage. The book that the musical was based on had some major differences, so the book might not be the best point of comparison.
It is deliberately meant to be a revisionist retelling of the "wicked witch" character in both the book and the musical. It does not mean you need to like it, but the movie did not really have anything far out there when compared to the stage musical.
