In the past 24 hours, you may have noticed your friends taking longer to reply to your texts. People bailing on plans. City streets falling silent. There’s a simple explanation: everyone’s busy holding space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity.”
The viral meme stems from a new interview with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande speaking to journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist for Out Magazine, where Gilchrist broke some news to the duo about the movie’s most famous number.
“This week, people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that,” Gilchrist said.
“I didn’t know that that was happening,” Erivo replied, apparently choked up at the revelation. “That’s really powerful. That’s what I wanted. I didn’t know that was happening.”
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“I’ve seen it on a couple posts,” Gilchrist added. “I don’t know how widespread, but you know, I am in queer media.”
When the clip made its way to social media, it immediately went viral, now having nearly 27 million views on X. Folks across the internet struggled to make sense of what any of the interview means: What does “holding space” look like in this context? Why does Erivo seem to think of herself as personally responsible for the lyrics of a 20-year-old musical? And what does Gilchrist’s position in queer media have to do with it all?
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“You never know!” Grande said, throwing in a limp wrist for good measure.
“A crown and Miss Ari’s approval. Life made!” drag superstar Tia Kofi wrote on social media.
Then there’s Grande’s gesture of support to Erivo: inexplicably grabbing her index finger and only her index finger. It’s a cross between a hand-hold and Michelango’s “Creation of Adam,” and it’s the surreal cherry on top of an already mystifying exchange.
— sassy cathy (@oohweehuman) November 21, 2024
The video is occupying people’s minds, bodies, spirits, and even their Halloween plans.
i want to talk about this video for six hours uninterrupted I’ve watched it so many times since yesterday that I have it completely memorized and have been muttering the words to myself alone in my apartment
— rayne fisher-quann (@raynefq) November 21, 2024
Long story short, we’re all going to have to hold space for the next few days to figure out what holding space means. Maybe we’ll do it at the movie theater, seeing as Wicked finally releases in theaters today, November 22. Check out the number “What Is This Feeling” from the movie below.
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