Director Jon M. Chu’s Wicked was one of the most exciting movies of 2024 and has some surprisingly complex relationships between its characters, including that of Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) and Boq (Ethan Slater). Wicked draws inspiration from the Broadway musical of the same name along with the 1995 book, and The Wizard of Oz. In the Wicked book and its adaptations, Glinda becomes the Wizard of Oz’s Good Witch while Boq becomes the Tin Man, though their characters’ connection was not established in the original The Wizard of Oz.

Now, the 2024 movie has been able to expand on their feelings for each other more than any other version, but it is much more complicated than it might initially seem. Boq expresses his interest in Glinda almost immediately, but Glinda ultimately becomes part of Wicked‘s main love triangle. While many of Wicked‘s characters experience unrequited love, including Glinda herself, her treatment of Boq and refusal to remember his name is one of the clearest examples of the movie’s unfulfilled romances, though there might be more to the story.

Glinda May Be Getting Boq’s Name Wrong On Purpose

She Is Attempting To Push Him Away

While most readings of Wicked theorize that Glinda gets Boq’s name wrong because she doesn’t care or to add a bit of humor, there actually could be a deeper reason for it. It is pretty clear from the outset that Glinda is not interested in Boq as more than a friend, but he is completely oblivious to this. Thus, rather than calling him “Biq” simply because she does not care enough to learn his actual name, Glinda may be calling Boq by the wrong name in an attempt to show that she is not interested in his advances.

It is completely understandable for her to not know Boq’s name after they first meet, but later it seems like they know each other well enough that it is something that Glinda would remember. It is entirely possible that Glinda does know Boq’s name but chooses to get it wrong in an effort to push him toward developing true feelings for Nessarose (Marissa Bode). Glinda’s disinterest in a romantic relationship with Boq means that she likely doesn’t want his attention at all and is looking for a way to let him down easily.

Glinda Intentionally Getting Boq’s Name Wrong Changes Her Story

It Is A Very Subtle Way Of Rejecting Him

If Glinda is getting Boq’s name wrong intentionally, then it is much kinder than it might appear. She may be trying to subtly tell Boq that she is not interested in him as more than a friend or that she wishes he would back off a little to give her more space. Glinda outright saying to Boq how she really feels about him might come across as too harsh, so she could be trying to spare his feelings and hoping that he will eventually lose interest on his own.

Making Glinda’s actions intentional rather than her own disinterest in learning Boq’s name could completely change how some viewers understand the Wicked character. Rather than being aloof and self-interested, seeing Glinda in this light shows a much more empathetic character. Not only does she not want to hurt Boq’s feelings by more bluntly rejecting him, but she also encourages him to go after someone else that she knows has real feelings for him.

Whether Glinda remembers Boq’s name or not, both understandings of the character show that she does continuously lead him on. Even if she is trying to protect Boq, her actions show her awareness of how he feels about her, but she cannot bring herself to definitively reject him. Additionally, Glinda’s interactions with other characters, including Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), show that she does not like confrontation, so it makes sense for her character to avoid confronting Boq too, even if it isn’t necessarily the right course of action.

Why Boq Is Still Interested In Glinda Despite Getting His Name Wrong Constantly

Boq Does Not See What Is Right In Front Of Him

Despite Boq facing a similar situation with Nessarose, he is unable to accept that Glinda does not have romantic feelings for him. Just as Nessa loves Boq without seeing that he loves Glinda, Boq loves Glinda while she only has eyes for Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). In other words, his love has blinded him to this reality. Even when Glinda repeatedly calls him the wrong name, Boq does not seem to take that as an indication that she is not thinking about him as much as he is thinking about her.

Instead, Boq likely hopes Glinda getting his name wrong is a tiny mistake that she will learn to correct when she eventually comes to realize that she has feelings for him too. His love makes him hopeful that she can change for the better, but he never stops to think about whether she will ever want that love. As will become increasingly clear in Wicked‘s second part, the characters often struggle to have the relationships that they want with those they love, and that leads to dire consequences, especially for Boq.