Meme Monday: Holding space for Wicked memes
Mondays are tough. Here's a meme to cheer you up
It’s time for a special edition of the newsletter where I highlight a trending meme. If you’re new, you can subscribe here and follow me on Threads or X. Views are my own. Happy reading!
What is the meme?
In an Out Magazine interview with Wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist informed the two actresses that queer fans were “really taking the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' and really holding space with that and feeling power in that.”
The internet had a lot to say about the actresses’ responses.
“Many on social media found Grande and Erivo’s behavior puzzling, if not outright cringe, making TikToks pretending to be them sobbing after an interviewer asked what they had for lunch that day. Others delved into conspiracy theories, claiming the co-stars are so emotional because they’re simply in love, or that the two are in the throes of a personal crisis.” - E.J. Dickson, “I’m Going to Miss the Wicked Press Tour”
Who is in the meme?
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. They were on their press tour for Wicked, a movie adaptation of a famous Broadway musical preceding the events in The Wizard of Oz. According to Yahoo Entertainment, Wicked’s overall budget turned out to be about $300 million for both movies.
When did the meme pop up?
The interview was posted on the Advocate Channel on Nov. 13, 2024.
Where is the meme?
I fear this question is getting outdated, as I’m having trouble keeping up with every social media platform out there *cough* Bluesky, so I’ll continue to tell you where I am seeing the meme – Instagram and X.
Why is the meme?
“In almost every single interview about the movie, Erivo and Grande have behaved like preteen girls on the last day of camp, exchanging their AIM contact info over tear-stained Lisa Frank notebooks,” E.J. Dickson explained for The Cut. “Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are huge stars, but ultimately, they’re theater kids…It’s a level of annoying that is almost impossible to achieve, and we’re going to miss it when it’s gone.”
On the other hand, the interviewer Tracy E. Gilchrist responded to what she was thinking during the moment in an Out Magazine explainer: “When I posed the question to Cynthia about people holding space with the lyrics to 'Defying Gravity,' it was two days after the election, and everyone I knew in the LGBTQ+ community was trying to make sense of what we might be facing. I loved her response, and I love that people are having a laugh, because I know I could use one about now.”
She also said," “I never considered I'd become a meme…But as an unrepentant showqueen, I'm thrilled that it's for something this campy, in response to a movie I love. Now go see Wicked!"
The real question – will you hold space for this meme?
Read the last Meme Monday: in da clerb, we all fam
Definitely cheered me up!