like evil A cast member continues to fuel a storm of memes online, drawing the line when it comes to comments referring to people with disabilities.
Marissa Pudi, who stars in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical directed by Jon M. Chu as wheelchair-bound Nessarose Throop, criticized recent jokes about the character making her feel “very uncomfortable” as a disabled person as well.
“There's something that made me feel a little uncomfortable, and as a disabled person on a platform, I just wanted to talk about it real quick,” Bode began in a five-minute TikTok video.
The actress explained that she is not bothered by the criticism directed at Nessa as a complex person who makes questionable decisions. “That's the beauty of art evil -These characters and the movie wouldn't be the same if there weren't different opinions about the characters and who is really evil or not. “And it's okay to not like Nyssa herself, because she's fictional. That's perfectly fine.”
In the musical, Elphaba's (Cynthia Erivo) younger sister Nessarose is a paraplegic who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the East, ruler of Munchkinland. Glinda (Ariana Grande) eventually enchants Nyssa's silver shoes to give her the ability to walk.
“The offensive comments and jokes about Nessa’s disability in and of itself are very uncomfortable, because the disability is not fictional,” Boddy said. “At the end of the day, I'm Marissa, the person who's still disabled and in a wheelchair. So it's just the low-hanging fruit that a lot of you are comfortable eating.”
She added: “The most frustrating part about all of this is how afraid I am to even post or talk about this, which is also the biggest reason I made this video in the first place. This is way beyond me, Marissa, as I just need to avoid comments online. These comments They don't 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 truly gross and harmful comments that real disabled people, myself included, have heard before.
Bodi also explained that she was “scared” of the comments, saying: “I've seen first-hand what happens to fellow disabled people who speak out online when it comes to denouncing discrimination against people with disabilities and why the joke about standing up and being vegan is insulting.” The term, by the way, is for people with disabilities, and the comment I saw about Nessa – these disabled creator comments are full of comments specific to people with disabilities. Speaking of disability discrimination, they're being told to just take a joke, that they're asking too much, and to stop complaining, to the point where some of my fellow disabled people, these disabled creatives, need to take a break online for their sanity. To state the obvious, this is not good.
Marisa Boddy and Cynthia Erivo in evil (2024). (Giles Kate/Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)
“Please be kind,” Buddy concluded. Finally, I want to say one of the main themes of this topic evil It is the ability to listen and understand each other, and I really hope that many of you can practice more and take it with you. Thank you.”
