Defying brevity...

I wanted to love Wicked...the Broadway musical...and I liked it...but it was uneven...and suffered to a degree with the same problem of Les Miserables...what to do with Act II when the "11 o'clock number"...in this case, "Defying Gravity" (now, on repeat ad nauseum at a Target near you)...ends Act I???...which in the movie version comes after almost 2 hours and 40 minutes...the movie which is Part I...why?...what happened to less is more...is this what happens when the almighty dollar rules?...now, I will admit I was hesitant to see this Wicked...and by the way...this is not a kids movie...the musical never claimed to be for kids either...it left that to the Disney side of Times Square...but this movie is being marketed that way...for fuck's sake...this Wizard is like the Joseph Mengele of Oz...and this is unfair to the revelation of the darker side and sadness of Elphaba...and the evolving friendship of Elphaba and Galinda...which is the essence of the movie  and is quiet moving...kudos to Cynthia...and I will, begrudgingly admit, Ariana who is quite "grande" in this role...but director Jon Chu couldn't leave that subtlety alone...he had to insert over the top numbers and kitschiness..."One Short Day'' which introduces us to the Emerald City looks like it was lifted from Crazy Rich Asians...but I digress...I could not help but think about The Wizard of Oz...made in 1939...it was not the first color movie...but rather the first movie where color...and the use of black and white and sepia for contrast...carried the vision of the director...all that served to support Dorothy's search for more than she realized...it was the emotions this elicited that allowed its audience to feel...to cry ...which immortalized it...I wanted to cry during Wicked...it almost had me...but all that glitters is not always golden...(and everyone over the age of 5 who saw The Wizard of Oz knew that Glinda was the bitch)...