poetry Nov. 27, 2024

I’m Obsessed With Amanda Gorman’s Wicked Poem

Portrait of Olivia Craighead

By Olivia Craighead, a news writer for the Cut who covers pop culture and celebrity. Previously, she wrote about pop culture and entertainment at Gawker.

“Wicked” Los Angeles Premiere

Photo: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Did you think that the Wicked marketing machine would end when the movie came out? Ha! Wrong. Just yesterday, Amanda Gorman shared “Do Us Good,” a poem created in collaboration with the film.

I’m obsessed with this concept; more movies should be commissioning poetry. Paul Mescal recites Virgil in Gladiator II, but that’s not the same thing. I want more of whatever this is: spon-poetry that takes song titles and lyrics and wedges them into verse.

“So if you dare to find us? Look to our west-turned eyes / Everyone won’t do good deeds, but all deserve the chance to try,” Gorman recites while doing some hand choreography that I initially mistook for ASL. What does “west-turned eyes” mean outside of the fact that it sort of sounds like western skies? I couldn’t tell you.

I am not a poetry expert, so I don’t feel qualified to say whether or not this poem is “good.” But I do feel comfortable saying that I can’t stop watching this video. Each viewing reveals something new to me. Did you notice that the “Defying Gravity” sequence is being projected onto the curtain behind her? This has led me to believe that the Oscars should commission a poem for every Best Picture candidate. Just imagine the poem about Conclave: “It’s not called / the Vati-can’t / Vape clouds bloom / The building … goes boom.” That one’s for free, but I’ll be charging for my ode to Anora.

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I’m Obsessed With Amanda Gorman’s Wicked Poem

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