As a passionate fan and someone who deeply resonates with Marissa Bode‘s journey, I can’t help but admire her courage and eloquence in addressing ableist comments about her character, Nessarose, in the film adaptation of “Wicked.” It’s heartening to see an actress who shares the same physical reality as her character standing up against such insensitive remarks.
Marissa Bode is addressing disappointing remarks about her Wicked character.
A week following the movie’s release in cinemas, the actress, who is wheelchair-bound in reality like her onscreen character Nessarose, addressed insensitive remarks concerning Nessarose that she deemed as easy targets (or “low-hanging fruit”).
Marissa shared in her TikTok video posted on Nov 29, “It’s perfectly alright if you don’t care for the character Nessa, as I understand she can be controversial.” She continued, “What makes ‘Wicked’ and its characters so intriguing is the diversity of opinions about them, such as who’s truly wicked or not. It’s okay to dislike Nessa personally because, after all, she’s a work of fiction, and that’s perfectly fine.
It’s really unpleasant when people make offensive remarks or jokes about Ness’ disability, as it’s not something to be trivialized,” she went on to say. “Ultimately, I, Marissa, am the one who lives with my disability and uses a wheelchair every day. It seems that many of you find it easy to make fun of this aspect, which is unfortunate.
24-year-old actor mentioned that before playing Nessarose, a character often criticized for not supporting her onscreen older sister, Cynthia Erivo, in the movie version of Wicked, they had previously been subjected to derogatory comments based on ableism.
She clarified that the comments she received were addressed directly to her as Marissa, not Nessa, and they included phrases such as ‘Stand up for yourself’ and ‘I guess you can’t stand him,’ among others. When jokes about disability, specifically being unable to walk, are made by strangers who aren’t disabled themselves, it feels more like laughter directed at rather than laughter shared with.
Marissa, the pioneer Shiz University student using a wheelchair, highlighted that these comments transcend an individual’s personal identity.
She remarked, “Comments aren’t isolated incidents.” She went on to share examples of distressing comments, such as those expressing a desire to harm Nessa and make her use a wheelchair, or suggesting she deserves her disability. These are truly offensive and harmful statements that many disabled individuals, including myself, have unfortunately encountered in the past.
She advised fans against dismissing experiences they consider real, just because they themselves don’t find the humor in a joke that likely wasn’t intended for their group.
Rather than asking, she proposed, “Pay attention to what the people who are directly impacted and their feelings have to say.
Marissa additionally stressed that while she’s now able to identify those jokes about disability as stemming from a lack of knowledge, it required some time to develop the self-assurance.
She expressed, “It would have impacted me much more back then,” referring to her concern about a past self of hers being potentially hurt by harmful online comments.
She concluded her response with the film’s message, noting, “One of the major themes within Wicked is having the ability to listen and understand one another and I truly hope that is something a lot of you can practice more and take with you.”
Read More
- GBP EUR PREDICTION
- SEI PREDICTION. SEI cryptocurrency
- HBAR PREDICTION. HBAR cryptocurrency
- CNY RUB PREDICTION
- TRB PREDICTION. TRB cryptocurrency
- CTXC PREDICTION. CTXC cryptocurrency
- INJ PREDICTION. INJ cryptocurrency
- HOOK PREDICTION. HOOK cryptocurrency
- MNT PREDICTION. MNT cryptocurrency
- USD CHF PREDICTION
2024-12-02 19:24