WEEK FIVE: WICKED

I think we’ve all seen the “The Wizard of Oz” at some point or another. Most of us have memories of seeing this classic 1939 film for the first time, and I know several friends who have admitted to being afraid of the Wicked Witch of the West when they first watched it as a child. This makes sense considering the fact that, at the end of the movie, it’s implied that the Land of Oz (a dazzling world “over the rainbow” where Dorothy went on a grand adventure) was all just a dream she created in her head when she was injured during the tornado that hit her Kansas farm. This could explain why several of the characters she encountered in Oz (like the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion) happened to exactly parallel her friends who worked on the farm with her aunt and uncle… and why the Wicked Witch seemed to have such an interest in her dog Toto. Because right before the tornado hit, the neighborhood busybody Miss Gultch had visited Dorothy’s house with paperwork from the sheriff. After Miss Gultch was bitten by Toto, she threatened to sue the Gale family for their whole farm unless they turned over the dog to be destroyed (which was her right according to the law and the sheriff’s order). As a child, Dorothy was frightened and devastated at the idea of losing her dog, so it’s no surprise that when she dreamed of Oz, there happened to be an evil villain in the form of a Wicked Witch who chased them all throughout their journey, threatening to harm her and her dog! 

Now, I’m not saying that Miss Gultch wasn’t a mean, bitter old lady… but was she wicked? Or in her mind, was she just seeking justice for her injured leg? Dorothy projected an entire caricature of her neighbor in her dreams, turning her into a green-skinned cackling witch who flew on a broomstick… when maybe the lady was actually afraid of Dorothy’s dog and just wanted him to stay out of her garden. Is it possible that any of us have ever done this? Maybe things are going badly in our lives and there are circumstances out of our control.  In our fear, we feel like we need to place blame on someone and create a hard line of who is right and who is wrong. Who is good and who is wicked. Us versus them. But to be honest, most of the time, things aren’t so clear or simple. We all have goodness in us and sometimes we are the victims of terrible things. But we all have wickedness in us too… and because of our sin nature, all of us have also done terrible things to others.

It's hard living in a world full of other flawed, sinful humans. Of course, as followers of Jesus we are called to live our lives to a higher standard and reflect the fruit of the Spirit to those around us. But why do we sometimes seem to be at odds even with people in the church? Why do relationships with other Christ-followers still seem to be so hard? We can paint others as the villain in our stories, but what would happen if we tried to see things from the other’s point of view? What would it look like to disagree but still see the humanity in the people we’re in conflict with?

In the Broadway musical “Wicked,” the story centers around Elphaba (the green one who is considered “wicked”) and Glinda (the one who wears pink and is considered “good”). But through the show, we see that things are not so simple (not so “black and white,” or in this case “green and pink”). In their final song of the show (spoilers for those who don’t know the end of the story yet!), the two women sing a duet about forgiveness and reconciliation, knowing they may never agree or be on the same side of this conflict while loving and caring for each other nonetheless. And one interesting songwriting feature is that, in this song, the characters sing in the opposite range from where they usually sing. Glinda is the operatic soprano and Elphaba belts in her lower range for much of the show… but in the song “For Good,” they switch parts! Elphaba takes the high notes and Glinda takes the low notes. In this way, we get a sweet example of the characters putting themselves in the others’ shoes (or in this case, voices). They may still disagree, but they are better for being in relationship with each other. God calls us to be in unity with each other in the body of Christ; how can we demonstrate this idea of being “better together” even when we don’t agree about everything?