Wicked | Graphic by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
On Nov. 22, the long-awaited movie “Wicked” hit theatres after many months of marketing. The film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, has been taking up a lot of space in the online and physical worlds as a result of the built-up excitement.
Holding space for the musical
As many already know, “Wicked” takes place in the same universe as “The Wizard of Oz,” which was published in 1900 as a book by L. Frank Baum and adapted into a cult-classic film, released in 1939.
In 1995, “Wicked” was published as the first installment in a trilogy by Gregory Maguire, written as a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” meaning that “Wicked” is technically fan fiction.
The musical made its debut in 2003 and has had a dedicated following ever since.
Cody Smith is a sophomore nursing major at Wright State University who has been a fan of “Wicked" for years, ever since he went to see it as his first-ever musical with his parents.
“‘Wicked’ has always held a special place in my heart,” Smith said. “I usually don’t like when they make musicals into movies, but I think they one-hundred percent did ‘Wicked’ justice in the movie!”
Smith shared that he enjoyed the movie, especially the performances of Erivo and Grande in it.
He is far from the only person to think this, as the two female co-stars have been dominating social media with clips of scenes and interviews as fans discuss their performances and the film.
Witches of marketing
Clips of the leads holding hands and crying throughout their interviews have been circulating for several months, which created a strong online discourse where fans and other onlookers became fascinated by their dynamic.
“I really liked how much emotion [Erivo and Grande] showed during their interviews. I know a lot of people made fun of how emotional they were but I thought it showed how much that musical meant to them,” Smith said.
Kylie Robinson is a junior and an elementary education major at WSU who has some experience in social media and marketing for her sorority, Kappa Delta. She shared some insights as a musical lover and someone who pays attention to media trends.
“I think the funniest thing about media or marketing is how easily the dumbest things can become the biggest trends online. Like look at the ‘holding space’ trend, it’s the goofiest thing. Taking a brief moment of an interview and turning it into a pop culture moment, that’s hilarious to me,” Robinson said.
Robinson created a TikTok with her sorority using this trend and found that it received relatively high engagement due to its fun nature and timeliness.
“People love to laugh and have fun no matter what their differences are. I think with the state of the world as it is, our generation loves to seek out humor to balance what’s happening around us,” Robinson said.
The discourse around “Wicked" is anything but serious, with people questioning whether they are an “Elphaba” or a “Glinda,” which are the leads played by Erivo and Grande, respectively.
There has also been discussion about both ladies’ love lives, as Grande is paired with “Wicked" co-star Ethan Slater, and Erivo is partnered with producer Lena Waithe. While Waithe is not associated with “Wicked,”the striking pair has still stirred up talk online.
The film: part one
“Wicked” has been unavoidable, from the cups and makeup palettes that are sold everywhere to the necessary trip to see it in theatres.
Clarissa Katzenbach, a freshman nursing major at WSU, went to see “Wicked" in theatres the first weekend that it became available. She had never seen the musical before and was excited to watch the movie.
“I’ve been seeing ads for the ‘Wicked’ movie since literally the fall of last year. They had ads on Instagram that I would see all the time so that’s kinda what made me wanna see it,” Katzenbach said. “This was the first time I’d seen the full first part of the story, which I think made it even better.”
Katzenbach also shared that “Defying Gravity” was a particularly moving song for her, and clips of it helped motivate her to go see the film so quickly after its release. She also shared that she, like many others, held space for the song’s lyrics.
“I think of it as not caring about social norms or what other people think, and doing what you think is right anyways,” Katzenbach said.
The musical movie of the year is still eating up a lot of the online space, and its first part is still in theatres. “Wicked: Part Two” is set to release on Nov. 21, 2025, so fans can, more than likely, look forward to another full year of online “Wicked” discourse.
