Wicked

I kind of watched this movie series backwards but it was okay. After watching Wicked for Good (number 2), my daughter hectored me to go watch number 1. It definitely would have helped to watch this earlier as Wicked for Good would have made way more sense. Goes to show you sequencing is important. 

For those who don’t know, “Wicked” & “Wicked for Good” is the backstory to the Wizard of Oz, when Glinda the good witch meets Elphaba aka the Wicked Witch of the West and their unlikely friendship. It's surprisingly well done. A twist to an old classic tale. 

I enjoyed both the movies. Very entertaining. Also educational. Especially the scene with Doctor Dillamond, the talking goat at Shiz University, yes, it sounds weird hence why you should watch the movie. Dillamond is the history professor who explains why studying history is important. “Because we cannot escape the past and we ignore it at our own peril. Because the past helps explain our present circumstances.” I love history and I love studying it. I would be a professor if I had not caught the business and capitalism bug. It’s been incredibly helpful for my career and super helpful for global macro investing too. Sadly, it seems too few our leaders have studied it and we are repeating the mistake of fallen powers and empires now. Again. 

Hard times are coming. We see it in the stats. We feel it around us, the tension, the desperation. Especially in America. Most people are in survival mode. I am deeply concerned as bad things happen during these times. As Dillamond explained why his people were slowly wiped out or forced away. “Food grew scarce. And when people are hungry and angry. They begin to look for someone to blame.” It's easy to blame those who look and sound different than we are. Especially easy in a heterogeneous society like America full of immigrants and people from everywhere. 

All political leaders know this. And they use it. As the Wizard of Oz said: “When I first got here, there was discord, there was discontent. And back from where I come from, everybody knows, the best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.”

As we see in the movie and in real life, kids are mean. I know. I grew up as a minority in Canada.  Adults are mean too. Especially to those different to them. People are cowards. Elphaba uses her rage from all the hate she gets from the community and this allows her to tap into her powers. “No one should be scorned, or laughed at. Or looked down upon…..” I get it. But if you can overcome this, as her friend Glinda tells her, and it is good advice for us all: “You can do this. You can do anything.” 

Elphie sings: “I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game. Too late for second guessing. Too late to go back to sleep. It’s time to trust my instincts.”

I truly hope we rise above all the anger and challenges we face. America and any country is almost unstoppable when they come together. They fail horrifically when this doesn’t happen. This is the big lesson from history we’ve seen over and over. Unity in family, unity in community, unity in country. “Once you learn to harness your emotion, the sky's the limit.”