Does Ted Cruz Actually Understand What ‘Wicked’ Is About?

Senator Ted Cruz says that he had a “good” time at Wicked, which must mean that he completely ignored all the themes present within the musical since it calls out the very ideals he upholds. Wicked‘s themes heavily tie into the struggle for rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and, of course, the themes relating to the “others” in the world of Oz, and particularly what is happening to the animals there with characters like Doctor Dillamond.

So knowing that Ted Cruz went to see Wicked and said it was a “good” show tells me that he didn’t understand a single thing in it. “Took Heidi & the girls to see Wicked last night in Houston. It’s such a good show – we had a blast!” Cruz wrote on social media. His post was instantly met with fans of the musical (and the novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire) calling Cruz out for seeing a show that very much represents the communities he is constantly threatening.

On the one hand, you’d hope that people like Cruz going to see art would inspire them to be less gross as human beings. On the other hand, Cruz and people like him should stay out of the space that musical theatre fans have carefully cultivated because they do not deserve it. Especially if they’re going to just woefully ignore the messages and themes presented to them when they return to real life.

The Republican Texas Senator and his ilk are making life for millions of Americans so much harder than it needs to be and it is entirely because of their own warped views. So yes, musical theatre fans can make fun of him for seeing Wicked and misunderstanding it simply because he’s made life a living hell for so many.

Wicked isn’t for you, Ted

If Ted Cruz wasn’t the most obtuse man on the planet, lost in his own warped ideas of what is and isn’t right, maybe he would have learned something from Wicked. Instead, Cruz was given a performance from people who most definitely hate everything he stands for only for him to say he had a blast—very obviously ignoring the aspects of Wicked that call out the Republican party and what they believe.

At its core, Wicked is a story of acceptance rooted in the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba. But it also has a deeper message with the horrors that the Wizard is inflicting on the citizens of Oz, and the pain that it causes Elphaba and those she’s trying to protect. So Cruz seeing the show and thinking it was a “blast” is … well, it’s telling that he didn’t understand a single thing he watched.

A Republican going to a show where the villains are seemingly based on the his own party and just ignoring how it calls them out? It’s honestly insulting to the entire cast and creative team who definitely did not want to be performing for someone like him.

Here’s hoping that Ted Cruz gets the message and either realizes the show is calling men like him out or that he never goes to another musical. Trust me, they don’t want you there, Ted.

(featured image: Kyle Rivas, Getty Images / Universal Stage Productions)