A Trans Perspective on Wicked

A Trans Perspective on Wicked

From Feast of Fun: Gay Talk Show by Hosted by Fausto Fernós & Marc Felion

December 9, 2025 · 1h 39m · Season 21 · Episode 3149

About this episode

The episode explores the themes of transformation and oppression in Jon M. Chu's Wicked through a trans perspective, featuring guest Violet Kitajewski.

Transformations are often quite painful. Whether we’re growing emotionally or undergoing a physical metamorphosis, real change usually demands discomfort, and sometimes even danger. In Jon M. Chu’s Wicked films, the characters literally burst through their own limits: they sprout wings, become tin or straw, or learn to fly by defying gravity. Like all the past Wizard of Oz books and films, Wicked is a mirror of its time. Since the Covid pandemic, conservative movements around the globe have seized on a new scapegoat: openly trans and gender-diverse people. Despite being a tiny fraction of the population, trans folks have been painted as a massive cultural threat, a convenient distraction and a powerful tool for those hungry to seize political power. So what can Wicked teach us about facism? What can Elphaba’s journey reveal about the machinery of oppression and about the yellow brick roads queer and trans people are still carving toward liberation? Today we’re joined by trans-tech visionary Violet Kitajewski to explore Wicked as an allegory for LGBTQ resilience, transformation, and resistance. After all, that gravity isn’t going to defy itself. Plus-- Cynthia Erivo and Arianna…

People in this episode

Hosts: Fausto Fernós, Marc Felion

Guest: Violet Kitajewski

Topics covered

  • transgender issues
  • LGBTQ resilience
  • cultural commentary
  • oppression
  • transformation
  • political power

Keywords

  • Wicked
  • transgender
  • LGBTQ
  • oppression
  • transformation
  • Cynthia Erivo
  • Ariana Grande
  • political power
  • resilience

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Covid

Books & works: Wicked, The Wizard of Oz

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