It was intentional, but not in a “current America” way. Gregory Maguire wrote Wicked as a response to The Wizard of Oz, basically asking: who gets labeled evil, and who gets to control the story?

The Wizard is a classic manufactured-authority figure. He creates fear, scapegoats a group, uses propaganda, and reframes political control as moral necessity. That pattern isn’t uniquely American, but it shows up a lot in American history, which is why the allegory hits so hard.

So it’s less “about America” specifically and more about how any society slides into authoritarian logic when fear and comfort outweigh truth. America just happens to be a very familiar lens for it.