In The Movie There Is A Case To Be Made That The Closeness Between Elphaba And Glinda Is The Reason Elphaba

In the movie there is a case to be made that the closeness between Elphaba and Glinda is the reason Elphaba didn't fall for Morrible and the Wizard's nefarious plan in the first place.

Like, yes, I think it's pretty much canon across all versions that Elphaba will always revolt in the end. That she can't abide to the cruelty against the Animals and will rage against the machine, so to speak.

But what if she was broken first? How much further would she have fallen for that propaganda, if Glinda had not shown her kindness? In the movie, we see Morrible approach is far subtler than the book or musical. And she even manages to redirection Elphaba's anger for the Animals' mistreatment and harness it into powerful magic.

If Morrible had been able to follow that trajectory, how far would that manipulation have gone? I can easily see an abuser/victim dynamic, where Elphaba only feels competent and important when she's being mentored or in the presence of Morrible. And why would she leave her? Morrible is the only person who ever believed in her.

But in comes Miss Bubble and Glitter. Who tells Elphie she's beautiful, and recognizes her immense talent, and worst of all, she's in the same class Morrible uses to try and train Elphaba into a pawn on her chess board. Suddenly, there is no other way but to back off on the emotional manipulation, bc suddenly she is here too…

Even before they step into the throne room, Glinda takes a moment to pause, look her in the eyes and say: "Elphaba Thropp, listen to me. You can do this. You can do anything." Reaffirming her belief in Elphaba.

And then that intimacy between Elphaba and Glinda is instantly turned against each other the moment Elphaba realizes what's actually up. Elphaba can't be manipulated like the way they planned? Fine. Blondie, you're our barging chip now. First it is done as positive reinforcement: "And hey, if it'll make you happy, possibly, your friend [can stay too]."

And then, as Elphaba actively flees, it is no longer Glinda who tells the Wizard she'll "fetch her back." No. Now Morrible is the one who tries the Glinda-as-a-bargaining-chip-tactic and demands her to get Elphaba back.

Sure, Glinda is the one who eventually gets sucked into the position that was meant for Elphaba. But how easily could the tables have been turned? Where Glinda didn't take that leap towards Elphaba at the Ozdust ballroom? Where they didn't get close and Elphaba remained an outsider, fending for herself.

In that timeline, Morrible would've been able to dig her claws in deeper, and it would not be Glinda, but Elphaba who became the Wizard's puppet instead.

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Something that makes me so emotional about book Elphaba is the incredibly subtle ways she shows her love for Glinda, so on par with Elphaba’s character and so subtle that if you blink you miss it.

Elphaba kisses Glinda on the carriage, that’s explicit, but before that she nearly misses it because she was buying food. For Glinda. Elphaba knew very well she wasn’t going back to Shiz that day, yet she still bought Glinda food with money she definitely needed for herself just so that Glinda wouldn’t be hungry on the way home.

Then you have the way she visits Saint Glinda’s shrine, Glinda’s namesake. Elphaba is not religious whatsoever, she’s very vitriolic towards the idea of religion in the book, yet she visits a Unionist shrine of all places that just happens to have statues of her “best friend’s” namesake.

She also asks the most questions of all about Glinda when Fiyero visits her, and asks about her first to add to that. Elphaba wants to know the most about Glinda. More than her father, Nessarose, Shell, the people who are her family (said loosely). More than even Fiyero, and he’s sitting right in front of her. She couldn’t care less about Fiyero’s wife yet is thoroughly offended when she finds out Glinda “only” married a baronet.

When Fiyero asks if Elphaba is married, she says “yes, but not to a man” and breaks down in tears. In the book water does hurt Elphaba, including her tears, so it stands to reason she doesn’t cry often. But the thought of being “married” to someone that isn’t there, that she can’t be with, is enough to cause her to harm herself even if it’s inadvertently. It would make sense for it to be Glinda, for Glinda is the only person to ever have even brought her close to tears.

And finally, this one is just silly, but the way Fiyero makes a comment on how Elphaba didn’t bleed the first time they have sex and the way she just blows him off by saying “well I’m not as virginal as you think” one hundred percent means Glinda was her first time.

I also do think that Elphaba really does love Fiyero, and I do mean romantically. But in the end he’s still just a distraction, a balm for the fact that the one person Elphaba truly wants is the person she can’t have. And that person is Glinda.

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