Defying Gravity (Taylor's Version)
- Nicole Rose
- Jan 8
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 30
They're burning all the witches even if you aren't one. Welcome back to the Daily Debrief.
Witches, evil queens, good wives & lion cubs,
👩🏫 Welcome back from break! I finally saw Wicked — the latest adaption of a timeless tale that’s always been about perspective.
📌 Here’s a quick timeline if you aren’t well-versed:
1900: Frank L. Baum publishes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
1939: The Wizard of Oz hits the big screen, albeit slightly less wonderful now…
1995: Gregory Maguire flips the narrative with his novel Wicked.
2003: Wicked: The Musical takes Broadway by storm.
That carries us to the present — Wicked hits theaters in 2024, showcasing the world of Oz on the big screen once again. While the 1939 film gave us Dorothy’s perspective, this adaption lets us step into the perspective of the so-called villain: a promising young Elphaba.
Let’s dive in! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
In every season of life, we face the same ✨two magical questions✨ that Elphaba (the wicked one) and Galinda (the good one) confront in Oz:
Do I trust the one in power and shrink to advance within their questionable agenda?
Or do I trust myself, fall from grace, and build my power on my own terms?
It’s a turning point so timeless that Taylor Swift lived it right in front of us—hang tight, Swifties!
👩🏫 Before we lose the rest of the class, let’s start with a less magical question:
Why isn't anyone talking about Ms. Almira Gulch?
That mean old lady who filed a formal complaint to silence Toto forever, only to become the villain of Dorothy’s fever dream in Oz.
📌 Fun fact: She wasn’t even in Baum’s book. Almira was added to the 1939 film to serve as Dorothy’s real-world antagonist, the wicked womxn of Kansas.
📌 Less fun fact: Toto bit her because Dorothy wasn’t keeping an eye on him. That’s why Almira was so mad!!
No one asked, but if you did… I’d say it’s time for her story:
Widowed by war and left childless from scarlet fever, Almira clung to her sweet dog — her last tie to a life swept away by tragedy. When the storms got him too, she turned to her neighbors for companionship.Auntie Em dismissed her, repeating words her husband barked countless times before:Just 'cause you own half the county, doesn't mean you have the power to run the rest of us. 🙎♀️Almira quietly returned to her empty manor, only using her voice again to protect herself:I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too. 👵And that’s where Almira’s story ended — A shout fading into the dust.
👑 K*LL HER! 🎶
🧙♀️ NO. Leave her alone. She hasn’t done anything wrong! I’m the one you want. It’s me. 🎶
If you know, you know. Elphaba’s words echoed through the theater as we neared the end of the film. Almira may have made the choice to shrink, but there was no denying Elphaba’s choice to soar with the flying monkeys. Remember those unsettling little guys from Dorothy’s fever dream?
They weren’t symbols of fear. They were innocent animals trapped in Elphaba’s magic, twisted by the Wizard’s manipulation. A reminder that choosing your own path often means confronting how power can corrupt even the best intentions.
👩🏫 So, let’s pick up where we left off earlier at the turning point in Oz:
🧙♀️Elphaba is falling from grace
👸Galinda is succumbing to
👑The Wizard
🐍 And Taylor? Well, much like the wicked wxmen before her, she’s becoming the villain in 2016 — branded a snake by The Snakes (Kimmy K & Kanye). For the sake of context, this tweet and a carefully edited phone call concocted by The Snakes ignited a cultural storm deteriorating Taylor’s public image:
Swifties, it’s time. Let’s step into Taylor’s version. ✨
👸 I hope you're happy how you hurt your cause forever.
I hope you think you're clever! 🎶
Taylor is clever, Galinda. She did some things and by 2019, her reputation🎶 was restored. Unfortunately, just as she was stepping into her power, Scooter Braun took reign over Big Machine Records — the label holding the rights to most of Taylor’s music. That shift in power dynamics made it all too easy for The Snakes to resurface and get The Brand back together.
So, what did Taylor do?
