Wicked’s Marissa Bode says aggressive comments about disability are ‘harmful’

Key points:

• An actress in the recently released Wicked movie, Marissa Bode, is the first actress in a wheelchair to play Nessarose, despite the musical having run for years across the world
• People with disability are underrepresented in media and television, with approximately four percent of video content in 2022 containing disability themes
• Hannah Diviney, an actress and writer with cerebral palsy, advocates to increase the representation of people with disability in film and media through speeches and petitions

With the recent release of the Wicked movie, many disability advocates praise the casting of an actress in a wheelchair, highlighting the value of increasing accurate representation of disability in media and film. 

Marissa Bode, a 24-year-old actress, was cast in Wicked as Nessarose, the younger sister of Elphaba who is the Wicked Witch of the West. Marissa is the first actress in a wheelchair to be cast in the role, despite the character using a wheelchair in original Broadway musicals. 

While Marissa expressed gratitude for the casting, in a video posted to her personal TikTok account, Marissa reinforced the impact of some comments she’s received since the movie’s recent premiere.

“Aggressive comments of wanting to cause harm and push Nessa[rose] out of her wheelchair or that she deserves her disability are two very gross and harmful comments that real disabled people [sic] — including myself — have heard before,” she 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.”

In early November 2024, Marissa Bode attended the Wicked movie red carpet premiere in Los Angeles. [Source; Shutterstock; Featureflash Photo Agency]

 

In an interview with Today, Marissa emphasised the importance of actors and actresses with disability continuing to pursue opportunities to increase representation in film and television.

“When you’re not represented a lot and you don’t see yourself, you still have — or at least I did have — a little bit of, ‘I know what I’m capable of. I know that I can act. I know other disabled talent [sic] that can act and can model,’” she said.

“It’s not something I saw a lot of when I was growing up and if I did, it was, like, for one special episode and you never saw the character again.”

Other movies where actors were cast to play their characters with the same disability include Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress with a cochlear implant, who played a lead role in the movies, A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II. 

However, in one study, researchers investigated the true representation of disability in well-known films and media to begin closing the inclusion gap for people with disability.

Less than 4.2 percent of video content in 2022 contained themes of disability and one in two people with disability ‘feel their identity group is underrepresented on television.’

Increasing media representation of diversity can influence personal attitudes, beliefs, decisions and behaviours towards others and target misconceptions. 

Another actress is also making waves in film and media to increase the representation of people with disability through other means.

Hannah Diviney, an Australian actress and writer with cerebral palsy, started a petition for Disney to create a princess with disability in 2020. Since then, the Change.org petition has received 65,949 signatures with a goal to reach 75,000 signatures. 

In her written address to Disney, Hannah emphasised that ‘creating a disabled princess [sic] — we know how influential those characters are — would give millions of children around the world the invaluable chance to see themselves having adventures, rich full lives and being the hero of their own stories.’

‘[…] You would actively be creating a culture of tolerance, acceptance, empathy and understanding to replace fear,’ she wrote.

Although the Disney Princess product line includes princesses from different cultures, disability advocates would like to see more representation of people with disability. [Source: Shutterstock; Lucesysombras]

 

Hannah will attend the National Press Club of Australia in partnership with Women in Media on December 4, 2024, to discuss her developing presence in Australian media and her writing process as an author. You can buy tickets online to see Hannah speak live from the National Press Club of Australia. 

Approximately one in five Australians live with disability according to recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

 

What are your thoughts about making film and media more accessible for people with disability?

Let the team at Talking Disability know on social media. 

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