'Wicked' Movie Synopsis
The movie begins in the wonderful land of Oz, right after Dorothy has killed the Wicked Witch of the West. All of Oz celebrates her defeat.
But then, Galinda, the Good Witch of the North, begins to tell us a much different story, the story of Elphaba Thropp, known to us as the Wicked Witch.
Elphaba was born with emerald-green skin, and thus faces prejudice and misunderstanding due to her pigmentation. Her Mom cheated on her Dad with an unseen man, and that man gave her mom a green potion that lead to her unnatural skin color.
As she grows up, she has no friends and is as cast out. Her Dad favors her wheelchair-bound sister, Nessa, and is distantly cruel to Elphaba.
When it's time for Nessa go to Shiz University, Elphaba tags along to help her, but when she displays her magical powers, she's invited to stay by the Madame Morrible. Morrible is a bit of a mystery to us, but wants to give Elphaba witch lessons to harness her powers.
At Shiz, Elphaba starts out bullied by everyone, including her roommate, Galinda, who only lets her stay in her room because she wants to be a witch too, and thinks Madame Morrible will teach her how to be one if she's nice to Elphaba.
Eventually, both women become friends after bonding at the Ozdust ballroom.
Despite their differences, they navigate the challenges of school, social pressures, and even find themselves drawn to the same charming man, Fiyero. He's handsome and seems perfect.
Morrible sees a lot of potential in Elphaba, and begins to tutor her in order to help her release her magical powers.
But as Elphaba and Galinda get deeper into school, they discover all is not well in Oz. Elphaba learns from Dr. Dillamond, a talking Goat history professor, that Animals across Oz are being stripped of their rights and voices.
Dr. Dillamond is forced to retire, replaced by a professor who cruelly experiments on animals.
In a fake form of homage, Galinda changes her name to 'Glinda' to honor the way Dr. Dillamond said her name.
Elphaba and Fiyero, disgusted, free a lion cub from the professor's clutches.They bond and we see that they actually have a crush on each other, and that Fiyero maybe doesn't have as strong feelings for Glinda anymore.
Elphaba is summoned to the Emerald City by the Wizard, and Glinda tags along with her as her best friend.
But after meeting the Wizard, whos is charming, they learn of a book called the grimoire, which can only be read by the most powerful magical people. Morrible shows up to encourage Elphaba to read the book, and Glinda concurs.
But Elphaba is tricked into casting a spell that gives the Wizard's monkey guards wings, revealing his true tyrannical nature. We learn that neither Morrible nor the Wizard can read the grimoire.
And they now want to use these winged monkeys as spies to help them stop the talking animals from existing in Oz.
Horrified, Elphaba rejects their offer to help them rule Oz, and tries to escape with Glinda. But Glinda is not ready to be part of a rebellion, she thinks it might be better to just be on the Wizard's side.
Glinda tries to convince Elphaba to surrender, but Elphaba chooses to fight for the oppressed. Bidding a tearful farewell to her friend, Elphaba uses her magic to escape the city, soaring into the unknown on a broomstick.
As Elphaba embraces her newfound identity and her extraordinary powers, she sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the fate of Oz.
It sets the story up for Part II, as Elphaba rejects the Wizard's offer and vows to fight against him, solidifying her position as an enemy of the state and showing the audience why she was called the "Wicked Witch."
Elphaba has to embrace her new identity and become a symbol of the resistance against the Wizard and Morrible.
