hyacinth

truth over solace in lies

finished one of the most amazing reading experiences in my recent memory! these two are my very favourites.

MAY YOU NEVER LOSE YOUR HYPERFIXATION

the documentary contained voice recordings of personal accounts by many old lesbians. in one of the anecdotes that stuck with me, the interviewee described how as a child, she would make up stories for her best girl friends where her friends were the heroines. she would include the boys her friends liked in the stories as typical princes, but primarily focus on her friends fulfilling the role of the protagonist. when asked, the interviewee answered that her role in the stories she told was to simply be the narrator.

the wicked musical and movie are structured so that glinda serves as the narrator, though somewhat unreliable, recalling her and elphaba's history at the beginning and at the end. throughout the story, elphaba clearly fulfills the role of heroine and protagonist. although fiyero is there, wicked is first and foremost elphaba's story. it had never previously occurred to me that the sheer fact that glinda is retrospectively narrating elphaba's story is itself lesbian subtext. but it makes a lot of sense, especially since glinda is the only person left in oz who is privy to the truths revealed throughout wicked.