\n But it was also hard to ignore the first film\u2019s<\/a> political underpinnings, which shine even brighter in the follow up \u201cWicked: For Good,\u201d in theaters now.\n <\/p>\n \n In the first part of the cinematic adaptation by director Jon M. Chu, which was nominated for best picture at last year\u2019s Oscars, themes of racial tension were the backdrop to the story \u2013 which imagines an origin for the Wicked Witch of the West made famous in the 1939 classic film \u201cThe Wizard of Oz,\u201d and explores her relationship with Glinda the Good. Woven into the premise are questions about how we embrace (or reject) those we feel are Other, as we see Glinda (Ariana Grande) at first denigrate green-skinned Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), before warming up to her.\n <\/p>\n \n Their fragile bond is tested, however, when they come to discover that the feared and respected Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) is, in fact, a grand manipulator who intends to use Elphaba to achieve his goal of silencing the enchanted animals of Oz, who are seen having their rights increasingly stripped away and losing their ability to speak. The Wizard works with Elphaba\u2019s teacher Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) to devise propaganda throughout Oz about Elphaba, thereby bestowing on her the identity of a \u201cwicked witch.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The concluding chapter raises the stakes and leans hard into another scorchingly hot political topic: immigration.\n <\/p>\n \n In one scene, Boq (Ethan Slater) from Munchkinland goes to the train station to fulfill his desire to travel to the Emerald City and profess his love to Glinda. However, when he gets to the station, he is horrified to see that animals and Munchkins have been restricted from traveling and need a permit to do so. The policy was orchestrated by the newly appointed Governor of Munchkinland, Nessarose Thropp (Marissa Bode), who pines for Boq.\n <\/p>\n \n The scene depicts dramatic, harrowing moments in which the enchanted animals are blocked from being able to move about freely. Later in the film, some animals are seen hidden in a basement within the Wizard\u2019s palace in Emerald City, locked away in cages.\n <\/p>\n \n The scenes bear eerie resemblance to familiar images seen and stories heard from those affected by the Trump administration\u2019s unprecedented crackdown<\/a> on undocumented immigrants.\n <\/p>\n \n Cities and regions across the country \u2013 from Charlotte, North Carolina<\/a> to Chicago \u2013 have been left on edge as immigration raids have taken place there. In Charlotte, businesses closed in the wake of federal agents descending upon the area and more than 200 people have been arrested<\/a> since what the Department of Homeland Security referred to as \u201cOperation Charlotte\u2019s Web\u201d began<\/a> last weekend.\n <\/p>\n \n The Trump\u2019s administration continues to say its enforcement is targeting criminals and gang members. In June, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targets \u201cthe worst of the worst,\u201d adding that \u201cin President (Donald) Trump\u2019s first 100 days, 75% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n McLaughlin did not respond to a request at the time to clarify the nature of those convictions or pending charges.\n <\/p>\n \n Countless cases<\/a> contradict the administration\u2019s claims. Internal government documents obtained by CNN this summer showed that only 10% of migrants booked into ICE custody since October 2024 had been convicted of serious violent or sexual crimes.\n <\/p>\n \n In the world of Oz, the Wizard also highlights groups that he terms as unsafe, at one point saying, \u201cThe best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n That enemy is the animals, a notion that Elphaba wholeheartedly rejects. And in \u201cWicked: For Good,\u201d we see her actively intervening against the Wizard\u2019s activities, disrupting construction on the Yellow Brick Road and attempting to spread the word that he is lying to the people of Oz and causing the animals to flee in fear, which we see them attempt to do via an underground tunnel beneath the Yellow Brick Road.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,\u201d the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel on which the films and Tony-winning Broadway musical are based, is, of course, a dark text itself.\n <\/p>\n \n Philip Lightstone, who served as a swing and dance captain over two runs of the official \u201cWicked\u201d national touring production in the US, said he thinks the movies have benefitted from having more space to show various facets of Ozian society that are described in the novel, elements that the long-running musical was never able to delve into.\n <\/p>\n \n In \u201cWicked: For Good,\u201d the notion that political power amounts to who has the power to disseminate information \u2013 even if the truth behind said information is questionable \u2013 comes to a head.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe backdrop really is this political, propaganda, whose truth is real, kind of thing,\u201d Lightstone said. \u201cWhoever\u2019s in control gets to say what the quote-unquote truth is, what\u2019s real.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The weightier scenes in \u201cFor Good\u201d will likely in equal measure hit home and stir<\/a> some backlash<\/a>, just as the first film did.\n <\/p>\n \n But those who take issue with the film for getting political, frankly, have greatly missed the point of the work in all its forms.\n <\/p>\n \n Lightstone recalled that the tour\u2019s directorial team led by Joe Mantello and choreographers led by Wayne Cilento would often use political events to help the company connect to what was happening on stage.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey were always talking about connecting whatever was happening politically \u2013 even if there was something super specific, travel bans<\/a> or this or that \u2013 to be able to have the cast connect with that,\u201d said Lightstone, who toured with the show from 2006-2013 and again from 2016-2020. \u201cPeople have to be able to relate to something that they understand politically for the show to work.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The same goes for the films.\n <\/p>\n \n Another scene in this weekend\u2019s \u201cFor Good\u201d shows Elphaba standing over the hole in the Yellow Brick Road leading to the underground tunnel. It won\u2019t be lost on many that Erivo also portrayed slave liberator and Underground Railroad figure Harriet Tubman in the 2019 Oscar-nominated film \u201cHarriet.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n CNN has reached out to \u201cWicked: For Good\u201d director Chu, along with writers Winnie Holzman, Stephen Schwartz and Maguire for comment.\n <\/p>\n \n Releasing just in time for award season to kick into high gear, \u201cWicked: For Good\u201d is in solid politically-charged-film company this year.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and already at the forefront of the Oscar conversation<\/a>, follows a down-and-out former revolutionary whose daughter becomes a pawn in a conflict with a demented and racist old foe who is connected to a nefarious underground network. Other buzzy entries that have also hit on political themes this year include Ari Aster\u2019s \u201cEddington<\/a>,\u201d a treatise on the pandemic and a lot more, and Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow\u2019s \u201cA House of Dynamite<\/a>,\u201d which angered the Pentagon due to its commentary on the US\u2019s nuclear capabilities and handling of its weapons.\n <\/p>\n \n Escapism will always come into play for holiday moviegoing, but the prospect of a movie \u2013 even one set in the magical land of Oz \u2013 inspiring conversation about serious, real-world matters affecting lots of families this season would be a change for, well, good.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0 This story contains spoilers for the new movie \u201cWicked: For Good.\u201d For anyone who loves \u201cWicked,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":{"0":"post-307254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cynthia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/c-2552-d055-00350r.jpg\")
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