Okay, pop culture lovers, brace yourself:

The Wicked Witch of the West?

Yeah… she might not be the villain we all grew up fearing.

Award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell just dropped the ultimate plot twist in his TED Talk, and honestly? It’s giving mind-blown.

For years we’ve accepted it without question:

💚 Green skin = evil

💗 Pink sparkles = good

Glinda shines like a walking cupcake and we’re supposed to adore her.

Elphaba wears black and suddenly she’s public enemy number one.

But Tazewell took one look at the script and basically said:

“Uh, who decided that?”

Because here’s the real tea:

Elphaba?

✔ smart

✔ compassionate

✔ literally misunderstood from the moment she pops onstage

Glinda?

We love her, but…

✔ she’s not always nice

✔ she gets away with A LOT because she’s cute and glittery

And THAT is when Tazewell flipped the whole narrative.

“I wasn’t designing stereotypes,” he said.

“I was designing questions.”

Questions like:

• Who gets labeled “wicked” before they even speak?
• Why do looks decide who’s loved and who’s rejected?
• And who benefits when the pretty one is automatically the “good” one?

As a Black gay man entering a not-so-welcoming industry, Tazewell knows exactly what it feels like to be judged at first glance. And suddenly, Wicked becomes more than a musical — it becomes a mirror.

Because anyone can be cast as the villain.

All it takes is the wrong costume.

And here’s the kicker:

Wickedness can be designed.

And if it can be designed…

we can redesign it.

Mic. Dropped.

So the next time you see the Wicked Witch, remember:

Maybe the real villain isn’t the girl in green.

Maybe it’s the story we’ve been telling.