gaylinda upland

hyperfixations come and go and yet i’m still here they/them. 🔞+.

[thelesbianvaultz]

glinda the coded lesbian: an analysis

alright peoples!

pull up a chair and take a seat as i walk you through the deeply entrenched lesbian coding of galinda upland/glinda the good and the multiple closeting metaphors in wicked and wicked for good.

i obviously have to start this off with the literal lesbian flag poppy-field. and on the freaking title card, seriously?

there will be more on the lesbian flag color scheme in a minute, but first we must get on with the closet metaphors so… follow me. c’mon.

closet metaphor #1: popular

(gif credit: @glindauplland)

during popular—the song where galinda essentially tries to teach elphaba how to be successful in life by performing and abiding by the society approved terms and conditions—galinda removes elphie’s glasses so she can consider how she looks without them on. she stares for a moment—with eyes full of affection and smiling—and then she abruptly shoves them back on and verbally implies that she finds elphaba unattractive.

despite, as i said, looking at elphaba with full blown heart eyes as she does so.

this is the first time, in my interpretation, that galinda finds herself becoming aware that her feelings for elphaba might go beyond just platonic or loathing. it’s also the moment i knew that ariana’s performance as glinda was going to be truly special when i first watched it in the theater, but i digress.

the shoving of elphie’s glasses back onto her face doubles as a metaphor for shoving herself into the closet. it’s here that galinda realizes she finds elphaba attractive, but the mere thought of that is so threatening to her entire life philosophy and, being the coward she is, she resorts to insults to cover for it. she must perform disgust to re-ground herself in her comforting reality of falsity and ignorance. in her bubble.

my favorite thing about the film adaptation of popular—and one of my favorite things about gelphie’s dynamic in it—is that elphaba is not annoyed or insulted by galinda’s behavior, even though she has every right to be. i mean, she’s basically running around singing about how to change elphaba into someone she’s not so that she can be more palatable to society. it’s the very thing that should and would normally bother elphaba, but instead… she’s endeared. on one hand, i believe this is largely rooted in the fact that elphaba has never had a friend before up until this point so she’s going to accept any kind of friendship she’s offered, but that’s true for all elphaba’s in any production. the decision to play elphaba as endeared by galinda during this scene is independent of that. almost like elphaba somehow knows that this is all just a dramatic performance from galinda and not a reflection of how galinda truly feels about her. and this is something that carries throughout the entire narrative. she has the same demeanor during the cat fight scene in for good, but elphaba only regains that endeared demeanor once she has successfully provoked glinda out of her Glinda the Good performance mode.

but back to popular… it’s only once galinda reasserts her performance of perfection and aloofness that she is able to comfortably call elphie beautiful.

(gif credit: @gracemaccaulley)

closet metaphor #2: ride to see elphie

glinda keeps the clothing items she wears when she rides feldspar to warn elphie—a black cloak, black gloves, and elphaba’s black boots—stuffed in the back of her closet in her suite at the emerald palace.

aside from the blatant-ness of her hoarding elphie’s boots, black is the color associated with elphaba, as it’s the only color she really wears, and it’s a color glinda generally finds hideodeous, as well. it also symbolizes darkness and secrets, a contrast to the lightness of her pink, white and orange pastels.

elphaba is the only person glinda has ever had a true, deep connection with and… she keeps her hidden in the back of her closet.

and while we’re on the topic of glinda’s literal closet, why not bring up the fact that galinda/glinda’s color scheme is literally the lesbian flag colors.

glinda’s color scheme covers a range of pinks, whites and oranges throughout the films. lavender—of all colors—is the only exception.

the lesbian ozdust dress is my favorite, i can’t lie. 

and then there’s the lavender. which we see in about four different outfits.

(gif credit: @dailyflicks)

the first time galinda meets elphaba...

(gif credit: @fadeintoyou1993 & @jackytaylor)

what is this feeling gay panic...

