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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2622 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 28, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Can anyone explain the appeal of the book/play/film Wicked to me? I really, really don't get it. At all. What's the appeal of this plotline? Everything people say it is about, I don't see. I feel like there's zero work put into explaining why characters do what they do, or why I'm supposed to care about them. I don't identify at all with any of the characters.

I'm not inherently opposed to revisionist versions of stories, or to musicals. I can get caught up in either or both. But I just don't get Wicked. Can anyone help me out here?

((Also, Ariana Grande should not be allowed on screen. That might not be helping.))

The book (series) is an incredibly grimdark. It's mostly notable now as a culmination the trend of other fantasy retellings, but I can't really recommend it, for a lot of the same reasons. A lot of the people going to read it after seeing the movie are going to be pretty disappointed. That said, the characters are pretty well-explained and have clear motivations: they're just universally petty and selfish motivations. It's very much an exploration of the cycle of harm and motivations of evil.

Popocatepetl's got a Bulveristic take that works for the movies, but for the book, it's a Carrie story. It's not about how you could get everything you could want, and how it's just bad people's faults you didn't. It's about that anger and outright hatred burning in you, and having just cause in your targets, and it not really being your fault, even if your methods are wrong. I don't like it, but I'm not outside of the appeal.

I really, really don't get it.

I don't see a problem here. I didn't see it, and don't intend to. I have a list of approximately 100+ books to read, about a year worth of already existing movie and video material to see (not counting the rewatches), and I have other stuff to do. At this point, for me to even pay attention to something new Hollywood (taking it expansively) produces they need to work really really hard to sell it to me. Why even care?

Can anyone explain the appeal of the play Wicked to me?

For me - Kristin Chenoweth's breasts - they are/were up there with Sydney Sweeny, Alexandra Daddario and Eva Green's ...

Image search is returning photos of a woman I'd prefer to see with more clothing on, not less, so I must be misunderstanding who you mean.

One funny thing you get today when you watch 50s-70s cinema that by default the elch media catalog will automatically download recent photos, so you get to see every actor and actress how they looked at the end of their career.

It's almost never good..rare is the person who ages gracefully.

Add young to the search. She was a hottie in her 30-s or in Pushing Daisies.

Ah, the same factor which made the first two Transformers films watchable!

Wait what? I've seen her in other things and can't say I ever noticed them, but maybe I'm not paying attention.

Can anyone explain the appeal of the book/play/film Wicked to me? I really, really don't get it.

"What if the reason you're not at the top of the social pyramid and your life is filled with drama is not your personal flaws, but because you're such a good person that you're being vilified by the superficial mean people around you."

This is an incredibly appealing fantasy to women, especially young women. The boy version of that appeal can be found in something like Ender's Game or The Matrix, where a disliked low-status guy has immense hidden potential that's waiting to be unlocked by a good mentor / call to action.

Hmm... you stumbled right into the girlboss trope. And the Matrix is not suitable for one reason only (and the same reason Mulan is not a girl boss) - Neo didn't make the jump on the first try. The girlboss for boys was Wanted. You are super assassin and get to fuck angelina jolie, just because of your genes - no effort required.

Girls are far more into the Wizard of Oz than boys are.

I think it captures the idea of "little girl goes on an adventure" much better than most stories.

For boys it's just a fairly forgettable movie they saw in their childhood and it's crowded out of their thoughts by films they see when they are just a little bit older and have guns / swords / battles / etc.

Stories aimed at girls introduce romantic plots well before the audience is old enough to have any interest in boys. It's probably a cultural hint to try to get them to choose their future partners wisely. I think Oz sticks with them as a fun adventure fantasy with no boys allowed.

Additionally there's a strong cultural current of "witches are awesome and evil witch stories are just the patriarchy pushing misogyny".

So a story that goes back and reinterprets the Wicked Witch as misunderstood and kind of bad ass is fun.

Stories aimed at girls introduce romantic plots well before the audience is old enough to have any interest in boys. It's probably a cultural hint to try to get them to choose their future partners wisely.

Judging by single-motherhood rates, the hints don't appear to be working. “Instructions unclear…”

Additionally there's a strong cultural current of "witches are awesome and evil witch stories are just the patriarchy pushing misogyny".

/r/WitchesVsPatriarchy

Naturally, the coven features wholesome and inclusive representation of bio-warlocks.

The Parker-Stone phenomenon.

I haven't seen the movie, but I have seen the musical. It has great songs, which is over halfway to the goal line if you're a musical. And I think that the arc of Elphaba and Glinda, going from a really awful relationship, to best friends, to having to part ways, is interesting and works well. Otherwise, it's not something amazing (the movie is almost certainly severely overhyped, even if it's good there's no way it's as good as people say it is). It's just a pleasant musical about a more sympathetic take on a villain from a classic story. If you aren't feeling the musical side of things, check out the original cast recording of the stage version and see if you like that more. I think that soundtrack slaps.

I haven't read the book either (it's on the list to be read someday), but from what I understand it's significantly different from the play, to the point that it isn't really relevant to any discussion about the play (and now movie).

Yeah I don't think you have to get more complicated than the fact that the songs are just really good. Like all musicals, plot and character simply aren't the important parts. It's not like bad characters and nonsense plots hurt Grease or Cats. "Defying Gravity" is good enough to justify the rest of the play on Its own.

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