With the Nov. 22 release of “Wicked: Part I”, Broadway fans of all ages are flocking to theaters to watch Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo take on the roles of Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. The film has received overwhelmingly positive critic and audience feedback and has broken countless domestic and international records.
Alongside the attention “Wicked: Part I” has garnered for its bright and colorful take on a fan-favorite musical, it has also received attention on social media for another reason. During an interview prior to its release, Tracy Gilchrist from Out magazine became an internet sensation when she asserted that “people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that.” Cynthia Erivo responded by clutching her chest to express deep emotion and shock, while Ariana Grande reached out to grab Erivo’s pointer finger in support. While the actresses seemed to understand the concept of “holding space”, social media users were left in utter confusion. What does “holding space” with something truly mean? And why couldn’t we just say that the lyrics resonated with people?
While the “holding space” interview is a funny and harmless result of “Wicked: Part I,” it highlights the growth of a modern phenomenon. Individuals in media, politics and business have started relying more heavily on pseudointellectual language to seem smarter, unique to others or more politically in tune. These phrases tend to be hollow, but in the age of social media, the importance perception outweighs substance. That tendency, especially during difficult conversations, is where this trend becomes a problem.
This phenomenon is most common in business and politics, and it isn’t new. In fact, it is so common that it has a name, obfuscation, or the practice of using confusing and vague language to hide the truth. One of the most notable political examples was coined in the mid-to-late 20th century by economist Thomas Schelling and the United States military. In his article “Dispersal, Deterrence and Damage,” Schelling used “collateral damage” to refer to damage to civilian areas that were not military targets but were affected by efforts to destroy other strategic targets. Since then, “collateral damage” was used during the Vietnam War for the U.S. military to escape their responsibility for the deaths of thousands of civilians. It continues to be used today in similar contexts to obscure the truth.
In business, obfuscation and pseudointellectual language are used in almost every part of the organization. From hiring new candidates to attracting stakeholders, businesses use obscure language to make broad and appealing statements that lack a backbone or concrete examples. For example, companies will use corporate jargon like “leveraging scalable solutions for granular optimization”, to describe efforts to increase the efficiency of a process. Why couldn’t they just say that? Well, it just doesn’t sound as cool, and then they would be expected to prove it.
On social media, blatantly odd pseudointellectual language tends to be turned into memes. An example similar to “holding space” occurred in 2022 when a 2018 clip of young Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son, resurfaced and became a meme. After mocking young people for their obsession with selfies and popularity, Smith says “Dude, oh my God, can we talk about the political and economic state of the world right now?” People mocked Smith for sounding pretentious and condescending because it showed his desire to seem more intelligent than others his own age, even though he made no actual statements about political or economic ideas in the interview. While it might sound great that Smith is so aware, he never gave us an action plan.
With the New Year coming, I think that we should begin “holding space” for clarity, brevity and honesty in our words. When we participate in important and often difficult discussions, I want to see more than “concepts of a plan.” It is important that we prioritize action and transparency so that we can truly improve our politics, businesses and mindsets. In the future, if you ever need a reminder to focus on these things, I encourage you to hold space with the lyrics of “Defying Gravity.” They remind us that we are more than the way we are perceived and that our actions, rather than empty words, do make a difference.
Right but the movie was largely empty. It was not based on the book at all. The movie itself cost 160 million to make and currently at 360 million. Obviously it is going to make a profit but it isn’t nearly as profitable as what some would say. Any movie released by Disney or Marvel makes hundreds of millions of dollars so this isn’t that far off from that.