A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of experiencing the musical Wicked at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Not only did it meet my need for fun musicals with great music and big laugh lines, but I was also pleasantly surprised at its profound social message and its implications for historical research.
For those who don’t know, the musical is basically the story of Oz before Dorothy showed up. The “wicked witch of the west” (whose name is Elphaba) is really misunderstood and, also, she was college roommates with the “good witch”. I think my favorite quote from the musical came from the wizard:
Elphaba, where I’m from, we believe all sorts of things that aren’t true. We call it – ‘history.’
A man’s called a traitor – or liberator
A rich man’s a thief – or philanthropist
Is one a crusader – or ruthless invader?
It’s all in which label
Is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don’t exist.
The song that opens and closes the musical repeats the line, “No one mourns the wicked.” Elphaba was a social activist who became such a threat to the powers that be (i.e., the wizard), that she was labeled the “wicked witch”. Thus, killing her became a good thing–not cause for mourning.
These themes of labeling are precisely what I will be working with in my doctoral studies. One could add to the wizard’s list: heretic or saint; exterminated criminal or martyr. How do groups, such as the early Christians, define their “enemies”? What motivates such labeling and language? What are the implications?
At any rate, I was pleased to find a place in popular culture where ambiguity is celebrated and its historical implications are even mentioned explicitly. It was good fun too.