(gif credit: @galindathrop)

waking up from her poppy induced coma to realize elphie & fiyero are gone...

and a movie one bonus:

(gif credit: @comeinwiththerain)

the deleted scene where a jealous galinda tells elphie to pick her...

and then, of course, the lavender dress she wears for over half of the second film.

you know, the dress glinda first wears when she announces her engagement to fiyero in munchkinland before singing about how she’s getting her “fairytale ending” and he “couldn’t look handsomer” and she “couldn’t be happier” even though all of this “happiness” is nothing more than a performance…

and last wears when she says “i love you” and then watches her elphie “die”

i honestly have no idea the thought process behind why glinda has so few outfit changes in for good, but i find it kind of fitting that she’s stuck in that lavender dress—or an extremely basic white wedding dress—when she’s performing her ultimate conformities and complicity in, not just elphaba’s suffering, but her own. 

i also think it's interesting that each time lavender is included in an outfit of galinda's in wicked (the first one), it's during a moment where elphaba is forcing her to confront some kind of internal conflict.

their first meeting is the first time galinda comes into contact with a different life experience to her own, the first time she "doesn't get her way".

during what is this feeling, galinda is struggling with the... feelings elphaba is stirring within her.

and in the ones regarding fiyero & the cub, galinda is being confronted with the possibility that someone else can fill the role she realizes she wants to be the one to fulfill... (even though when push comes to shove she wouldn't be able to do what elphaba needed of her, and i think deep down elphaba knew that but she just didn't want to face it yet)

the entire girl in the bubble sequence is also a closet metaphor, but there’s really nothing in it that i haven’t already said.

(gif credit: @titfairy)

just the imagery of this moment: glinda, and her lavender dress, cloaked by elphie’s black and getting on feldspar—borrowing from fiyero’s courage and bravery—as she is on her way to finally choose elphie for the first time…

glinda’s lightness (lavender) cloaked by elphie’s darkness (black) turning the narrative of lightness = good and darkness = bad on it’s head but also, glinda is wearing her own darkness, her own hidden secret, her love for elphaba on the outside. visible for the first time…

but it’s too late.

closet metaphor #3: the door scene, obviously.

(gif credit: @jackytaylor)

it essentially functions as a tragic metaphor for a self-inflicted closet that glinda becomes trapped in. up until for good—and to a degree during and probably a period of time afterward too; the girl has shit to work through—glinda is a coward. she hides the real parts of herself and presents to the world a version of “perfection” she was brought up to believe is the way to move through the world. and, i mean, it is… if you only care about power and prestige. which is what glinda thinks she wants throughout most of the narrative as popularity and superficial love are intertwined with glinda’s self-worth due to how she was raised. and.. it cost her.

she kept herself locked inside her own metaphorical closet—which in the films is more of one of her own making as homophobia either doesn’t exist or is, at the least, more akin to the way things are in the U.S.—for so long and by the time she was finally ready to face reality, it was too late. now, it’s her elphie who locks her in the closet, and glinda is forced to watch the only person she’s ever truly loved “die”… from behind the literal closet door in part due to her own complicity in elphaba’s villainization and inability to choose elphaba the way fiyero did. the latter bit has some more complexity to it, though.

and really, i would argue that it’s during the scene where fiyero holds the gun to glinda’s head with shaking hands and terrified—risking his life for elphaba—that glinda’s closet first begins to crack.

the dialogue between glinda and elphaba during the cat fight already works as a double entendre in the film—god bless you cynthia + ariana for your acting choices. 

while i don’t believe elphaba knows that she has romantic feelings for glinda nor that glinda has them for her, she feels betrayed by glinda—as she should—and her usage of “someone like him” is directly referencing fiyero’s narrative function as glinda’s mirror. in the film, the scene reads less like the two of them are fighting over fiyero himself and more like fiyero is invoked simply as a substitute for what they actually want to say to each other.

he loves me enough to choose me (you don’t)

and because of the double entendre used with fiyero as a substitute for glinda herself, it would then make sense that glinda’s “he just… he loves her!” could be interpreted as glinda’s first verbal admission of her romantic feelings for elphaba. 

he loves her (i love her)

(gif credit: @reneerapps)

even more so, glinda’s reaction to elphie’s “i love you” is one that exposes a deep repression. her eyes fall closed, her breath catches; she’s soaking it in. like she never in a million years believed elphie would ever say those words to her, and she never thought she would ever get the chance to say them back. like she wasn’t sure she even physically could.

