Social Contract Theory and Wicked

 This week we discussed Plato's Crito and social contract theory. In Crito, Socrates is imprisoned unjustly, and his wealthy friend Crito visits him and they discuss what is expected of people in society, and further the relationship between a citizen and their city. Originally when having this discussion my mind immediately went to The Hunger Games due to Katniss' relationship with the Capitol; however after watching the new film adaptation of Stephen Schawrtz' Wicked a few days ago I am now realizing that social contract theory comes into play here as well. For those of you who have never seen Wicked (don't yell at me for spoilers this musical has been out for twenty years okay) Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) is a girl born with green skin and magical powers, exiled for most of her life due to her "odd" skin color. When dropping her sister off at University, she is noticed for her powers and thus accepted into the school despite the opposition from the rest of the student body. Long story short, those around her grow to accept her and she finally feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time; this is followed by an offer to meet the Wizard, who she soon realizes is a fraud who only wants to use her powers to enact total power. Elphaba is then forced to decide: does she do what is right and expose the Wizard and risk losing her social acceptance, or does she turn on her morals to work for the Wizard to fit in, even though it is wrong? The Wizard is the one who established power in Oz, and it is clear in both Wicked and The Wizard of Oz that he has some type of infallible reputation despite being a fraud, but those in close proximity with him bow down in exchange for protection and even positions of power (like Glinda and Madame Morrible); further, those same people then silence anyone who may speak out against the Wizard's corruption. So while Elphaba was doing what was right by speaking out, in the context of what the people in Oz know, she is the evil one spreading lies. In the context of Crito, Wicked is just another tale of what can happen when an individual goes against the State.