The Land of Oz has long been a space where LGBTQ+ people feel welcomed. Now with Out’s queer Icon of the Year, Cynthia Erivo, in the role of Elphaba, the witch who is othered because of her green skin in Wicked, the character resonates even more with queer audiences.
Adapted from Gregory McGuire’s prequel to L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book series, Jon M. Chu's big-screen musical Wicked leans into themes of empathy and acceptance in reframing Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, as a good person forced to break with society by those in power. At the precise moment that Elphaba is exiled for exposing dangerous truths about the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh respectively in the film), she comes into her full power and flies for the first time, all while belting “Defying Gravity.”
Long an anthem embraced by folks who have been othered, “Defying Gravity’s” lyrics took on new weight in the days after the election on Nov. 5.
“Something has changed within me / Something is not the same / I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else's game,” Elphaba sings as Glinda (Ariana Grande) hopes to convince her to remain grounded. “Too late for second-guessing / Too late to go back to sleep / It’s time to trust my instincts / Close my eyes and leap.”
Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in 'Wicked,' directed by Jon M. ChuGiles Keyte/Universal Pictures /© Universal Studios
When asked what it means to her that marginalized people turn to “Defying Gravity” for solace and inspiration in dark times, Erivo became emotional.
“I didn’t know that was happening. That's really powerful. That’s why I wanted,” she told Out while turning to her on-and-off-screen friend Grande, who took Erivo’s hand.
Elphaba’s story of being othered for being different is universal to so many outside the mainstream. Erivo shared what the song represents for her character and how it’s a universal anthem for finding power within.
“It’s really important for her in that moment to not allow the things that have hurt her, that have stripped her of her humanity to keep her down, that she does defy gravity, that the possibilities for her at that point, that she decides that they are endless, that it is within her power to change things, that she chooses flight as opposed to staying tethered to the ground,” Erivo said. “That’s something that we can all learn, that we don't have to be tethered, that we can actually fly, that we can change things, that we can allow the things that make us special to really make us elevate.”
Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in 'Wicked.' Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures/© Universal Studios
In her Out100 cover story, Erivo shared that she understood who Elphaba was at a core level as she stepped into the iconic role.
“It's hard to talk about Elphaba as an other without having it intrinsically linked to being a woman who walks through the world as a queer Black woman. Immediately I understood what it meant for people to look at you and see you as not beautiful, not acceptable, not any of those things, because I walked through the world like this,” Erivo said. “And having to find a way to not necessarily be OK with it but be OK with yourself enough so that when other people put that on you, you can still move through it.”
Wicked hits theaters on November 22.
