Photo courtesy of Advocate Channel via Youtube
Tracy E. Gilchrist FP ’04 has been a journalist for decades, but says that she’s never experienced virality on such a scale before.
By Tara Monastesse ’25
Editor-in-Chief
Even though she graduated about twenty years ago, Tracy E. Gilchrist FP ’04 never really left Mount Holyoke College behind.
A journalist with decades of experience writing and editing for queer publications like The Advocate, Gilchrist has returned to speak about her career in media for Mount Holyoke panels as recently as last February. She was also named an “alum to know about” in the spring 2020 issue of the Alumnae Quarterly.
Right now, though, most Mount Holyoke students know her from a viral clip that became a bizarre internet meme and has inexplicably rocketed Gilchrist into international attention.
“I'm not a famous person, and this level of attention is something I'm unaccustomed to,” Gilchrist said in an interview with Mount Holyoke News on Tuesday afternoon. “So it's mostly been very good and heartwarming and humbling, but also a little overwhelming.”
For those not chronically online, the gist is this: During a press junket for the recently released film adaption of Broadway musical “Wicked,” Gilchrist sat down for an interview with stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who play the characters of Glinda and Elphaba respectively. Gilchrist posed a question to Erivo about the audience reaction to “Defying Gravity,” the defiant song that Elphaba performs in the film.
“I’ve seen this week people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that,” Gilchrist said, asking Erivo to touch on the significance of the musical number in the film.
“I didn’t know that that was happening,” Erivo replied incredulously, placing a hand against her chest. “That’s really powerful. That’s what I wanted.”
While originally uploaded to The Advocate’s Youtube channel on Nov. 13, the interview did not become a viral sensation until the end of last week when clips began circulating on social media. Whatever made the interview hilarious — whether it be the sheer earnestness on display or how co-star Grande gingerly holds onto Erivo’s index finger in a gesture of sympathy — it has spawned an avalanche of references.
The expression “holding space” and Gilchrist’s follow-up explanation for how she came across such reactions to the song, “I am in queer media,” have become ubiquitous, ready to be deployed in any context to elicit laughter from those in on the joke.
In a recent interview with Variety, Gilchrist defined “holding space” as “being physically, emotionally and mentally present with someone or something.”
“I think you can hold space with lyrics of a song — one you’ve heard hundreds of times — and it can suddenly take on new meaning when you’re a queer person,” she told Variety.
While some online critics found the exchange baffling due to the phrase “holding space” seeming out of place, Gilchrist is secure in her choice to include it in her question.
She noted that a friend of hers had recently said, “‘If you're wondering what holding space is, then that's a little bit of privilege.’”
“I think that's really correct,” Gilchrist said. “So for those people who don't get it, it's not for them. For those of you who do, I'm glad you're in on the joke.”
Perhaps missing context is also a factor in the meme’s ascent. Gilchrist, who had recently interviewed Erivo as Out’s 2024 Icon of the Year, felt that she had already established a “shorthand” with the actress that allowed her to ask such a sincere question. The fact that Gilchrist was asking about the significance of the song for queer people specifically in the wake of the 2024 presidential election was also lost, as the clip gained traction weeks after the results had been called.
“I did write an entire story about the moment, giving it context,” she said, referring to the Out100 cover profile she did of Erivo in October. “But of course, no one read that.”
Gilchrist, who attended Mount Holyoke for five semesters as a Frances Perkins Scholar, said that “finishing college there was one of the most incredible parts of my life.” She initially learned about Mount Holyoke through a girlfriend attending the College; then, after working at a theater company and getting an associate degree, Gilchrist applied for admission herself. As a double major in English and film studies, Gilchrist became immersed in film courses and studied under Robin Blaetz, the professor emeritus of film media theater who also briefly taught Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao ’05.
Gilchrist took a class on movie musicals at the College and became familiar with the concept of “high camp” through her studies. “I'd always kind of innately known what camp is as a queer person,” she said, adding that the theory of camp could be used to understand why her viral interview clip seemed to generate so much humor.
“I think it's that combination of very sincere moments that just took off with people,” Gilchrist said. “It's high camp, but it's also real.”
Gilchrist, a lifelong fan of The Wizard of Oz, also noted the film’s long standing relationship with the queer community, specifically how it spawned the “friend of Dorothy” slang term among gay men.
“Queer people have long loved it,” she said. “It's part of our DNA. So the fact that this moment came out of an Oz themed story is really ultra special.”
The discovery that a Mount Holyoke alum was behind the viral sensation has been met with great enthusiasm from students. In addition to songs from the “Wicked” original Broadway musical and its movie adaptation being in constant rotation over the Dining Commons speakers, phrases from the interview have seamlessly entered into common parlance.
Bridie Bowler ’26, a film media theater major, said she first heard the meme referenced last Friday while working on a student theater production of “Much Ado About Nothing.”
“My friend turned to me and said, well, we need to hold space for this production … And I said, ‘Huh?’” Bowler recalled. “And since then I've used it every day for everything … I literally have not gone an hour without someone saying it to me.”
“As funny as it is, I also think it's really cool,” Bowler said. “It's such a harmless thing to meme about, and I love that [Gilchrist is] taking it in stride … I think all of it is so harmlessly hilarious and I love it.”
Gilchrist said that she hopes Mount Holyoke students can take away a good laugh and some optimism from the viral clip.
“I hope that they're enjoying it … if they feel marginalized or scared about the impending [presidential] administration, that they're finding some joy and a little inspiration and a little bit of hope and and hanging on to that, because we will need to be there for each other and to find those moments of joy and laughter,” she said. “I hope that for everyone, but especially for young people who, like Elphaba, may have felt othered at some point.”
For Mount Holyoke community members who want to keep the enthusiasm going, “Wicked” will be playing at Tower Theaters in the Village Commons until Dec. 5.
Abigail McKeon ’26 contributed fact-checking.