There are plot spoilers revealed here for those of you who haven't watched/read Wicked or watched the Wizard of Oz before. This comes from #13 in the official recording list called "Wonderful." If enough people ask, I could load it up.
For those of you who have seen the Wizard of Oz, the wizard is pretty much feared by the people of Oz for being a magical being that has an infinite source of power and is seen as a "last-resort" for nearly every problem. Ultimately, the wizard is nothing more than an ordinary man who has come to Oz in a hot air balloon. The people of Oz admire the "wizard" and he ends up becoming the ruler of Oz and uses his minimum knowledge of technology to fool the people into believing he's something he is not.
The Wizard is ultimately discovered and is forced to explain himself. I will not give away the details because that will ruin the plot of Wicked. But this base knowledge is common ground and doesn't spoil the plot of the play in really any significant way I can think of.
Overall I thought that the message was pretty powerful.
+ The first topic that the song mentions seems to correlate with personal limitations. The "wizard" seems to give himself a low image of himself. The first assumption of the audience is to take his word for it. The "wizard" has been a liar this whole time and is finally admitting the truth. This is a golden opportunity. But on second analysis, one should wonder whether or not the wizard is giving himself an accurate perception of himself.
Often times first person narratives express some sort of bias which the reader should always look for. Even though self-loathing is usually disarming, I think that the wizard is underestimating his own intelligence. The main clue is the fact that the wizard has created a highly sophisticated robot to scare away the people of Oz into believing he's this fearsome mystical being. A "corn-fed hick" certainly couldn't invent such a thing on his own without proper guidance.
Even though the wizard has fallen into a moral dilemma of being truthful to the people of Oz, this does not mean he is intellectually ignorant. The two are separate capacities that are not necessarily tied together in my personal opinion.
+ The second note of interest I found with the play was the fact that it reflected on the meaning of history. There are many who state, "history is written by the conquerors." Unmistakeably history is a biased account that for the most part tells the story from one type of lens. Especially in specific fields such as American history where one side of the story is focused and for the most part told. I think that this theme correlates well with the idea of first-person narrative in terms of personal bias being a factor in influencing how certain writing should be read.
For example, if someone made a giant slander campaign on Sleepywood and caused 5,000 people to come to Southperry, then think how Sleepywood would write it off: [xxx user has been banned for maliciously defrauding the site.] Meanwhile, look at how the Southperry community would view the incident, "This guy is amazing... blah blah blah."
The exact same event told in drastically two-different lights. "A man's called a traitor, or a liberator- It's all in which label is able to persist."
+ The last thing which made this one of my absolutely favorite songs for this week was this portion, "There are precious few at ease. With moral ambiguities. So we act as though they don't exist." There are an innumerable amount of issues which are hidden under wraps. There are even issues that are so paramount that we hide them with other issues.
For example, instead of asking specifics about how Obama or McCain will actually pull their "words" into "practice," the conversation for the most part turns to rather trivial social matters such as "religious scandals" and "tabloid fillers."
Fundamental religious forces and their opposing sides have forced our candidates to be uncomfortably two-dimensional. There is no "fence-walker" who agrees on some points with both sides. You're either pro-gay marriage or not. You're either Christian or you're not. You either support abortions or you don't. There is no "middle-line." But the pure fact is that in order to survive in society, we make exceptions everyday and evolve as people. The exact same thing goes for political leaders who have to leave some battles alone and take up others. The world is extremely ambiguous. And it must be in order for everyone to work together and maintain their own sense of individuality. It's not about heroes and villains. The gorgeous and the ugly. The rich and the poor. Life is always a mix of the above and we have to realize this if we don't want to be swindled like Oz.
For those of you who have seen the Wizard of Oz, the wizard is pretty much feared by the people of Oz for being a magical being that has an infinite source of power and is seen as a "last-resort" for nearly every problem. Ultimately, the wizard is nothing more than an ordinary man who has come to Oz in a hot air balloon. The people of Oz admire the "wizard" and he ends up becoming the ruler of Oz and uses his minimum knowledge of technology to fool the people into believing he's something he is not.
The Wizard is ultimately discovered and is forced to explain himself. I will not give away the details because that will ruin the plot of Wicked. But this base knowledge is common ground and doesn't spoil the plot of the play in really any significant way I can think of.
