Myths & Mischief

Hello, and welcome to Myths & Mischief. It’s your friendly neighborhood Jeri again. As we go through our anxious wait for “Wicked: For Good” (coming to theaters November 22nd of this year), I suggested we take a closer look at some of the musical numbers and beats of the beloved musical. This time, we are going to go through “Popular”, Dr. Dillamond’s removal, and “I’m Not that Girl”— So, let’s begin.

Part 1: Popular

So, let’s set the scene with Elphaba and Galinda winding down after the party. Galinda asks Elphie if that was really her first party, to which Elphie responds, “Do funerals count?” Galinda laughs, and the two start to really bond. In a moment of inspiration, Galinda says she can hardly sleep and they should share secrets they haven’t told anyone else. Her secret is simple. She is going to marry Fiyero (he just doesn’t know it yet, according to her). When Galinda asks Elphie to respond in kind, Elphaba doesn’t know how to respond, so Galinda asks about the “little green bottle she sleeps with under her pillow.” After a game of keep away, Elphie takes it back, responding with “it was my mother’s.”

Galinda pouts that Elphie is unwilling to share a secret, leading to the bottom two frames we see, where she acts a tad childish.

Finally, Elphaba shares her secret. Her father hates her because he believes it was her fault that her mother died, and Nessa came out with her legs tangled and unusable because Elphaba was born green. If she wasn’t born green, Governor Thropp wouldn’t have made his wife chew milk flowers day and night to ensure that the next child would come out normal. But the milk flowers induced Mrs. Thropp early, and thus, her father hates her for reasons mentioned previously. (For fans of the book, Nessa is actually born without arms; her legs work fine.) Galinda responds honestly and kindly: “That was the milk flowers’ fault, not yours. That may be your secret, Elphaba, but that doesn’t make it true.”

Morning comes, and the two start bonding more, with Galinda choosing to make Elphie her next “project”. Though Elphaba tries to decline politely, Galinda insists. Thus, we arrive at the “Popular” sequence, arguably one of the funniest numbers in the movie and the show. Here are a few stills to give you an idea of what is going on:

(GASP Ruby Red Shoes?)

(Don’t these shoes look somewhat familiar? Hmmmmmmm…)

(RIGHT!)

Next, Galinda teaches Elphaba to toss her hair, implying its significance in Elphie becoming “Popular”.

My favorite scene of the number, though is where Galinda tries to turn Elphaba’s simple frock/coat (her simple “Froat”) into a ballgown using her new training wand, only to fail spectacularly. (“Just wear the froat, it’s pretty!”)

The scene ends with Galinda giving up on trying big, complicated things for Elphaba’s makeover, and settling on putting the flower Fiyero gave her in Elphaba’s hair. She comments that “pink goes good with green” and then finally “Why Miss Elphaba. Look at you. You’re beautiful…” Elphaba runs out, and Galinda finishes the song knowing that “clandestinely… you’re gonna grin and bear it, your newfound popularity.”

“You’ll be popular, but not quite as popular as me.”

We next see Elphaba heading to class, where she is readily and cheerfully greeted by her classmates. It seems she has earned some sort of popularity. She pauses at gazebo-like structure where she once again practices tossing her hair. Fiyero lingers behind her, telling her she’s been “Galinda-fied” but that she doesn’t need it. This is starting us down a path of evolving character growth for these two characters.

They head to Dr. Dillamond’s class, where Elphaba tries to give Dr. Dillamond a bouquet of poppies, previously established as his and her favorite flowers. He makes it clear that now is not the time and asks her to sit. Then, he tells them all horrible news: He is no longer able to teach— in fact, Animals in general are no longer permitted to teach, another one of their rights taken away from them.

Immediately after this, the area is stormed by officials, who take Dr. Dillamond away, who proclaims that they’re not being told the whole truth.

Elphaba watches on in complete horror, and then looks around at her classmates, asking them all if they are just going to keep quiet about this. Ms. Coddle tells her that it’s out of their hands and that she [Elphaba] should sit down. Then, their new professor, a human, enters the room, wheeling in a cart of some sort.

We find out that the cart actually holds a new invention upon it—a cage— and inside, a lion cub, trembling in fear, tries to escape his containment. The professor tries to remain adamant it is good for the animals’ (or Animals’) well-beings, but when Elphaba brings up the fact that the poor cub is trembling, the professor merely responds with “He’s just happy to be here.” He then goes on to explain how with this cage, there can be a new era where Animals no longer learn how to speak.

Elphaba then recalls her vision of Dr. Dillamond in the cage, bleating, and her shock and horror builds at the idea of a world where Animals could no longer talk. She asks Fiyero and Galinda what are they going to do, Fiyero questions her, and Elphaba responds with “Well, someone has to do something!” while slamming the bouquet of poppies upon the desk. This activates her latent magic, and soon, poppies are flying in the air and putting everyone but her and Fiyero to sleep. (Remember, poppies were the Wicked Witch of the West’s flower of choice in the original Wizard of Oz.)

Fiyero, moved to action, gathers the lion cub and he and Elphaba escape the classroom to get it to safety.

Their getaway vehicle of choice? A bike in the style of the Safety Model 1900 Orient bicycle , made by Waltham Manufacturing company, which is the same style of bike that Miss Gulch uses in the 1939 Wizard of Oz.

After, Madame Morrible comes to the class, probably to address the disturbance Dr. Dillamond’s removal would certainly cause, only to find the students and the teacher, and guards all unconscious, poppies floating in the air. She knows the cause right away — Elphaba and her magic. So, she writes the Wizard of Oz a letter immediately.

Back to Fiyero and Elphaba, we find them in the forest, setting the lion cub down to drink some water. They argue a bit about how Elphaba always causes some sort of commotion. They argue about how Elphaba is so passionate and never lets anyone else talk. She points out that Fiyero could have walked away and how shallow and self-absorbed he pretends to be; he’s not, otherwise he wouldn’t be so unhappy.

Elphaba notices Fiyero got scratched by the Lion cub, and we see a moment of tenderness between them blossom. (Ah, forbidden romances always get me)

This bleeds into a scene where Fiyero runs off to get the Lion cub to safety further into the woods, and Elphaba realizes she has some sort of feelings for him, bleeding right into the musical number:

Part 2: “I’m Not That Girl”

I won’t go deep into this beautifully heartbreaking rendition of the song, but just know that Elphaba realizes that she has, in fact, developed feelings for him, telling herself, “don’t dream too far, don’t lose sight of who you are.” She is also aware that Fiyero and Galinda are a couple, and she recognizes that that is the girl he chose. It is a beautiful reminder that love can hurt, too.

“Don’t wish, don’t start. Wishing only wounds the heart…”

But at the end of the song, we see Fiyero start to pull away from Galinda, looking back for who we can only assume to be Elphaba as they were separated in the woods. Galinda pulls him along, and we see foreshadowing of what’s to come in Wicked: For Good~

Ah, the drama. It makes my dark little Ozian heart happy. Thanks for taking this journey with me back into Oz, and I will see you later with Part 4, where we explore Galinda and Elphaba’s trip to Oz!!