The Woven Complexity of Elphaba’s Sex Cardigan
*Spoilers for Wicked if you didn’t see it the moment it came out because you didn’t dedicate your entire adolescence to a musical adaptation of a book that is certainly not for children.
If you’ve seen Wicked: For Good, you were probably left with one big lingering thought. No, it isn’t about the complexities of female friendship or how those trying to do good are often vilified by the very people they’re trying to help. You, like me, were probably wondering, “What the hell is going on with Elphaba’s sex cardigan and where can I get one*?”
“She's got a loom in her treehouse, where she's weaving her own clothing. She's manifesting all these things from the elements that are around her, and the sweater is just in keeping with that” - Paul Tazwell, costume designer, trying to justify this fuckass robe.
For those not in the know, in this presentation of Act II of a musical that's stage adaptation is a quarter the length of its movie adaptation, Elphaba and Fiyero run off together to her sexy little treehouse for a romp in the branches and leaves. Elphaba decides to throw on a floor length, gray, woven cardigan for her hay ride. She is also in this cardigan post-sex. Does the cardigan stay on for sex? It seems like an entanglement hazard. This thing was not crafted by a quirky 20-something on Etsy who knows to burn the ends of her yarn. It’s falling apart.
I am reminded of Troy Barnes in Community who says, “I'm more turned on by women in pajamas than lingerie. I just want to know they feel comfortable.” And maybe that’s why the sex cardigan works. She’s feeling herself in her matching bra and panty set that she wore to her best friend’s wedding to steal her man (another thing I won’t really be going into) but the audience knows that she’s also so so comfy! And isn’t that the sexiest thing of all? We have reached a renaissance in which men find XXXL t-shirts and baggy sweatpants sexy. In fact, if a man tells me that he thinks a woman in lingerie is sexier than a woman in a big t-shirt I will assume that man is gay. Lingerie is something you fantasize about if you have never and will never see a woman naked.
Speaking of, I would like to address the fact that Fiyero and Elphaba are as gay as the rainbow Dorothy is singing about. No, I do not mean Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey. I mean FIYERO and ELPHABA. Acknowledging this, does the sex cardigan simply symbolize a sense of comfort in their lavender relationship? The knowledge that they are finding home with each other in a way that is deemed acceptable by a heterosexual majority? Maybe the sex cardigan is the friends we find along the way. The friends we grind along the way, if you will.
Next time, we will be analyzing Dr. Dillamond’s sex cardigan. Stay tuned.
* If you knit or crochet, please contact Tease and Resist with the subject Re: Fran’s Elphaba’s Sex Cardigan