(gif credit: @titfairy)

the character of galinda upland and glinda the good is a cautionary tale for the cost that comes with performing heterosexuality, patriarchy, and refusing to confront or accept your true desires due to a fear of the discomfort that will come with it in the most extreme sense of the concept. you lose true and authentic love because you weren’t brave enough or didn’t have the tools to claim it when it was needed, and sometimes, your own fear and cowardice ends with you being forced to perform for the rest of your life. never able to claim or admit that you truly loved this person more than you have loved anyone else because people wouldn’t be able to handle the truth.

the closet costs you the girl; it costs you real love; it costs your authentic self. it’s an endless facade and performance that glinda brought unto herself, and ironically, it’s the very thing she believed she wanted for so long.

popularity. power. adoration.

what she thought she desired ends up being the very thing that causes her suffering because she realized what she really wanted—elphie—too late, and elphie’s time was up.

[thelesbianvaultz]

this new deleted scene release has given me more to add to this post so listen up

galinda accepting the black boots from elphie with no signs of disgruntlement at the fact that they are a color she once found hideodeus serves as a metaphor for galinda inching towards an acceptance—or at least a genuine acknowledgement—of her non-platonic feelings for elphie

because black = “darkness” = secrets and hidden desires = elphie

[campmiasmas]

INDE NAVARRETTE as NIKKI FREEMAN OBSESSION (2026) dir. Curry Barker

[iconseries]

[fashionnfacts]

ARIANA GRANDE and CYNTHIA ERIVO at the 2024 Met Gala

[alicent-florent]

you are GAY and that's final

[star-anise]

Until 50 years ago the word for a bisexual woman was “lesbian”

I’m not denying that female homosexuality is a natural part of human nature and has always sexisted. There absolutely are and always have been women who are exclusively attracted to only women. The distinction that is relatively recent is the distinction between people who are different levels of attracted to women.

Which is to say, if a woman had sex with other women, the word for her was “lesbian”, regardless of her relationship to men. Until the 1970s.

So for example, in lesbian bars of the 1930s-50s, where butch/femme culture emerged (check out Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy and Madeline Davis), femmes usually tended to be married to men who financially supported them. While married to their husbands, they went to lesbian bars and had affairs with other women. Bisexual women were part of the lesbian community. When the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian advocacy group in the USA, formed in 1955, a great deal of their work was helping women leave their husbands. Some of them were completely gay and locked in loveless heterosexual marriages with men they were incapable of desiring–some of them were bisexuals who were capable of love and attachment to men, but were actively pursuing relationships with women. To tell which were which would involve delving deeply into their personal thoughts and feelings, which we can only do for a few of them through this much distance and time, because they at the time didn’t think the difference between gay and bisexual women was terribly important.

Or, very rarely, we’d know they were bisexual because it actually entered the historical record. As Genny Beemyn recounts in A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington, Part 3, the Mattachine Society’s 1965 protest against homophobic discrimination in federal employment included lesbian Lilli Vincenz walking in the picket line next to self-identified bisexual woman Judith “JD” Kuch.

The split between lesbians and bisexual women as distinct groups dates back to the 1970s, with groups like The Furies Collective, who advocated that women withdraw from male society completely–that women end all working, personal, or casual relationships with men, and with any woman who would not do so also. The Furies are often cited as a landmark in the formation of lesbian feminism and lesbian separatism, but their first newspaper proclaimed, “Lesbianism is not a matter of sexual preference, but rather one of political choice which every woman must make if she is to become woman-identified and thereby end male supremacy.“

That’s where the major division between bisexual and lesbian women came from. It wasn’t a deep interrogation of the nature of lesbian women’s desires; it was appropriation of the word “lesbian” to mean a political choice instead of a sexual orientation. It comes from the sense that the choice to work with, be friends with, or sleep with men is a choice to be complicit in women’s oppression. From this comes the idea that bisexual women are less trustworthy, less capable of truly loving other women, and less deserving of a place in lesbian society.

