‘Wicked’s’ subtext

WHILE Charles McNulty implies the subtext of “Wicked” suggests our supposed lack of freedoms in a post-9/11 America [“ ‘Wicked’ Is Almost Sure to Be Evergreen,” Feb. 23], I would like to offer an alternate reading: an unpopular, demonized leader who thinks it is important to fight for those who are being systematically tortured, gassed and brutalized by their governments while others pretend that none of this is happening in the world. That sounds more familiar to me.

P.J. CASTELLANETA

Los Angeles