Defying Normalcy

So I finally sat down and watched the movie Wicked and I must say that I am surprised that something so edgy and poignant could be so popular (no movie or musical show pun intended). It's funny, if not slightly annoying, that something like this can be so popular in a society that is filled with so much hate for their fellow man. (Another disclaimer: It is not my intention to paint with such broad strokes I promise the generalities stop soon).

For those of you who haven't jumped on the band wagon, Wicked is the story of what happened in Oz before Dorothy and Toto arrive and eventually defeat the Wicked Witch of the West. It's an origin story explaining why the Wicked Witch of the West is the way she is. And, spoiler alert, it's not for the reason you might think. Essentially, she was vilified for figuring out that the Wizard of Oz himself isn't all he's cracked up to be. Oz's biggest injustices were caused by the Wizard and because she wouldn't help the Wizard continue his (not so great) work.

In the movie, which I'm told is actually the first act of the Broadway musical, the Wizard is the reason for some major discrimination towards regular folks who were only guilty of being different, not like the Wizard or their fellow Ozians.

Now I know you can just feel the coming segway, so I'll put you out of your misery..... It all sounds familiar, doesn't it? Strip away the Republicans vs. Democrats; Elephants vs. Donkeys; Red vs. Blue; etc. and strip it all down to the basics: our current events are people vs. poeople. One group of people who expect everyone to look and act like them, with another group of people of don't fit that mold. So let me do my best to explain "why" things are so scary right now.

If you're heterosexual, how would you feel if the majority of people around you told you that simply being yourself was disgusting. That there was something wrong with you for being who you are. No, seriously.... think about it. Think hard. To take it to another extreme - that there was something so fundamentally wrong with you that you no longer deserved to live in your home, drive your cars, dress the way you like to dress, have a job, etc. Everything about you is so wrong that you should be removed from society at all costs. Everything about you is so wrong that you should be beaten and abused until you're "better" (e.g. no longer heterosexual).

People have done this before and are doing it again. People. I vividly remember learning about painful parts of history and asking "how could they let that happen?". That question assumes they even realized what was happening in the first place. That they saw all of the little things that, over time, added up to some of the worst times in human history. I think the real question from here on out should ad always be be "what now?".

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it and the only way to break a cycle is by doing something different. So when are we - as a society, as a people, as the human race, going to do something different? When do we defy normalcy? Defy our own version of gravity?