Child Molding

Skip has been in Leeds all week (since Monday night) and is meeting Maddie and me in London on Friday night. I've spent the week preparing Maddie to see the musical Wicked in the West End on Saturday. It's the story of Glenda the Good With and Elphaba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. The music is fantastic, but the story line is a little hard to follow for a 6-year-old, so I thought we needed some prep. We've watched the original Wizard of Oz and talked about the characters and we've looked at scenes from Wicked on You Tube. The story line of Wicked is that Glenda and Elphie meet in school and are unwilling roomates, but become friends. When it becomes clear that all is not well in Oz, they differ on how to address the injustices. It's a story about an unlikely friendship and about how those who fight for the oppressed are often cast as villians.

I've actually been pretty calculating about Maddie's entertainment. I got her hooked on Hairspray--the story of chubby Tracy Turnblad who proves that different is good and is willing to give up everything she's worked for when her Black friends are segregated from a local dance show. Now I've turned her on to Wicked which tells her not to judge someone by their looks (even if they are green) and that who is good and who is bad is not always so black and white. As soon as I teach her the words to Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks and Hammer and Nail by the Indigo Girls, her education will be complete. Should I feel guilty or proud for being so manipulative?