Wicked star Marissa Bode is calling out hateful and ableist comments she’s seen about her character Nessarose, saying they’re “low-hanging fruit” and “uncomfortable.”
The actor, who plays Elphaba’s sister Nessarose and is the first person who uses a wheelchair to play the character, shared a five-minute TikTok video on Friday, calling out people who make cruel “jokes” about Nessa’s disability.
“There’s something that’s made me a bit uncomfortable and as somebody who’s disabled with a platform, I just wanted to talk about it really quick,” Bode said.
“It is absolutely okay to not like a fictional character…. I think Nessa’s complex, but that’s the beauty of art and Wicked… I love a little jokey joke. The house [falling on Nessarose]? Silly. Goofy. Harmless, because the basis of the joke is fictional.”
Bode said that while some of the jokes are funny, she’s not here for “aggressive comments and ‘jokes’” about Nessa’s disability.
“Disability is not fictional at the end of the day. Me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair,” Bode continued. “It is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking.”
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Nessarose’s disability in the story of Wicked is a major plot point and explains much of Elphaba’s character. Up until Bode, the divisive character was not played by an actor who was also disabled. Bode said in her TikTok that she’s seen several comments about pushing Nessa out of her wheelchair, or that she “deserved” her disability.
“[Those] are two very gross and harmful comments that real disabled people, including myself, have heard before,” Bode said. “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.”
Bode said she was “scared” to post about this topic because she has seen her fellow disabled content creators be pushed to take breaks from being online due to the vitriol in their comments.
“These comments do not exist in a vacuum,” she continued. “Listen to the people that [those comments are] affecting and how it makes them feel.
Bode continued: “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.”
This article originally appeared on Teen Vogue.
