Defying Gravity

Far too often we let fear win when we make decisions.

"The best way to bring folks together, is to give them a really good enemy."

The Wizard, Wicked

These are the words spoken by the Wizard of Oz, in the new blockbuster movie Wicked, adapted from the Broadway hit musical. As we all know from our childhood, the Wizard is a fraud, with no powers, no intellect and is wholly unqualified for his position as ruler. But what he does do is stoke fear. In Wicked, he spreads misleading propaganda about talking animals in their world being dangerous criminals. He tells the people of Oz that if they discriminate against the animals, humans will be better off. The Wizard chooses the exceptionally talented Elphaba to be the face of the enemy, because her skin is green and she has powers. Starting to sound familiar?

Fear almost always trumps love. Fear of not making enough income keeps people from pursuing their dream careers. Fear of failure keeps people from taking a leap and starting their own ventures. Fear or rejection keeps someone from asking out the person they have a crush on.

People make decisions based on fear rather than the potential better outcome. This is what drives the scarcity mindset, of losing what you have rather than considering what could be gained. Fear of educated immigrants taking your job because they're more qualified, so you limit H1-B visas. Fear of undocumented immigrants taking your job because they're willing to accept lower wages, so you deport and ban them. Fear of women becoming more independent and successful, so you take away their reproductive rights. Fear of educated elites who are experts in their field, so you dismantle all of the organizations in place to protect us.

Fear led to a 14 year-old Black boy named Emmitt Till being lynched because they made up a story about him harassing a white woman in a store. Fear led to Vincent Chin being beaten to death with a baseball bat because two men thought Asians were responsible for the failing automotive industry in Detroit. Fear can lead to dangerous places, including fascism, because we believe an all-powerful authoritarian ruler like the Wizard can fix things.

When in reality, as we all know from the story, the Wizard is an emperor with no clothes. And despite all of the fear and animosity he has directed towards her, Elphaba is actually the one with all the talent and power. In these seemingly hopeless times, may all of us Elphabas in the world overcome and defy gravity.