Marissa Bode and Cynthia Erivo
Universal picturesWhile Marissa Bode is delighted by the warm reception her movie Wicked received, she also felt “uncomfortable” with certain jokes aimed at her character, Nessaros.
“It’s perfectly normal to dislike a fictional character. I’ll admit my bias in the way I have very different feelings about Nessa than most of you,” Bode, 24, said on Friday, November 29, TikTok video. “That’s perfectly fine; I think Nessa is complicated, but that’s the beauty of the art and Wicked and these characters and the movies wouldn’t be what they were if there weren’t different opinions about the characters and who is truly evil or not.”
evil, which hit theaters earlier this month, was adapted from directoand John M. I heard from the Broadway musical of the same name. The stage production itself was inspired by Gregory Maguirenovel of, background of The Wizard of Oz. In all adaptations, Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda/Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, when they first meet as roommates at Sheez University.
In Chu’s film, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande played by Elphaba and Galinda respectively. Bode’s heroine, Nessarose, is Elfie’s sister and the apple of their father’s eye. Since Nessa is confined to a wheelchair, their father entrusts Elphaba to look after her while she is at school.
Theatergoers and moviegoers are counting down the days until the film adaptation of Wicked premieres on Broadway. Wicked made its stage debut in 2003. with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth playing witches Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. More than two decades later, fans are treated to a two-part film version of the musical starring (…)
“Not liking Nessa herself is fine because she’s fictional, that’s perfectly fine,” admitted Bode, who uses a wheelchair in real life. “I’m a deeply frivolous person (and) I love a bit of snarky banter. … The jokes about Nessa’s personality are stupid, goofy, because she herself is made up.”
She added: “That being said… the aggressive comments and ‘jokes’ about Nessa’s disability itself are deeply uncomfortable because the disability is not fictional. At the end of the day, I, Marissa, am the person who is still disabled and in a wheelchair. It’s just low-hanging fruit that too many of you take for granted.
Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode
Universal picturesWhile Bode admits she heard some jokes long before that Wickedthey’re still not “original” and “feels like you’re laughing at (me), not laughing with (me).”
“The most frustrating part of all of this is how scared I am to even post (or) talk about it,” Bode added. “This goes so far beyond me that Marissa I just have to ignore the comments on the internet. These comments do not exist in a vacuum. Aggressive comments about wanting to cause harm and ‘pushing Nessa out of her wheelchair’ or that she deserves her disability are two very rude and hurtful comments that real disabled people, myself included, have heard.”
Universal Studios; Warner Bros., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are the latest stars to step into the iconic roles of Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West, but how does their film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked connect with the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz? Oz? Even OG (…)
Bode also implored his followers in his TikTok caption to “do the work” and “dissect and unlearn your own ability.”
“Listen to the people or the person that (the comment) is affecting and how it makes them feel,” she concluded. “Thankfully, I’m at a place in my life today where I can understand that these disability jokes are made out of ignorance. I couldn’t say the same about Marissa 10 years ago.”
Wicked it’s in theaters now.
