Experts Warn ‘Wicked’ Novel Is Not Appropriate for Children Due to Mature Content
- Michael Foust Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Dec 10, 2024
The movie Wicked might be suitable for children, but the book is decidedly not, caution experts who have read the novel. Universal's Wicked has been a hit this holiday season, with families flocking to theaters to unpack the next theatrical chapter in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story. The film follows the backstories of the Good Witch, Glinda, and the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, who are college roommates.
The movie is an adaptation of the stage musical, which itself was based on the 1995 novel Wicked by author Gregory Maguire.
Parents often purchase their children the accompanying novel after seeing a film so they can dig deeper into the plot. However, when it comes to Wicked, experts strongly advise: Don't.
"The Wicked book by Gregory Maguire has key adult differences from the stage adaptation," USA Today book columnist Clare Mulroy wrote. "One of the opening scenes is puppets having sex. When we first meet Elphaba in the book, she's a feral infant who is muzzled after biting off people's appendages. The book contains drinking, drugs, sexual assault, prostitution, crime, and wild sex parties between humans and animals."
Mulroy acknowledged in an interview with MassLive that the novel was not written for children. In fact, some Florida school districts banned it.
"I purposely put some somewhat raunchy material in the first few pages of 'Wicked' the novel to show what people were getting into, that they were going to have to leave behind their ideas about an all-singing, all-dancing chorus line of flying monkeys," he said.
Mulroy told the website Them that he wanted the novel to explore the complexities of evil.
"I wanted it to have a depth of culture, a depth of history, and a depth of complexity, of experience that was more analogous to the world in which we live," he said. "And that meant it had to have varieties of sexual experience."
In the novel, Glinda and Elphaba kiss. Mulroy acknowledged the novel has LGBT undertones.
"That was intentional, and it was modest and restrained and refined in such a way that one could imagine that one of those two young women had felt more than the other and had not wanted to say it," Maguire said.
Photo Credit: ©Universal Pictures/Wicked
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
