Bigots think ‘woke’ Wicked will ‘go broke’. Record box-office takings say otherwise
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked. (Universal Studios)
Right-wing pundits and homophobes are apparently surprised to hear that hit musical Wicked is queer.
The film adaptation of the smash-hit Wizard of Oz spin-off, which features an unlikely friendship blossoming between two witches, smashed box-office records for the opening of a Broadway film adaptation.
But some commentators have accused the famously camp musical of “going woke.”
The X/Twitter account “End Wokeness” shared a clip of co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo discussing the queerness of the land of Oz, saying it was “so gay, even the animals in Oz are gay”.
Homophobes and right-wing pundits labelled the musical ‘woke’, strangely using the old catchphrase “go woke, go broke” – somehow missing the fact that it took close to $165 million (£131 million) worldwide on its opening weekend.
One user, who vented his frustration that the co-stars would suggest that anything in the land of Oz has “always been a queer place,” asked: “Since when?”
The original 1939 film, starring gay icon Judy Garland, is so integrated into queer society that it was referenced in a code phrase used – particularly– by gay men before homosexuality was legal, to signify their identity: friends of Dorothy.
Queerness is such an integral part of The Wizard of Oz, that Kenya Barris, who is set to direct a remake, assured fans that it would be unapologetically LGBTQ+.
“The original was an allegory and a reflection of the way the world was at the time, with things like the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl,” the Black-ish director said in 2022. “We’re going to turn a mirror on where we’re at right now and take disparate characters from the LGBTQ+ community, from different cultural communities and socio-economic communities, and tell a story that reflects the world.”
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