I’m just curous what others think. Noone seems to make any content about this yet.
For me, I think Fiyero repressed his nihilism by just never give an f ab life anymore, and go with the flow not thinking too hard ab anything. He was living a life that is meaningless, hedonistic, and fun but devoid of anything substantial. He is unhappy though, he just, well, doesn’t think about it. And I guess meeting Elphaba and seeing her passion and her strength, he got swept up in her cause and became a supporter. Before Elphie there is no indication that he cares about anything.
So I guess he found both love and meaning through supporting Elphaba.
Now 2 questions:
Title, your opinon on what Fiyero’s arc is.
Would Fiyero abandons everything (his title etc.) to help the Animals (he has Animal friends) if Elphaba never appears in his life?
Videos
This might be an unpopular opinion, as I don't really see anyone talk about this. But I recently saw Wicked on Broadway again with a friend who had never seen the musical or movie. She loved it so much that she wanted to watch the movie the next day which we did. Her favorite character in the musical was Fiyero but she was disappointed that the Fiyero in the movie is completely different, which I didn't realize before.
Basically, the movie completely cuts out the "frat boy" aspect of Fiyero's character. Think about the difference in their first scenes:
In the musical, he's asleep being ridden around in a carriage. He says "I'm sure I won't last longer at this school than at any of the others" and doesn't care at all that the carriage hit Elphaba, and just makes the offhand comment "maybe the driver saw green and thought it meant go."
In comparison, Movie Fiyero is much more dashing from the very first scene. He arrives on horseback (much more independent and strong than being taken asleep in a carriage) and is immediately fascinated by Elphaba.
Movie Fiyero does still teach the students how to have fun but he never really has that shallow "idgaf about anything" attitude. We're told in dancing through life that he's like this, but we never really see it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the movie doesn't even mention that he has a scandalous reputation and was kicked out of his previous schools.
To put it simply, Fiyero in the musical develops into the dashing, heroic character that he is by the end whereas movie Fiyero starts out that way. Fiyero's arc is supposed to be that he grows through with his relationship with Elphaba. He becomes fascinated with her slowly, rather than right away from the beginning. He goes from lazy and shallow to brave and righteous, finding Elphaba and standing by her side.
The movie has cut all of that short by having him start out that way. IMO, Fiyero's development/character arc won't hit the same in Part II as a result.
Before his physical arrival, the audience hear about him from Galinda and co.
Apparently, he got kicked out of a few schools before arriving at Shiz. He also seems well-known in Oz so he is something of a celebrity.
At the start, he runs down the main protagonist and doesn't even apologize, instead making a joke about her skin
This shows that he is rude and even bullying
Then 'dancing through life' happens, wherein he promises to corrupt students and boasts about how hedonistic he is. He then dates Glinda because she is pretty.
This reflects his shallowness and rebellious character.
Next interaction with Elphaba comes when he tells her that 'she does not have to change' when she becomes 'Galindafied'
This could show surprising depth as his line implies he finds her ok just the way she is. Or it shows his lighter, more friendly side as he could just be teasing Elphaba. This lines is strange as why would he talk to a girl he just ran over with his carriage and insulted?
Then comes the 'Lion Cub' scene when his character takes a 180 degree turn. During the scene, he helps Elphaba free the lion.
His actions here make him seem compassionate and brave, a far cry from all his previous actions, where he was essentially just a cissy party boy. This is hard to believe as he was so rude before and his actions before Shiz shows that he is more preoccupied with partying than anything. Why on earth does Fiyero even feel compassion for the lion cub, when all his previous actions indicate he is politically apathetic ?!
He arrives to see Elphaba off and confesses he has been thinking of that lion cub incident a lot. Galinda also reveals that he has become more distant and moody -- even contemplative.
Here his actions show that he has changed due to the incident. However, why should such a small incident change his whole perspective and outlook on life?! It's just so irrational.
After a time skip, Fiyero has joined the Gale Force and become Captain to find Elphaba. He then becomes engaged to Glinda, who at this point he obviously does not respect let alone love
I do not understand why he still sticks with Glinda after the time skip. He clearly does not respect her and is more preoccupied with looking for Elphaba. Also, since he held Elphaba in such high regard, how did he not blow his cover whenever anyone badmouthed her in front of him-- I'd have thought he'd defended Elphaba to the people who said bad things about her?! If he did defend her, then why did Morrible or Wizard not become suspicious of his loyalty for the enemy of OZ?
Fiyero runs off with Elphaba using a clever ruse
This shows that Fiyero has become more intelligent as he tricks his own men into leaving Elphaba alone. However, this also shows that he is impulsive and reckless, traits the audience has not seen before, except with the lion cub scene. Also, if he loved Elphaba for so long and supported Animal rights, then why did he not try to contact the resistance during his time in Gale Force? He could have acted as a double agent for the resistance, which could have led him to Elphaba quicker and helped the Animal rights cause. Also, joining the Gale Force would have been a bad move for an Animal Rights supporter as one of his tasks would have been to kill Animals.
As Long As You're Mine
This is where Fiyero reveals his love for Elphaba. This scene is very touching but does not make any logical sense. First of, why does he still love Elphaba after all this time? Secondly, how could he fall in romantic love with someone over just one moment of connection? Thirdly, this scene makes Fiyero sound like he is more preoccupied with Elphaba than Animal Rights. This makes no sense as the reason he even loved Elphaba in the first place was because of her kindness towards Animals. Does Fiyero even care about the Animals?
The rest of the play
After his heroic sacrifice, Fiyero is brutally tortured and then turned into a Scarecrow. At this point, why is he not traumatized and suffering from PTSD-- why as the Scarecrow he goes on a journey with Dorothy, Boq and the Lion he saved to 'kill' Elphaba? Why does he not just directly go to her? How he has not become insane from PTSD?
Somehow he hatches a plan to escape from Oz with Elphaba. WHY?!
I thought they both cared about Animal Rights and opposing the Wizard too much to suddenly leave Oz.
Where do they even go-- are there any lands they know of outside of Oz?
Also, why on earth does Fiyero even stick with Elphaba after he gets tortured and transformed into a Scarecrow?
You’re spending an awful lot of time categorizing behaviors as if people who do one thing are incapable of another.
Remember that this is a boarding school. You are watching very young characters, so it is not inconceivable that a dude who likes parties, dislikes studying, and sometimes makes insensitive comments is capable of greater depth and principle in different contexts and when he is older.
Also...you don’t know how PTSD works.
Also you say we’ve never seen him be impulsive and reckless before, even though youthful impulsivity and recklessness and disregard for future planning is one of the main features of his opening song. The dude gets kicked out of a series of schools and is a “bad boy”, of course he’s reckless.
Get your head on straight.
You’re asking quite a bit from a show that doesn’t even really invite in depth analysis....