Welp, I finished watching Wicked Part 1. I hated that movie like few things I watch, though admittedly part of what earns media this degree of hatred is the overwhelming degree of love that everyone else seems to hold for it? (Stop reading now if you haven't seen it yet and care about spoilers -- I don't go into depth but you'll definitely walk away knowing a few reveals.)

I imagine most of the viewers singing this film's praises see themselves as Elphaba and revel in her triumph of self-actualization: whereas my strongest connection in this film was to the increasingly silenced animals.** Therefore, what I saw is a protagonist rejecting self-advancement and taking a stand -- good! -- and then nevertheless spinning that off into a prolonged musical number about her own greatness and strength in defying gravity with nary a mention of the noble cause that animated her, because it wasn't *actually* that cause that moved her.

Whether we're talking about the leads or the numerous others relegated to the background in their big spectacular scenes, this was a movie filled with thoroughly shallow and self-centered characters who ultimately cared more for popularity than they did about others in their midst or causes bigger than themselves. And it's hard for me not to see how those kinds of attitudes are at the root of so many problems we face at the societal level and even within our smaller communities.

**Also -- and admittedly, as I note in various recordings, my mouth is seemingly constructed and therefore moves differently from those of others, so perhaps I am an anomaly here -- pronouncifying*** "Ga" does not require the use of upper front teeth. In fact, no part of "Galinda" requires the use of upper front teeth. That impediment required a different explanation.

***These linguistic quirks were irritating enough, but I especially bristled at characters' occasionally correcting each others' grammar on top of it. Were I as self-centered as Elphaba, I'd be convinced the creatives behind this film started from a list of what I personally would hate and then worked backwards. The only part I remotely liked was the Wizard's seeming excitement at showing Elphaba and Glinda his toys, complete with a custom figurine of the protagonist -- that was very much a me moment. Which of course meant he had to be one of the bad guys. 😛