India, Jan. 9 -- Betty and Veronica. Glinda and Elphaba. Sinner and saint. Virgin and vamp. The girl-next-door and the jealous rival. Pop culture has survived for decades by pushing women characters into good-bad binaries. Heroines in YA romances are typically "not like other girls" (bookish, smart, wears sneakers to prom, hates makeup). On screen, love triangles will invariably pit the sweet one against her saltier counterpart.

Thank heavens that things are changing. Exhibit A: The two-part movie version of the Broadway hit Wicked (which itself is adapted from a novel, which was adapted from L Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). Previous versions gave us the classic Good witch and Wicked witch. But look closely at the t...