Listen, I learned about Gerhard Kretschmar this week, and I can’t stop thinking about him.
And I am so afraid that nearly 100 years later, the maha crowd is going to follow in his parents’ footsteps.
Not immediately.
But slowly.
All the while screaming they’re “pro-life.”
If you ever get a chance to see or read the play, do.
“History says stand up,
and we totter and collapse,
weeping, moved, but not
sufficient.”
Our physical location—a mere stone’s throw away from the highest seats of power in the “free world”—was keenly felt.
In the years since, I have been reminded of the play and of the history it was based on—the fall of the Weimar Republic—so often.
It’s spooky how similar things are today.
During FOTUS’ last administration, I had the chance to see the St. Mark’s Players’ performance of Tony Kushner’s “A Bright Room Called Day.”
In the time since, I have thought a lot about that play and that night.
It was—as good, earnest theater so often is—life changing.
For those of us who live in the DMV and have friends and family who are federal employees:
It’s been a really rough January, to say the least.
It’s also hard to imagine it getting better.
So, uh, how does one prepare for economic collapse and martial law?
I saved this the other day, and plan on keeping it up for the next 4 years, and however long I need it to help ground me when the gaslighting is especially difficult.
I would still read
So someday, years from now, when this painting hangs in a museum, people are going to have all these theories about what the artist meant, when it was just a bit of teenage drama and embarrassment.
My brother is an artist. He’s working on a painting inspired by our childhood, and has incorporated a nod to some family lore about me.
Are you ever just going about your day when you suddenly remember the 2016 Clown Panic?
Because I do.
Solo telling Juliet about elephants was adorable and reminded me of LoTR. I can totally see Solo being the Samwise to Juliet’s Frodo.
I’ve asked Threads, so now I’ll ask 🦋:
Is anyone watching #Silo ? I love a good world building story. And they brought Steve Zahn in for season 2, who I’ve watched in movies forever and feels like an old friend.
I’m only on S2.E5, so no spoilers please. Just the wildest unhinged theories.
Checking in over here. How is everyone? What are we talking about over here? Do you think it’s possible we could have a blizzard Monday in DC?
I hate cold weather, but I would be ok with it if it meant a tiny turnout for He Who Must Not Be Named.
Addendum: The fact that Governor Thropp forced his wife to chew milk flowers so that Nessa wouldn’t be born green is even more egregious when you remember that Elphaba’s mother is Black in the film.
Absolutely vile man.
Anyway, that’s why I love stories and all their adaptations. There is always something new to discover in a story, no matter how well you know it.
If Dorothy gets screen time in part 2, will we see her with her found family—Glinda, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion?
What a foil that would be. 🧵8/8
And even Glinda falters.
Glinda, who told her she could do anything, now begging her to not rock the boat. The person who knows Elphaba better, loves her better, than her own sister, fails her. 🧵7/8
We celebrate in life and stories the idea of the “found family.” Elphaba’s story seems to be building to a happily ever after with her own family—in a city made from emeralds, no less.
And then: Betrayal. Madam Morrible and the Wizard are evil. Oz is built on lies and cruelty. 🧵6/8
And then there’s Glinda, playing the role of Elphaba’s chosen sister. Glinda, who sees Elphaba as beautiful and someone who could do anything.
Whereas Nessarose chose not to stand up for her own sister at the Ozdust Ballroom. 🧵5/8
A mother with power, a mother who reminds her of herself, a mother who isn’t weak.
Oh goodness. 🧵4/8
After all, Elphaba’s otherness is attributed to Melena Thropp, even if the Thropp family doesn’t grasp the significance of the little green bottle.
Of course she would be drawn to a maternal figure who not only encourages her magic abilities but possess her own powers. 🧵3/8
Elphaba’s longing for a loving father is made clear several times in both the film and stage play. But I hadn’t put together that Elphaba might view Madam Morrible as a surrogate mother, too. 🧵2/8
#Wicked thoughts after watching the movie for a third time:
This time, I was struck by how devastated Elphaba must have been when she realized the duplicity and cruelty of the Wizard and Madam Morrible. 🧵1/8
I live in northern Virginia, but my hometown is Richmond, which is currently without clean water. My family is down there, and I’m so concerned for my grandparents, who are going through this while also sick.
I just DoorDashed bottled water to them, and I could cry from how dystopian this all is.
🙋🏼‍♀️
Oh and someday, when I finally grow up, I want to be a proper published author and novelist.
For now, I’m a digital marketer, copywriter and a SEO wizard. Give me an internet connection and a chance to play with words, and I’ll be happy.
You can expect other such musings from me. I also love
- internet culture
- deconstructing/reconstructing my faith
- genealogy and history
- watercolor and embroidery
- a good old fashioned
- deep diving into neurodiversity
- Shakespeare, Keats, Poe, and Dickinson
- and more
3) I discovered my chronically offline husband didn’t know Tom Holland and Zendaya were serious-serious, nor had he ever seen That Lip Sync Battle.
I have rectified this situation.
2) I had an existential crisis moment in the middle of a BDubs over just one of the many stupid things TFG said today.
