‘Wicked’ star left “deeply uncomfortable” by online abuse
Posted On
(Credit: Universal Pictures)
Marissa Bode, who stars as Nessarose in the new Hollywood adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked, has taken a stand against online abuse and bullying surrounding her character. In particular, she’s hit out at comments regarding her character’s disability.
In its release week, Wicked has exceeded box office expectations to earn the highest-grossing opening for any musical adaptation. Only three days after its release on November 25th, the movie had grossed $114million. Despite only being part one of Jon M. Chu’s cinematic adaptation of the beloved theatre show, Wicked has received both major critical acclaim and overwhelming support from theatre fans and cinemagoers alike.
However, actor Marissa Bode has hit out at the dark side of this attention, especially regarding her character. Bode plays Nessarose, the disabled sister of Elphaba, the wicked witch played by Cynthia Erivo.
In a five-minute-long TikTok, Bode addresses the line between simply not liking a certain character and online bullying and unacceptable comments regarding a character’s disabilities.
“It is absolutely OK to not like a fictional character,” Bode began. “I am going to be admitting my bias in the way that I have a lot of different feelings on Nessa than a lot of you do, and that’s totally fine. I think Nessa is complex, but that’s the beauty of art. ‘Wicked’ and these characters and the movie wouldn’t be what it was if there weren’t different opinions on the characters and who’s truly wicked or not. And not liking Nessa herself is OK. Because she is fictional, that’s totally fine.”
However, her issue lies with the ongoing jokes regarding her character’s disability, making it clear that these comments cross a line, calling them “aggressive” and “deeply uncomfortable” given that Bode, along with millions of people everyday, live with the disability her character possesses.
“Disability is not fictional,” she continued. “At the end of the day, me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair. And so, it is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking.”
For Bode, these comments feel too similar to the kind of ableist comments she’s been forced to face her entire life. “Before even being cast in ‘Wicked,’ I had received comments — just as me, as Marissa, not Nessa — around the words of ‘stand up for yourself,’ ‘I guess you can’t stand him,’ et cetera,” she said. “These comments aren’t original, and when these jokes are being made by non-disabled strangers with a punchline of not being able to walk, it very much feels like laughing at rather than laughing with.”
She continued, “This goes so far beyond me, Marissa, just needing to ignore comments on the internet. These comments do not exist in a vacuum. Aggressive comments of wanting to cause harm and push Nessa out of her wheelchair, or that she deserves her disability, are two very gross and harmful comments that real disabled people, including myself, have heard before.”
In conclusion, Bode implored fans to think before they speak and consider the impact their jokes could have on real people reading them. “Listen to the people or to the person that it is affecting and how it makes them feel,” she said, adding, “Thankfully, I’m at a place in my life today where I can recognize these jokes about disability are made out of ignorance. I couldn’t say the same about Marissa 10 years ago, and it would have affected younger me a lot more, and I’m worried that a younger version of myself is somewhere on the internet and is harmed by these comments.”
[embedded content]
Related Topics
