“For being Black to be like being green to work, ‘Wicked’ would have to capture the systemic oppression of other green and Black people in Oz, which it cannot do because there are none,” writes Michael R. Jackson.
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Oh - never ever would allegories work in fiction? You have hundreds of years with proof that it works and is remembered. Ever heard of Gulliver's Travels?
The oppression wasn't of Elphaba, it was the animals. Elphaba stood up for the opposed and in doing so it was realized she was superior to the self proclaimed wizard, who held the power to make her the enemy.
The minority in Wicked is Doctor Dillimond, not Elphaba. It’s he and the other animals that are being discriminated against by the government. To say that the show is not political in nature is absurd.
The author of the guest essay taking years to realize the script has political implications is an indictment of his judgement more than anything else. The real crime here however, is that someone decided this was an appropriate sentence length. There are TWELVE commas in this sentence.
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(kinda works for Wicked)
I have yet to see the film.