Wonderful Wrote:WIZARD
I never asked for this
Or planned it in advance
I was merely blown here
By the winds of chance
I never saw myself
As a Solomon or Socrates
I knew who I was:
One of your dime a dozen
Mediocrities
Then suddenly I'm here
Respected - worshipped, even
Just because the folks in Oz
Needed someone to believe in
Does it surprise you
I got hooked, and all too soon?
What can I say?
I got carried away
And not just by balloon:
Wonderful
They called me "Wonderful"
So I said "Wonderful" - if you insist
I will be "Wonderful"
And they said "Wonderful"
Believe me, it's hard to resist
'Cause it feels wonderful
They think I'm wonderful
Hey, look who's wonderful -
This corn-fed hick
Who said: "It might be keen
To build a town of green
And a wonderful road of yellow brick!"
(spoken) See - I never had a family of my own. So, I
guess I just - wanted to give the citizens of Oz everything.
?????(spoken) So you lied to them.
WIZARD
(spoken) ?????, where I'm from, we believe all sorts of
things that aren't true. We call it - "history."
(sung) A man's called a traitor - or liberator
A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist
Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader?
It's all in which label
Is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don't exist
They call me "Wonderful"
So I am wonderful
In fact - it's so much who I am
It's part of my name
And with my help, you can be the same
At long, long last receive your due
Long overdue
????? - The most celebrated
Are the rehabilitated
There'll be such a - whoop-de-doo
A celebration throughout Oz
That's all to do - with you
Wonderful
They'll call you wonderful:
?????-
It does sound wonderful:
WIZARD
Trust me - it's fun
BOTH
When you are wonderful
It would be wonderful?
Wonderful, wonderful
WIZARD
One! Two! And:
(they dance)
Overall I thought that the message was pretty powerful.
+ The first topic that the song mentions seems to correlate with personal limitations. The "wizard" seems to give himself a low image of himself. The first assumption of the audience is to take his word for it. The "wizard" has been a liar this whole time and is finally admitting the truth. This is a golden opportunity. But on second analysis, one should wonder whether or not the wizard is giving himself an accurate perception of himself.
Often times first person narratives express some sort of bias which the reader should always look for. Even though self-loathing is usually disarming, I think that the wizard is underestimating his own intelligence. The main clue is the fact that the wizard has created a highly sophisticated robot to scare away the people of Oz into believing he's this fearsome mystical being. A "corn-fed hick" certainly couldn't invent such a thing on his own without proper guidance.
Even though the wizard has fallen into a moral dilemma of being truthful to the people of Oz, this does not mean he is intellectually ignorant. The two are separate capacities that are not necessarily tied together in my personal opinion.
+ The second note of interest I found with the play was the fact that it reflected on the meaning of history. There are many who state, "history is written by the conquerors." Unmistakeably history is a biased account that for the most part tells the story from one type of lens. Especially in specific fields such as American history where one side of the story is focused and for the most part told. I think that this theme correlates well with the idea of first-person narrative in terms of personal bias being a factor in influencing how certain writing should be read.
For example, if someone made a giant slander campaign on Sleepywood and caused 5,000 people to come to Southperry, then think how Sleepywood would write it off: [xxx user has been banned for maliciously defrauding the site.] Meanwhile, look at how the Southperry community would view the incident, "This guy is amazing... blah blah blah."
The exact same event told in drastically two-different lights. "A man's called a traitor, or a liberator- It's all in which label is able to persist."
+ The last thing which made this one of my absolutely favorite songs for this week was this portion, "There are precious few at ease. With moral ambiguities. So we act as though they don't exist." There are an innumerable amount of issues which are hidden under wraps. There are even issues that are so paramount that we hide them with other issues.
For example, instead of asking specifics about how Obama or McCain will actually pull their "words" into "practice," the conversation for the most part turns to rather trivial social matters such as "religious scandals" and "tabloid fillers."
Fundamental religious forces and their opposing sides have forced our candidates to be uncomfortably two-dimensional. There is no "fence-walker" who agrees on some points with both sides. You're either pro-gay marriage or not. You're either Christian or you're not. You either support abortions or you don't. There is no "middle-line." But the pure fact is that in order to survive in society, we make exceptions everyday and evolve as people. The exact same thing goes for political leaders who have to leave some battles alone and take up others. The world is extremely ambiguous. And it must be in order for everyone to work together and maintain their own sense of individuality. It's not about heroes and villains. The gorgeous and the ugly. The rich and the poor. Life is always a mix of the above and we have to realize this if we don't want to be swindled like Oz.