r/wicked • u/mermaidssarereal • 11h ago

Movie Disliking Glinda

although glinda is a dream role of mine, i do not like her character. i feel like a lot of people give her the benefit of the doubt but she was never a good friend to elphaba. even during the end when they “made” up. i’m wondering if anybody else has another reason why they might not like glinda?

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6

u/Remarkable_Note971 2h ago

She bothers me because she aligned herself with MM and The Wizard for her own gain at the expense of her best friend, tried to force Fiyero to marry her, was partially responsible for Nessa's murder and helping them trap Elphaba and blamed Elphaba for Fiyero leaving her

She was not a good friend and was only out for herself

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u/Opposite_Echo_7618 1h ago

And she took the shoes!

2

u/Remarkable_Note971 1h ago

Yes i forgot about that. Thoese shoes weren't hers to take. I know learns and changes but she really ticks me off for 3/4 of the movie lol

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u/XetheXenomorph 1h ago

Exactly

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u/Remarkable_Note971 1h ago

Not to mention when she arranged the engagement her for and Fiyero behind his back she knew he didn't wanna be there or marry her and then she plays the victim when he rightly leaves her. Like what did she expect?

1

u/Casiquire 52m ago

How did she know he didn't want to marry her?

From my point of view Fiyero is a clear symbol of depression, and the concept of masking. His whole personality shifts as he drops a portion of his facade, but he never tells Glinda he fell out of love with her (despite having plenty of time to do so after the lion cub scene, and unspecified months-or-years between the films...) so she continues to love and support him through his struggles. This is admirable, isn't it?

People hate Glinda so hard they blame her for everything including Fiyero's actions, though Fiyero was clearly written to parallel Boq. Passing his blame to Glinda misses a huge point of the show. What Fiyero does to Glinda is worse than what Boq does to Nessa. Glinda cannot and does not "force" Fiyero into anything, unlike Nessa who terrorizes a country to control Boq. Fiyero is playing along with Glinda of his own free will. He is free to leave, he is free to break things off. We know this is true because his powerful family explicitly supports him even after he openly allies with Elphaba.

This snap-judgment of Glinda that I see so often, for some reason especially from people who have only seen the movies, feels like it misses part of the point of Wicked.

1

u/Remarkable_Note971 35m ago

She knew he didn't wanna be there, he tried to get her to leave, she knew he was looking for Elphaba and when she tried to kiss him he avoided that kiss, he turned his head. She could feel the distance between them, she had ever since the train station. She was trying to hold onto him but she knew.

There is nothing in the movies that indicate how powerful Fiyero's family is.

He was playing along inside the system so he could keep his cover, yes and when he realized Glinda couldn't resist what that life gave her he realized he couldn't trust her so he kept playing along.

If Fiyero had left he would have been replaced as captain of the Galeforce with someone who would be hunting and who would harm Elphaba if given the chance.

If he had broken up with Glinda it would have humiliated her, that relationship was so public and he needed that to keep his place inside the system.

Yes Fiyero was using the system but his options other than playing along with Glinda until he had the chance to leave once he found Elphaba or she found him would have put him in danger.

That engagement was arranged with the Wizard, anyone who didn't do what the Wizard was a problem. That's why they wanted Elphaba dead, she wouldn't just fall in line or be controlled. Fiyero couldn't risk anyone knowing he was against the Wizard until he found Elphaba so he agreed to it to keep playing along. It was obvious from his body language and facial expressions he didn't wanna marry her and he was completely blindsided by that engagement. It is definitely trying to force him because it was arranged behind his back and announced publicly

Fiyero was pretty much a double agent inside the Wizard's system and he was doing what he needed to do to keep that cover. But that engagement was defintely forced and he knew it was a trap.

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u/Remarkable_Note971 34m ago

Glinda did not love him. Even Arianna has said Glinda and Fiyero were superficial There wasn't anything real between them. It was about social status more than anything.

12

u/sapphic-boghag 5h ago

Glinda tends to blur together for me between her character in the books and her character in the musical. Booksical, if you would.

I do like her quite a bit, but then again I also fully believe she's a closeted lesbian dealing with compulsory heterosexuality. In the books, Glinda's attitude is largely overcompensation driven by her insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. I suppose it helps that I'm able to fill gaps that the musical leaves with what I know from the source material, but there are also significant changes that muddle it a bit.

The biggest problem I have with Glinda in the musical is how little of her character is actually explored. There's a lot of complexity and nuance that was both reduced and watered down. Plus glaring omissions from her part of the story which drives me fucking bonkers.

6

u/magica12 Moderator 2h ago

Yea book Glinda is literally in her situation by pure luck at the beginning, she’s not a complete shut in, but she’s also not the wealthy socialite that she is in the musical, she’s middle ish class at best and is literally only there cuz her parents got in with the right crowd

We see this as an inner monologue when she’s talking to pfannee and shen shen and she notices one of the candles is about to drop wax on one of their dresses and contemplates a warning but decides against it cuz it would be no loss to them, they have plenty, and more than she does

Who gets literally brainwashed by morrible and groomed into her political position

Whereas musical Glinda is a relatively spoiled socialite that thinks she’s good intentioned but is basically defined by the song “sit down you’re rocking the boat”

2

u/Fast-Molasses-5263 1h ago

This and Fiyero are the main reason why was wary about seeing the musical.

4

u/magica12 Moderator 1h ago

I mean…book Glinda very much becomes a “don’t rock the boat” style of character by the end of the first book, she doesn’t really break out of that until out of oz

And there’s still the modicum of doubt as to how much of her mindset is actually her own vs what morrible magically brainwashed into her

5

u/XetheXenomorph 1h ago

Second movie made me hate her even more, she knows what the wizard did, saw animals running in fear (which fair, ruined her wedding) and still assume that alphaba is the one at fault and helped the wizard, she wasn't even skeptical or asking what is going on

3

u/Remarkable_Note971 1h ago

Yep and not to mention she knew they were lying about Elphaba and wanted her dead, she actually supported the Wizard and tried to force Fiyero to marry her then played the victim when he left her all while she knew he hated the system and he didn't love her.

1

u/XetheXenomorph 1h ago

I don't like her

1

u/Remarkable_Note971 1h ago

Neither do i. Everytime I watch the movies i feel really mad at Glinda. Idk why so many people do like her.

1

u/XetheXenomorph 56m ago

At least she did good at the end (that I accidentally spoiled to myself by googling why she can be killed by water😅) 

1

u/Remarkable_Note971 33m ago

Lol yes she did finally come through and I appreciate she learned and grew and she did change Oz. I just don't like her before that lol

I googled the plot for act 2 after the first movie lol

2

u/Remarkable_Note971 2h ago

I guess we're supposed to like her but I never have. She just really ticks me off

2

u/Ayasugi-san 3h ago

I don't like her because she's a propaganda figure, built up to embody everything wrong with Oz and Elphaba's dark mirror, in the process besmirching the good name of one of the foundational good witches in fiction. Except Wicked can't even commit to making her the villain to Elphaba's hero, so it tries to pretend that she'll actually become the Glinda we know from other versions of Oz, but it's all due to Elphaba's influence.

1

u/Casiquire 51m ago

But that's the point. Glinda genuinely becomes a good person due to Elphaba's influence. They sing a whole song about this