Wicked and I

I've wanted to see Wicked ever since I saw Kristin Chenowith and Idina Menzel performing Defying Gravity on the Tony Awards a few years ago. I bought the soundtrack on itunes, I listened to it all the time, but I didn't actually see it until right after Christmas (and even then it was in Detroit, not Broadway). I had read about teenagers loving it, even though the critics panned it aside, while praising the leads. I thought this was because of it's story of female empowerment and theme of being yourself, but that's not it. The reason the teens like it is because the outcast actually gets the guy in the end and the good girl, while she may be known as "the Good" does not get what she wants. It's a story that is near and dear to every person who has ever felt like an outsider, a freak or unwanted. Of course teenage girls and boys like it.
I don't really want to get into the whole comparison with The Wizard of Oz, but I do want to point out a few things.
1) The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the few truly frightening characters in movie history. Her counterpart in Kansas kidnaps Toto, threatens the Scarecrow with fire, puts Dorothy, the Woodsman and the Cowardly Lon to sleep in a field of poppies and basically tries to kill them all. So you're telling me that it was all an act? That she actually loved the Scarecrow, tried to keep the Woodsman from pain and rescued the Lion so he could talk? I can't buy it. I liked the reference to The Wizard of Oz, but I think there's a great story to be told how someone becomes evil and this isn't it-mainly because Elphaba isn't evil, she's misunderstood. I'd like to know she really became evil and this is not that story. that said, I liked Fieryo's song (Dancing Through Life) and how brainless he is-even the dancing was an homage to Ray Bolger. The references are nice (even the Press Secretary Madame Morrible making up words is a clear reference to George Bush and the misinformation of the war in Iraq) so all the levels are interesting and I loved the music but I still don't really buy it as the true story of the Wicked Witch of the West. I can't believe the woman who terrified me as a child is just "misunderstood".