The more I've explored the Wicked fandom, the more astounded I've been by the fanon version of Glinda, because she seems like an entirely different character than the actual Glinda in the musical.
I know the word “gaslighting” has been overused and misused lately, but sometimes it honestly feels like gaslighting.
To clarify, I don't hate Glinda. She's not a favorite character of mine, but I don't hate her either. And I'm sure there are plenty of misogynists and surface-level viewers who give her excessive hate. But the way her fans idealize her seems to go beyond just idealizing their fave. It seems as if they've created their own brand-new character and inserted her into Glinda's place.
I wanted to post this now because I don't know if Wicked: For Good will change any of these issues or not. This analysis is based on the stage version and the first movie.
Glinda's "disadvantages" compared to Elphaba.
Canon: She lacks Elphaba's talent for magic and is disdained by Madame Morrible, who chooses Elphaba as her student instead. Elphaba is also the Wizard's first choice to work for him, Glinda only meets him too because Elphaba invites her, and after the interview goes awry, he only settles for employing Glinda instead. And later, Fiyero leaves Glinda for Elphaba. These are the big "advantages" that Elphaba has over Glinda, and to be fair, Glinda feels them very deeply. But... the fact that almost all of Oz chooses Glinda over Elphaba is beyond important! First at Shiz and later throughout the whole land, Glinda is adored by the masses while Elphaba is shunned and vilified. Elphaba has been rejected all her life, while Glinda has been doted on and spoiled: a big part of why Glinda is so upset when she isn't chosen to study with Madame Morrible is because it's the first time in her life that she hasn't gotten her own way. And while Fiyero eventually does choose Elphaba, he chooses Glinda first, and Elphaba thinks her love for him can never be requited because no man would ever choose her over Glinda. The fact that he ultimately does is a shock to both ladies. To ignore that with just a few important exceptions, everyone chooses Glinda over Elphaba is to massively miss the point.
Fanon: She's always the second choice after Elphaba. Anyone who's always outshone by someone else can relate to her.
Canon: She has social savvy, which ends up translating into political savvy, and she's good at understanding people, at least when she wants to. I'll give her full credit for all of that. But otherwise, she's not a big subversion of the "dumb blonde" cliché. Her ditziness and lack of book smarts are played for laughs. Even her social/political success comes less from her own savvy and more from the simple fact that she's glamorous and conventionally pretty.
Fanon: She's a huge subversion of the "dumb blonde" cliché. At first we're led to believe she's a ditz, but really she's the smartest character in the whole story, and her cleverness gets her to the top of Ozian society.
Glinda possibly having autism and/or ADHD.
Canon: She's quirky in a way that's played for laughs. A neurodivergent headcanon makes sense. But it's not canon and it shouldn't color our whole understanding of her.
Fanon: She absolutely is neurodivergent, which explains all her quirkiness and apparent ditziness. With that knowledge, we should identify and sympathize with her struggles.
Dr. Dillamond telling Galinda that her essay favors form over content.
Canon: A clever bit of foreshadowing. She writes a paper that's well structured but lacks substance, just like she favors the appearance of goodness over good actions. And by the way, in her interaction with Dr. Dillamond, if either of them "picks on a disabled person," she does: his goat anatomy makes him physically unable to pronounce her name correctly, but she harps on it anyway.
Fanon: She's a neurodivergent student doing the best she can and Dr. Dillamond picks on her.
Galinda insulting Elphaba's skin color
Canon: She calls her "phosphorescent" and an "artichoke." Fiyero also makes a lame quip about her skin when they first meet: "Maybe the driver saw green and thought it meant go" in the stage version, "You must have blended in with the foliage" in the movie. I'd say they're equally guilty of joking about her greenness at first.
Fanon: Fiyero is racist for making that joke. But Galinda? When did she ever say anything of the sort?
“Popular” and Elphaba being “Galinda-fied”
Canon: The song's humor is mostly at Galinda’s expense. She arrogantly thinks she’s being “so nice” by giving poor, "dreary" Elphaba a makeover and teaching her how to be popular. But throughout the song she insults Elphaba and tries to teach her to perform femininity in a way that she's neither good at nor comfortable with. Nor does she see Elphaba as her equal yet, but as her student and follower, who will be popular, but never “quite as popular as me.” The whole scene was inspired by Emma Woodhouse’s treatment of Harriet Smith in Jane Austen’s Emma – Stephen Schwartz has cited the influence – which is explicitly not good for Harriet in that novel. To be fair, she means well, the scene does solidify her friendship with Elphaba, “You’re beautiful” is a genuinely moving moment for both of them, and it does bring Elphaba out of her shell and give her new confidence and faith in herself from then on. But it’s also clear that Elphaba ultimately will and should reject the mold that Galinda is trying to shape her into. When Fiyero tells her “You don’t have to do that,” making it clear that he already liked and respected her before her makeover, she takes it to heart and never again tries to be someone she's not.
Fanon: Galinda really is what she thinks she is. An incredibly kind friend who gives Elphaba the help and advice she needs. She sees Elphaba's true worth and beauty and she wants to show it to the rest of the world, which helping her become just a little more fashionable will achieve. This is all positive growth for Elphaba, and it's terrible that Fiyero belittles it. Galinda helps Elphaba to blossom and joyfully embrace her own femininity, while Fiyero just encourages her to be Not Like Other Girls™.
