no one mourns the imitators
by sunshine ryan
Fanfiction is often dismissed by society as “unoriginal” because the fans of the work take the characters from that canon universe and mold them for their writing. Rarely do authors commission for other writers to script writings about their books for them (unlike James Patterson with Maximum Ride). Often authors, such as Anne Rice, ban people from writing fanfiction with their characters because it “upsets them” or they find it unlawful. But what happens if the fanfiction becomes published? It’s rare in many cases, because authors change the names of their characters (for good), such as the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (Harry Potter fanfiction) and the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy by E. L. James (Twilight fanfiction), but that’s not the case for the wonderful Broadway musical Wicked.
There have actually been many adaptions to Baum’s Oz, but none so popular as Wicked, which was adapted into a musical in 2003. Wicked is a musical based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, which was a parallel book based on the movie The Wizard of Oz, which of course was based on the beloved book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Wicked follows the story of an almost impossible friendship, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (The Good Witch of the North), who at first loathe each other, but come to be friends as they battle their lives of differing opinions, competition over Fiyero (a mutual love interest), reactions to the Wizard’s fraudulent government, and finally, Elphaba’s public fall from grace to become “The Wicked Witch of the West.” Aristotle would appreciate the compelling story of Wicked.
Aristotle was one of the founding figures in Western philosophy. He was the student of Plato and often disagreed with his beliefs. Plato believed that the Forms are abstract universal objects of thought and everything else is a copy of it. He thought that art was imitation, which meant that the artist was several removes from reality, which was bad. The release of emotions from the humanities could have positive outcomes, but can make people feel bad about life itself. No good deed goes unpunished. Aristotle disagrees with Plato about art. Aristotle deemed imitation natural to humans from childhood because that is how children learn. He also encouraged works of art to produce a catharsis, which is a purification or a purging of emotions in the audience. He considered tragedies would be the best place to cleanse the emotions of the spectators. To have a “good” tragedy, it must have a beginning, middle, and end and have a plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody. I believe that Aristotle would classifyWicked as a tragedy.
Aristotle classifies tragedies as “imitations not of persons but of action and life, of happiness and misery.” Wicked would be considered a tragedy in Aristotle’s opinion because Elphaba falls from a higher place (she was not very high to begin with) to rock bottom, with people denoting her to “the Wicked Witch of the West” because she was “something bad.” She had a reversal of fortune, which was a change for the worst. Though she was content in the end, she was still exiled and considered “evil” by the people of Oz, though she was not. Wicked had a beginning, middle, and an end, which is essential for a tragedy to have. Another crucial point a tragedy needs to have is an emotional purging, which Wicked definitely does. The viewer, after watching Wicked, is confused and conflicted. What is this feeling? After growing up with The Wizard of Oz, with the roles set in place, it’s almost impossible to recover after they are all shaken up. The good become bad and the bad become good.
Fanfiction is written when someone admires something already written and places his or her own little spin on it. Most people do not like fanfiction, but I would like to say thank goodness for fanfiction. Without it, many works of literature and art would not be here today. Everyone has to start somewhere and most people start dancing through life through the world of fanfiction or fan art. Wicked the musical has come from a far line of “fanfiction,” a musical based on a book based on a movie based on a book. Without Gregory Maguire defying gravity and writing Wicked, which is honestly the best kind of fanfiction, there would be no musical today. Aristotle believed that imitation was natural and good, so he would approve of the musical. Wicked has all the elements to be a tragedy and is perfectly portrayed. I think Aristotle would encourage people to create fanfiction and maybe one short day later, we all will accept it.
There have actually been many adaptions to Baum’s Oz, but none so popular as Wicked, which was adapted into a musical in 2003. Wicked is a musical based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, which was a parallel book based on the movie The Wizard of Oz, which of course was based on the beloved book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Wicked follows the story of an almost impossible friendship, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (The Good Witch of the North), who at first loathe each other, but come to be friends as they battle their lives of differing opinions, competition over Fiyero (a mutual love interest), reactions to the Wizard’s fraudulent government, and finally, Elphaba’s public fall from grace to become “The Wicked Witch of the West.” Aristotle would appreciate the compelling story of Wicked.
Aristotle was one of the founding figures in Western philosophy. He was the student of Plato and often disagreed with his beliefs. Plato believed that the Forms are abstract universal objects of thought and everything else is a copy of it. He thought that art was imitation, which meant that the artist was several removes from reality, which was bad. The release of emotions from the humanities could have positive outcomes, but can make people feel bad about life itself. No good deed goes unpunished. Aristotle disagrees with Plato about art. Aristotle deemed imitation natural to humans from childhood because that is how children learn. He also encouraged works of art to produce a catharsis, which is a purification or a purging of emotions in the audience. He considered tragedies would be the best place to cleanse the emotions of the spectators. To have a “good” tragedy, it must have a beginning, middle, and end and have a plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody. I believe that Aristotle would classifyWicked as a tragedy.
Aristotle classifies tragedies as “imitations not of persons but of action and life, of happiness and misery.” Wicked would be considered a tragedy in Aristotle’s opinion because Elphaba falls from a higher place (she was not very high to begin with) to rock bottom, with people denoting her to “the Wicked Witch of the West” because she was “something bad.” She had a reversal of fortune, which was a change for the worst. Though she was content in the end, she was still exiled and considered “evil” by the people of Oz, though she was not. Wicked had a beginning, middle, and an end, which is essential for a tragedy to have. Another crucial point a tragedy needs to have is an emotional purging, which Wicked definitely does. The viewer, after watching Wicked, is confused and conflicted. What is this feeling? After growing up with The Wizard of Oz, with the roles set in place, it’s almost impossible to recover after they are all shaken up. The good become bad and the bad become good.
Fanfiction is written when someone admires something already written and places his or her own little spin on it. Most people do not like fanfiction, but I would like to say thank goodness for fanfiction. Without it, many works of literature and art would not be here today. Everyone has to start somewhere and most people start dancing through life through the world of fanfiction or fan art. Wicked the musical has come from a far line of “fanfiction,” a musical based on a book based on a movie based on a book. Without Gregory Maguire defying gravity and writing Wicked, which is honestly the best kind of fanfiction, there would be no musical today. Aristotle believed that imitation was natural and good, so he would approve of the musical. Wicked has all the elements to be a tragedy and is perfectly portrayed. I think Aristotle would encourage people to create fanfiction and maybe one short day later, we all will accept it.