Wicked And The Politics of Revolution

The Bitchuation Room

TYT Network

News Commentary, News, Comedy, Government

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is Glinda a centrist? Is Elphaba a revolutionary leader or did she fail? And how does the story of Elphaba and Glinda working together teach us some lessons for fighting fascism in a very unmagical place: present-day United States. Francesca unpacks the political allegories in Wicked, beyond Oz’s anti-animal fascism, to look at how the allyship between Glinda and Elphaba mirrors characters within the Democratic Party. Elphaba is a bit Bernie-esque, while Glinda is quite Kamala-coded. But Elphaba and Glinda and also kind of remind us of revolutionary duos throughout history like MLK Jr. and Malcolm X, Gandhi and Nehru, or Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Changemakers who worked toward justice both inside and outside of their political systems, to bring change to their people. Who knows if they made change for the better, but they made change … for good ;) *Become a paying patron to get Francesca's exclusive behind the scenes & extra frants* Support these deep dive episodes by becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/bitchuationroom. You can also be a member on YouTube, Twitch, or a paid subscriber on substack: franifio.substack.com. See Francesca LIVE PASADENA Saturday December 13th, 7:30pm, The Ice House https://www.showclix.com/event/new-world-disorder-12-13-25-7-30-pm Get 20% off SUNSET LAKE CBD with code FRANTIFA at check out. Explore all their organic, vertically-integrated craft CBD products including tinctures, gummies, smokables, salves and more: https://www.sunsetlakecbd.com *** Tip the show: Venmo: @TBR-LIVE Cash-App: @TBRLIVE Get your union-made TBR merch: www.bitchuationroom.com *** Thanks to Brent Godin, Paige Oamek, & Andy Vasoyan *** Follow The Bitchuation Room on Twitter @BitchuationPod BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bitchuationroom.bsky.social Check Out The Bitchuation Room Podcast on: iTunes: http://bit.ly/iTunesbitchuation Google Music: http://bit.ly/GoogleBitchuation Stitcher: http://bit.ly/stitcherbitchuation Spotify: http://bit.ly/spotifybitchuation Find Francesca On: Substack: franifio.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/franifio YouTube: The Bitchuation Room’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/franifio Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/franifio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Franifio Insta: https://www.instagram.com/franifio/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, like a lot of you, I too saw Wicked for Good over Thanksgiving.
0:05.0	There's just nothing like working off all that gravy by sitting on your ass eating popcorn for two hours.
0:11.0	I loved it, okay? I loved everything about Wicked, except that cowardly lion, who isn't informant.
0:19.0	Yeah, he deserves a medal for snitching. Anyway, I came away with a few thoughts
0:23.3	about what Elphaba and Glinda's journeys tell us about revolution versus reform, how change
0:29.4	happens, and whether or not Glinda is kind of a shi-lib. Like, she's a bit centretotious. And I realize
0:35.9	it's weird to draw lessons from works of fiction, but reality's not giving me much these days.
0:41.3	A bunch of obvious lessons, decade after decade that no one ever learns, and oops, fascism!
0:47.3	Again!
0:48.3	Could there be, hidden in wicked, some strategies for how to topple fascism by working together with unlikely allies from both
0:55.6	inside the system and outside of it? Or is wicked a warning to not work with those people because
1:01.6	they might sell us out? Now, first off, this video is going to have wicked spoilers, so if you
1:07.6	haven't seen it, keep watching and allow me to pop your Ozian cherry or bubble.
1:12.6	Second, I have not read the books, okay? So please don't butt the book me.
1:17.6	I know they're darker and there's orgies with animals. So believe me, it is on my to-do list.
1:23.6	So to recap, Wicked is the prequel to the Wizard of Oz.
1:27.5	It's the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.
1:31.9	But at its core, it's really a story of two friends or frenemies.
1:41.0	One is an outsider, but hopes to use her untamed magical powers to win favor with the wizard and be heralded one day for her good deeds.
1:49.0	The other is the ultimate insider, the beloved, image-obsessed blonde, who is, of course,
2:06.6	Popular.
2:08.6	She lacks magical powers but is desperate for attention, fame and therefore does good deeds that are more self-serving than anything else.
	...

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