“Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?”

Spoilers ahead for the Wicked stage musical and movies, books, and The Wizard of Oz.

“Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?” These questions come up at the start of Wicked. As the story progresses, it becomes clear “wicked” says more about the people doing the labeling than the person being labeled.

This is one of the many reasons why Wicked has engaged audiences, especially when people are divided over what wickedness means. Why is certain conduct so obviously wicked to some people but perfectly acceptable to others? How should we respond when we see things we know are morally wrong, while others ignore or approve of them?

Value judgments like “wicked” have always been used for social control. Some behaviors are encouraged by being labeled “good,” and others are discouraged by being labeled “bad” or “wicked.” These values are instilled in us even before we learn how to speak. We get rewarded for being good and doing good things, and we’re punished for being bad and doing bad things. We soon learn the importance of being good and condemning what is bad.

But how do we determine what’s good and bad? We can point to various authorities and religious texts, but how did they identify good and bad? Who made this distinction and why?