She turned to the lakes where all the poets went to die🎶— a quiet response to the Wizard’s control over her music. Taylor chose her path, settled into solitude, and in the most relentless turn of events, began re-recording her old albums to reclaim ownership of her work.
👸🎵 Taylor, listen to me, just say you're sorry.
You can still be with The Wizard! 🎶
Galinda, my sweet girl… look at the keychain she added to the lyrics in the 10-minute version — a detail I initially rolled my eyes at, not yet seeing its precision.
✨ Swifties: Did Taylor’s version get you all too well🎶 too?
🎵 Hey! Are you okay? 🐍
🧙♀️ She hasn’t done anything wrong! 🎶
👩🏫 Sorry!! Shame on YOU🫵, isn’t it, my dear?
Taylor took her decade-old heartbreak and retuned it into something precisely wicked and entirely her own. Ensuring that when she chose to step back into the spotlight in 2021, her ten minutes on SNL weren’t just about telling her story — she seized a deliberately unassuming opportunity to rewrite the rules of power.
It was never just a keychain on the ground🎶.
It was a gravity defying key change.
By the time the Eras tour arrived, on St. Paddy’s Day🍀 in 2023, Taylor’s magic was undeniable. Her version of her music lit up the world instead of serving the Wizard who sought to keep it for himself. Much like Elphaba’s ascent to protect her flying monkeys or the power Almira might have reclaimed had her voice been heard, the Eras tour was a masterclass in turning anger into empowerment and wickedness into community healing.
👸Taylor, why couldn't you have stayed calm, for once, instead of flying off the handle?! 🎶
🐍 Because Galinda, I had a marvelous time ruining everything. 🎶
👩🏫 Don’t forget, this isn’t just Taylor’s story. It’s Almira and Elphaba’s too. History rhymes, and the public branding of these wicked wxmen wasn’t accidental. It was a deliberate strategy to maintain power by discrediting those brave enough to challenge it. Each womxn stood at the same crossroads, but their choices shaped entirely different fates:
1939: Almira retreated into silence — her voice dismissed, her power erased.
1995: Elphaba took to the skies — embracing the cost of defiance to claim her freedom.
2025: And Taylor? She didn’t just reclaim what was hers— she rebuilt the entire framework, ensuring no one could ever take it from her again.
Before choosing your path, it’s worth considering the lesson these ladies taught us:
👑The Wizard will brand you wicked the moment you stop trusting his power.
🐍If I were a wizard, I would be The Wizard… 🎶
👑 I hope you know she’s wicked! 🎶
👩🏫 Indeed, good sir. We’re reclaiming that word in today’s lesson. I implore you —on your own terms— to explore those ✨two magical questions✨ posed at the crossroads of Swiftie-verse and Oz.
My choice has already been made:
🧙♀️🎵 I’m through accepting limits because someone says they’re so.
Also — You’re being too loud! 🎶🐍
👑 K*LL HER! 🎶
🧙♀️ Leave her alone. She hasn’t done anything wrong! I’m the one you want…🎶
👩🏫 Thanks, team. That was so rude! All this to say...
I am the one you want.
🧙♀️🎵 It’s meeee. Hi! I’m the problem, it’s me. 🎶🐍
I really do hope you’re happy, but I think I’ll try defying gravity. If you choose to explore those ✨two magical questions✨ on your own terms, remember, even if you’re just:
🐍 A Swiftie
🧙♀️ A witch
👵 An overlooked womxn in Kansas or
👩🏫 Some girl living in her mother’s basement (…hi!)
The choice is always yours.
Oh, also — there’s ✨a third magical question✨ worth considering at the crossroads of reality and fiction:
…come with me? 🧙
🐍 I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you.
Think of what we could do together.
👩🏫🐍🧙♀️👵
🎵 Remember this moment. And if you care to find me — look toward the western sky. 🎶
Unlimited + evermore,
👩🏫Nic
recovering workaholic | former good wife | angsty, childless, cat lady | promising young cub | wicked witch of the daily debrief
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