It’s not just Erivo’s character Elphaba drawing attention, as the Wicked fandom has recently been clarifying a significant mix-up regarding the actual name of Grande’s character in the film.
The confusion revolves around whether the protagonist’s name is “Glinda” or “Galinda,” with fans noticing both forms being used interchangeably across social media.
The short answer is that a professor in the plot is unable to pronounce the letter “a,” which is why Grande’s character goes by two names at different stages in the movie.
Just found out that Elphaba is named after L. Frank Baum, who wrote the Wizard of Oz children’s books.
L. F(r)a(nk) Ba(um)
— Hannah Danielle (@sincerelyhannah) November 22, 2024
When we first meet Glinda, she is known as Galinda Upland.
She continues criticizing Professor Doctor Dillamond (played by Peter Dinklage) on his pronunciation since she finds it frustrating that he has trouble pronouncing Galinda’s name in his seminars at Shiz University.
Her attempts are unsuccessful, though, as Dillamond just can’t get it right. As a result, Galinda changed her name to Glinda, saying she did it in support of her professor and in protest of his termination as a university professor.
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