Glinda's perception of Elphaba's beauty vs. Fiyero's perception
Canon: It's true that she straight-up calls Elphaba "beautiful" in "Popular," with no disclaimers, while when Fiyero's turn comes to express similar sentiments, he calls it "looking at things another way." I'll admit, that line of Fiyero's isn't the best: I'm glad that Wicked: For Good will apparently be changing its context in a way that sounds like an improvement. But Galinda only calls Elphaba "beautiful" in a moment of sudden realization that surprises her just as much as it does Elphaba, after a whole song of comically insulting her looks and fashion sense. Meanwhile, Fiyero only says what he says after Elphaba makes it clear that if he just calls her "beautiful," she won't believe him (which shows that she never internalized it after hearing it from Galinda).
Fanon: She finds Elphaba really and truly beautiful, no disclaimer necessary, and tells her so, while that horrible Fiyero needs to add that it's "looking at things another way."
Glinda working for the Wizard
Canon: She does it because she can't resist the fame, glamor, and mass idolization that comes with it. Now, I'm not saying she isn't scared of the Wizard and Madame Morrible too, and of course they wouldn't let her go easily (to say the least) because she knows the Wizard is a fraud. But she never mentions her own safety to justify her actions. Fiyero is framed as 100% right when he tells her "You can't leave because you can't resist this."
Fanon: She's a political prisoner. A slave. She knows that if she tries to leave, or fails to obey the Wizard and Madame Morrible's every command, she'll be killed. It's not about the benefits, it's pure fear and self-preservation.
Glinda trapping Fiyero in an engagement.
Canon: She does just that. To be fair, it's clear that the Wizard wants it as a publicity stunt, so Glinda arguably can't say 'no' any more than Fiyero can, and Fiyero is also at fault for not having broken up with her long beforehand. But there's no hint that she's in any way unwilling to do it, and once it takes place, she firmly considers him her property, despite knowing that he's only reluctantly going along with it. When he ultimately leaves her, can we honestly say that she didn't bring it on herself?
Fanon: The trapping can be excused because it's the Wizard who wants it and Glinda is his prisoner/slave. But anyway, once they're officially engaged, then Fiyero is Glinda's rightful property, no question about it. He's the one who does her wrong by leading her on and then abandoning her. She's the victim. (Though according to the fans, she never really loves him either, but is in love with Elphaba. Doesn't that make her guilty of leading him on too? Explain why not.)
Glinda's feelings for Fiyero
Canon: She loves him. When she's distraught over his waning interest in her, and Elphaba reminds her that everyone loves her, she responds "I don't care! I want him!" In other words, he means more to her than all her popularity. After he leaves her to join Elphaba, the reprise she sings of "I'm Not That Girl" makes it clear that she's distraught about losing him: the lyrics aren't about Elphaba, they're about him. And in the catfight, she confronts Elphaba about "taking" him from her. (Note: This doesn't rule out the possibility that she's just infatuated with Fiyero, but really in love with Elphaba, and just doesn't understand her own feelings. But at the very least, she sincerely thinks she's in love with him.)
Fanon: She doesn't love Fiyero one bit. He's just comphet to her. She's 100% in love with Elphaba and she knows it. In the love triangle, her pain and anger is because Elphaba betrays their love and chooses Fiyero over her, not vice-versa.
Glinda advising the Wizard and Madame Morrible on how to capture Elphaba.
Canon: She does this in anger after Fiyero leaves her for Elphaba. Note that Elphaba doesn't ask him to go with her; it's his decision. Elphaba's only guilt is not saying no, and in the standard staging, she's clearly torn about this; she stands gazing sadly in into Glinda's eyes until Fiyero has to pull her away to make their escape. Yet Glinda decides to blame Elphaba far more than she blames Fiyero and advises Elphaba's worst enemies on how to catch her.
Fanon: Who can blame her for it? Elphaba betrays her. Besides, she doesn't do it for revenge. She just can't bear to have her Elphie leave her again and wants the Wizard to bring her back. (Can someone please explain to me how this fanon can coexist with "Glinda is a hostage living in fear for her life"? Because if she thinks she would inevitably be killed just for trying to leave the Emerald City, how can she possibly expect the Wizard to spare Elphaba?)
Glinda's loyalty to Elphaba
Canon: She choses her own security and social ambition over Elphaba, and later betrays Elphaba in anger about the love triangle. She comes to regret both of these things, which is an essential part of her redemption arc.
Fanon: She's always deeply loyal to her Elphie.
Glinda "working for change from within the system."
Canon: She doesn't. Until the end, she does nothing for the Animals, and she actively serves and glorifies their persecutors. Admittedly, she has one line in "Defying Gravity" about how Elphaba has "hurt her cause forever," implying that she thinks Elphaba could have succeeded in helping the Animals by working with the Wizard instead of against him. But does she herself make any effort to do this? Until the end, does she try to use her position to make any change? No. She claims she's doing good for Oz by "lifting the people's spirits," but this is clearly framed as a hollow excuse for her moral sellout. Elphaba may be naïve to try to carry out a one-woman revolution with all of Oz against her, but Glinda is at least just as wrong (if not much more wrong) to do nothing.
Fanon: She's like Martin Luther King Jr. to Elphaba's Malcolm X. She has the same idealistic goals as Elphaba, but she believes the best way to achieve them is not to use violence and aggression, but to cooperate with those in power and work patiently for slow change from within the system. And she's right.
"It's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed."
Canon: Sadly, this is all too often true, and that's part of the show's message: especially in politics, people succeed not because they're wise or good, but just because they're popular. But the point is to criticize that fact; to present it as a bad thing that needs to change. In the end, Glinda doesn't want to live by that philosophy anymore, but to try to be as good as the people think she is.
Fanon: This is true and Glinda is awesome for realizing it and making it work to her advantage.
I've seen fanon diverge from canon in other fandoms before, but never quite to this extent.
@fiyeros-fulumptutious-bum