This attitude about bisexual women shows in personal stories of the 1970s. For example, lesbian feminist Robin Tyler recalls an argument at the 1973  West Coast Lesbian Feminist Conference, where some members wanted to remove invited musician Beth Elliot from the stage because she was a trans woman: “When Robin Morgan came out against Beth, I said to her, look, you’re bisexual and you’re up here determining who should belong to this movement and who shouldn’t?“

Then in 1979, the lesbian sex manual Sapphistry by Pat Califia was being prepared for publication when its author came out as bisexual in an article for The Advocate. Its publisher immediately threatened to cancel publication of the book–a book about how women could have sex with women–because “we do not publish books by bisexual women!” (She later relented, and the book was published in 1980.)

History makes it very clear that it took active work to push bisexual women out of the lesbian community, and it hasn’t entirely stuck over the years–after all, most towns or cities don’t have a large enough LGBTQ+ population to have both a lesbian separatist potluck and a queer-friendly WLW sapphic potluck. A woman looking to date other women goes to lesbian events because that’s all there are in most places. We didn’t fight for “gay and sapphic marriage”, despite the number of bisexual women who wanted to marry other women; politically, bi women in relationships with women have always been grouped under “lesbian”, and there has been almost no push, especially not from lesbians, to popularize “sapphic” as the default descriptor for women attracted to women but with unknown sexual histories and/or personal desires.

[crowlixcx]

Two good friends. Two best friends.

[strawberrysunrise15]

saw a youtube comment this morning saying that glinda's speech and bringing the animals out at the end of wicked for good was "white savior bs" because all the problems were fixed immediately, and i just am truly convinced that these people are watching movies with their eyes closed. glinda's arc does NOT end with "oh yay i realized i'm wrong and that makes me a good person :) " and the movie does NOT end with the deep systematic issues in oz being fixed. it ends with the first steps being taken down a long, long road of change, and the movie SAYS that. a LOT. morrible frantically tells glinda she's so good and glinda looks her in the eyes and says "actually i'm not. not yet." elphaba tells her that actual genuine real change has to happen and that "good cannot be just a word. it has to mean something." in that EXACT speech that the commenter referenced, glinda says "i'd like to try to be glinda the good" as in she is a good person but she is going to LEARN. munchkins during that speech are visibly upset when the animals appear! the movie takes you by the shoulders and shakes you and says glinda is saying this because change takes TIME and we cannot give up on it regardless!! we have to set the ball rolling but things are not fixed overnight and we still have to keep going until the world is better!!! and if you did not get that you did not listen to a word of that movie!!!!!!

[yenvengerberg]

ELPHABA THROPP & GLINDA UPLAND Wicked: For Good

[awsok]

I'm starting a collection (X, X, X, X, X)

BONUS:

[embers-to-ash]

im never getting over this movie UGH

[maltedcreams]

I think the main problem with the "Glinda wasn't punished enough" takes is people's tendency to mistake revenge for justice.

It's completely understandable to want to hurt people who have hurt you, we all know that feeling. But we often don't consider whether that's actually any good in the long run, and who that actually benefits. It feels good to do bad things to them in the moment, but in the long term what has it done? Has it helped you in anyway, has it benefitted anyone in anyway? Has anything gotten better as a result of it? (Yes I am aware that there are specific circumstances where this actually is the right thing to do, this isn't one of them)

So in Glinda's case, Elphaba has every right to hate her and want to hurt her. But she doesn't because 1. She's a very loving person who's down BAD for Glinda and I hate her so much- I'm getting distracted. And 2. Because what good does "punishing" Glinda do for anyone?? It does nothing good for Elphaba. So far she's watched everyone else she cares about being harmed as a result of her actions. (Well, that's what she believes) Glinda being hurt would just hurt Elphaba more. And the Ozians adore Glinda and anything bad that may happen to her would just cause more anger and fear from the people. And if no positive change comes from the "punishment" , is it really justice?

Glinda's story ended the way it did because that's how it needed to. She was Oz's last hope. They were never going to trust Elphaba, and with the Wizard and Morrible still in power things were only going to get worse. However, the people trust Glinda the Good, and she now wants to do real good and has the power to do so.

And if Glinda could get a "proper" punishment, what's the point? The whole purpose of a punishment is to teach a lesson. Glinda's already learnt the lesson and is using what she's learnt to make things better for everyone.

In short: Glinda "Wasn't punished enough" because literally nothing good would come from it. And if nothing good comes from what you view as a punishment, it’s revenge, not justice.

