Recently, I watched Wicked: For Good and enjoyed the film overall, but one scene in particular stayed with me that I wanted to discuss. *Spoiler warning* During the moment when Elphaba considers joining forces with the Wizard, she challenges him to reveal to the citizens of Oz that he is essentially a fraud with no real magical power. His response was that he could admit to lying, and no one would care.
After our class discussions on ideology and similar matters, this line stood out because it touches on ideological saturation. When the Wizard says no one would care if he admitted to lying, he’s acknowledging that people’s loyalty is not tied to truth, but to a worldview he created. The lie is the ideology. The people have internalized it so completely that reality doesn’t matter anymore.
To break it down, his statement exposes one of ideology’s effects. Ideology can make people emotionally invested in beliefs regardless of whether they are true. The citizens don’t follow the Wizard because he is honest, they follow him because the version of reality he provides gives them comfort. In short, that emotional security is more compelling than the facts.
This made me wonder about ideology in the real world, specifically questioning whether people need ideology to get through life. I would argue yes. Ideology gives us frameworks that allow us to understand how the world works. But if ideology is needed, why do some argue that ideology traps individuals and prevents them from discovering truth?
People argue that ideology traps individuals because once a belief system becomes familiar and emotionally comforting, it becomes difficult to see beyond it. Ideology doesn’t always present itself as an option among many. It often disguises itself as common sense or the way things naturally are. When that happens, people stop noticing that they are operating within a constructed worldview. The comfort and stability ideology provides can make questioning it feel dangerous or “disloyal.” As a result, individuals may mistake the ideology for absolute truth rather than recognizing it as one interpretation of reality. This is where the “trap” begins and why some argue ideology is restricting. Ideology gives meaning, but it can also narrow perception, limiting what people are willing to consider true.
In short, ideology helps people navigate life, but it becomes restrictive when it makes one filter out anything that challenges it. It is not the existence of ideology that is the problem. The danger appears when ideology becomes invisible and unquestionable, because that is when it stops guiding people and starts defining them. This is presented in Wicked: for good, as the film overall asks its audience to question the stories they inherit rather than just accept them.
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