Defying Gravity and the Weight of Sin

“You have no real power.”

This heartbreaking realization serves as the catalyst for the show-stopping closing number, “Defying Gravity,” in Wicked, director Jon M. Chu’s movie adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical.

Millions of people have flocked to theaters to watch this retelling of the witches from The Wizard of Oz. The musical depicts the history and background of what actually went down between the Wicked Witch of the East (Elphaba) and the Good Witch of the North (Glinda)—long before Dorothy ever crashed into Oz and walked the yellow-brick road with her dog Toto and friends.

In this telling, the “Wicked Witch” is just a girl named Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) who was born with green skin and magical powers. Rejected by most, Elphaba is nonetheless invited to study under Shiz University’s Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), a sorcery instructor who sees potential in her abilities and promises her access to (and acceptance by) the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum). (Spoilers ahead.) But as with Dorothy in the 1939 film, Elphaba discovers, upon meeting the Wizard, that he is not who he claims to be. In fact, he is behind the mysterious disappearances and erasure of certain citizens of Oz. What’s more, he holds no power. He cannot read the magical book called the Grimmerie, but instead abuses Elphaba’s ability to do so for his own nefarious purposes.

It is at this moment that Elphaba declares that she must “defy gravity” and leave behind her pursuit of the Wizard, his acceptance, and his ways. Instead, she chooses to go a new way, unweighted by the rules and restrictions set in place by this false idol. She realizes, “If that’s love it comes at much too high a cost.”

This epic moment—reverberating with the dynamic shift in Cynthia Erivo’s voice, from heartbroken whisper to goosebump-inducing power belt, and visually emphasized by the harrowing sequence of Elphaba launching from the Wizard’s tower and plummeting towards the ground, only to end up flying amongst the clouds—serves as a great metaphor for Christians. The lyrics of the song mirror the exhortation of the author of Hebrews: “. . . let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. . .” Believers, like Elphaba, are tempted to find our satisfaction outside of Christ. We are promised a “wizard of sin” who will provide peace and prosperity and give us our deepest desires. And if we are not careful, we will work diligently, giving all we have to our sin, only to discover in the end that it does not hold the power to fulfill our lives. It is nothing more than a sad man hiding behind a curtain. Submitting to that sin weighs us down, keeping us from experiencing the freedom that Christ provides.

Choosing to lay aside our sin in favor of God’s freedom can be difficult. It can feel as though we are giving up the very thing we’ve worked so hard to attain, only to plummet towards our ruin. In our moments of weakness, our temptations whisper the words of Glinda (Ariana Grande) to Elphaba, just before Elphaba breaks free: “You can still be with the Wizard, what you’ve worked and waited for. You can have all you ever wanted.” But giving into sin would just be exchanging the truth of God for a lie. When we acknowledge that reality, we can easily echo Elphaba’s words: “I don’t want it. No. I can’t want it anymore.”

Like the moment when Elphaba grasps the broom, realizing it will allow her to escape the clutches of the Wizard, God’s Word and the Holy Spirit can help us to lay aside the weight of our sin, defy gravity, and run our race in true freedom. The truth of Scripture tells us that our heart desires to glorify God. This is what we were created for; the pursuit of anything outside of that is akin to chasing smoke and mirrors in an emerald city that was built upon lies. The Bible points to Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. When we delight in him, he will give us the (true) desires of our heart. As we pursue a life in Christ and see our sin for what it really is, the Holy Spirit comes along and begins to work in our hearts to provide power and conviction to walk away from our sin. The more we put aside our sin and conform to the image of Christ, we discover that we are no longer weighed down by our sin. Instead, we have a light yoke that allows us to run our race with freedom.

So what sin might be weighing you down today? What “Wizard of Oz” have you turned to for fulfillment instead of the true God, who is full of grace and mercy? Would you allow God’s Word and the Spirit to convict you, so that when you are tempted to succumb to sin, you can instead say:

“Something has changed within me
Something is not the same . . .
Kiss me goodbye, I’m defying gravity . . .
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever going to bring me down!”

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At Think Christian, we encourage careful cultural discernment. We recognize and respect that many Christians choose not to engage with pop culture that contains particular content, such as abuse, sex, violence, alcohol or drug use, or that employs the use of coarse language. To that end, we suggest visiting Common Sense Media for detailed information regarding the content of the particular pieces of pop culture discussed in this article.