[wesandresons]

SUPRIYA GANESH as SAMIRA MOHAN THE PITT 1.15 "9:00 PM”

[pinkponyflint]

santos' conversation with mckay was like. painful to watch. a mess. but it was so well written. it's so chewy.

she said LAST EPISODE that she felt her talents and abilities as a doctor were put into question on her first ever day on the job. she said that she feels ostracized by her peers. mckay calls her over for help with a patient because trinity is 'good with the weird ones.' trinity is going to say no, dennis gives her a little encouragement, trinity goes for it. in her head, this is her giving ground. in mckay's head, this is just what is expected of you when asked nicely for something. she goes over and solves the case within a few minutes. mckay sees this as impressive, santos sees this as what is expected of her when told to do something. if there's a problem with a patient, you solve it. mckay comes over and subtly praises her. santos essentially rejects it. all of last season, the messaging to her is 'you are too cocky,' 'you aren't experienced enough to have this much confidence,' 'when you are assured in yourself and your talents, you're unlikable.' when she asserted herself based on her own convictions about patient care last season, she was met with "are you aware you have an aggressive energy, trinity?" so, santos rejects the praise, and mckay tries to double down. then santos doubles down on the 'its nothing, our patients are stupid and its not hard and i'm not being bigheaded' strategy. unintentionally making mckay feel like she's being called stupid for not catching it. mckay goes wow. santos realizes she seems like an uncaring doctor, she goes 'but don't worry, i'm glad they're stupid! i love having job security.' like she is trying to save the conversation while also being true to herself while also not being egotistical while also trying to finish up her hours of unpaid post-shift work. but we've already gotten a 🦋 mckay will remember this 🦋 pop up in the upper lefthand corner and she has only dug herself deeper in this hole

[parapompp]

I’m fine! It’s everything around me that’s….

[eloiscbridgerton]

THE PITT 2.12 – 6:00 P.M.

[threehourstonevada]

I do think it something to be said about this fandom that the fact that Samira Mohan has shooters that defend her like y'all be defending these white men pisses y'all the fuck off (just like Trinity's fans piss y'all off). Fandom has already managed to erase Heather Collins and just uses the other women as set dressing (or hating Trinity Santos as a sport). If a South Asian woman has people out here saying they want to hit that white man for how he speaks to her, good on them.

No one has said shit about Samira's pace this season. Meanwhile this season Mel has barely had any patients or really worked on anyone without being distracted by deposition. In fact, Jesse interrupted Mel twice while she was with Becca to tell her she had TWO separate patients that needed her and Mel brushed him off both times. But Robby calls her the best resident and no one is out here saying that Mel needs a different job with a different pace (hmmm I wonder why that is??)

And by the end last season, it was clearly shown by HEATHER'S support that her work with patients was good and taking her time to know them was an asset. That Samira can move just fine during a trauma. And again, I know y'all hate to remember Heather Collins but Heather told Samira that Robby was off and to listen to her gut. Heather told Robby he was riding her too hard.

And as a black woman, I am so tired of people bring up Joyce to ding Samira. Joyce had faced microaggressions if not flat out racism from the moment she was in the ambulance and even at the hospital from Whitaker. Samira making sure to make a black woman comfortable with an invasive procedure because she knew what she had faced getting there is not a crime. Neither Joyce nor her wife seem to have a problem with Samira's care. Hell, she's got the highest patient satisfaction scores in the department and it's very clear why.

But what do I know, if Robby said it , it must be law.

[heybaetae]

and if i said that tumblr thought they could get away with that update bc they know the majority of this website ignores the reblog option entirely compared to years ago, so they figured they could just BREAK the very foundation of how this website was built to operate and people would just shrug and be fine with that. please let this be a wake up call. our strong reaction to that change should start to reflect significantly in that ACTUAL reblog count under those notes we just fought for to stay untouched. fandoms and communities cannot thrive on likes alone. as much as tumblr has tried to turn this place in tiktok and twitter, it's not. posts need to circulate. art needs to be seen and shared. tumblr is not tumblr if this is not happening consistently because reblogs are the heartbeat of this website. please don't ever take it for granted. never give tumblr a reason to take away the thing that links us together and amplifies creativity. make reblogging a priority, PLEASE.