Perhaps fittingly, Amy Heckerling’s Clueless and Gregory Maguire’s Wicked both came out in 1995. For while Maguire’s book wouldn’t offer any songs that made the musical based on the book so, er, popular, it would serve as the adaptation bible for Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz. The blueprint for how to arrive at a song like “Popular,” among the most well-known from the musical.
Rendered to film by Ariana Grande as Galinda, the song is directed at Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) in their shared room (though only shared because Galinda accidentally offered to room with Elphaba after tripping in front of Madame Morrible [Michelle Yeoh]). This after the two finally have a public confrontation, of sorts, that leads Galinda to fully embrace Elphaba despite previously being her number one nemesis at Shiz University. In contrast to Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) and Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy), their relationship is initially fraught and competitive (more on Galinda’s part, as she’s jealous of Elphaba’s natural sorcery abilities). It takes time before hate gives way to love (the fine line between the two sentiments and all that rot), and the two become best friends.
Cher and Tai, on the other hand, commence right away as good friends, with the former taking Tai under her wing immediately when she sees her on the tennis court where she’s first introduced, looking “so adorably clueless.” These are Cher’s words upon sizing Tai up, telling her best friend, Dionne Davenport (Stacey Dash), “We’ve got to adopt her.” Dionne replies, “Cher, she is to’ up. Our stock would plummet.”
When Galinda proceeds to engage with Elphaba on the dance floor at Ozdust Ballroom, her own friends, Pfannee (Bowen Yang) and Shenshen (Bronwyn James), react similarly to Galinda “consorting” with someone so unpopular. They demand, “What are you doing?” and “Stop” when Galinda comes to Elphaba’s social rescue. They want Elphaba to remain ostracized, getting too much pleasure from mocking her.
But since Galinda was the one to set her up for humiliation by giving her a witch’s hat to wear to the “soirée” that she earlier told her friends she wouldn’t be caught dead in, she feels responsible for remedying the situation. That is, after Madame Morrible shows up to tell Galinda that Elphaba has rallied for her to take the sorcery class that Morrible shunned her from, wanting only Elphaba as a student. And yes, Elphaba made this plea after Galinda invited her to the ballroom and offered her the hat as something to wear. Mistaking her actions for kindness, that’s when Elphaba decided to advocate for her.
Realizing this, Galinda is horrified by what she’s done, watching as Elphaba descends the stairs to the sound of the cruel snickers and judgments of their classmates. So it is that, after Elphaba responds to the malice—the sheer wickedness—by dancing her strange, witchy moves as though unbothered, Galinda must join in. Must do whatever she can to help this “adorably clueless” (in matters of popularity) soul.
As Cher puts it, “D, don’t you wanna use your popularity for a good cause?” That is, likewise, what Galinda decides to do after dancing with Elphaba, literally and figuratively embracing her. Back in their room, the two get to talking about personal things, each telling a secret they’ve never told anyone else before (even though Elphaba’s is a much graver kind of secret). That’s when Galinda makes the declaration, “I’ve decided to make you my new project.”
This mirrors Cher gushing to Dionne, “Project!” once Tai is out of earshot. And yes, both women genuinely believe they’re being a beacon of goodness and altruism with what they’re doing, even though it’s obvious that a large part of it is to make themselves look better. Particularly to their respective objects of affection. For Cher, that’s Josh Lucas (Paul Rudd)—even though she doesn’t fully apprehend yet that she likes him—and for Galinda, that’s Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey). The latter is actually interested in Elphaba, but social mores dictate that he ought to go for someone who is more “physically matched” to himself. Just as social mores in Clueless (and in real life) dictate that you don’t fall for your ex-stepbrother. Even so, Cher’s feelings for Josh become undeniable especially after Tai informs her that she has a crush on him, inciting Cher’s jealousy.
And that’s when the dynamic between Cher and Tai shifts to the one that Galinda and Elphaba have at the beginning of Wicked. With Tai totally turning on Cher when she doesn’t support her crush on Josh. Hence, the infamous insult, “Why am I even listening to you to begin with? You’re a virgin who can’t drive.” But before that, it was all sunshine, lollipops and (somewhere over the) rainbows, with Tai acting as an all-too-willing Eliza Doolittle to Cher’s Henry Higgins. Teaching her all about popular. And it takes only a slight amount of coaxing, with Dionne feeling the need to explain, “Cher’s main thrill in life is a makeover, okay? It gives her a sense of control in a world of chaos.” This also seems to designed to lightly assure Tai that they don’t want to give her a makeover because they think she’s a total dog, or because that’s actually the entire reason they’ve befriended her in the first place (and yes, in many regards, the same goes for Galinda with Elphaba).
To cinch the “deal,” Cher implores Tai with a simple, whiny, “Pleeeeaaaase.” Tai relents with, “Sure, why not?” Her tone mimicking the same disinterested one as Elphaba when she tells Galinda, “You really don’t have to do that” when Galinda so “generously” offers to make Elphaba her “project.” The icky, problematic inclination in both Tai and Elphaba’s cases being that they are not fine “just as they are” (to quote Mark Darcy from Bridget Jones’ Diary).
Even though the love interests in both women’s lives—Travis Birkenstock (Breckin Meyer) for Tai and Fiyero for Elphaba—are attracted to them precisely because of how “different” they are, especially compared to other girls at Bronson Alcott High School and Shiz University, respectively.
Regardless, Tai and Elphaba can’t help but fall into the seductive trap of becoming a prettier (and more popular) girl’s “doll.” Or, as Cher later calls Tai (in a voiceover, of course), a pretty girl’s “monster.” Thus, when Galinda declares, “And when someone needs a makeover/I simply have to take over/I know/I know exactly what they need,” Elphaba doesn’t exactly fight the suggestion. In fact, she’s much more hesitant to go through with this “makeover” than Tai is as Cher dyes her hair and outfits her with a new wardrobe to the tune of Jill Sobule’s “Supermodel.” Yes, Elphaba needs a bit more convincing, with such “assurances” as, “Your whole life is gonna change. And it’s all because of me” (ah, so “selfless” that Galinda) and “It’s very shrewd to be popular like me.”
Tai would tend to agree with Galinda, as she can’t help but notice the positive looks of appraisal she’s getting at school the next day. This prompts Cher, her “creator,” to note to Dionne, “Oh my god, do you see how boys are responding? My heart is totally bursting.” Galinda might not necessarily feel the same if she knew about the already-brewing attraction between her own so-called beloved, Fiyero, and Elphaba.
Indeed, when Fiyero catches Elphaba imitating the “patented” Galinda hair flips she taught her “pupil”—paired with her actually quite Clueless-esque outfit—he comments, “You’ve been Galinda-fied. You don’t need to do that, you know.” And there is something comforting in Elphaba being told that by him. And in Tai going back to owning her crush on Travis from the beginning of the film that she was made to feel ashamed of by Cher. Because he wasn’t the “right” kind of guy for being “popular.”
However, as it turns out, both Tai and Elphaba quickly learn that popularity (and, more specifically, popularity by association) isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That there is, instead, very much something to be said for being a total “loser” (with a capital “L” hand gesture put to your forehead).
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