The Authentic Portrayal of NessaRose by Marissa Bode in Wicked May Signal a Crucial Turning Point in the Film Industry for People with Disabilities By: Jason Hahr


 
                                            Above is a photo of Marissa Bode from Getty Images


Anyone who follows this blog or knows me knows I love theater and film. I even went so far as to get a degree in drama at college. While I love “straight plays,” which are plays without musical numbers, I am obsessed with musicals. I love all the standard ones such as “Rent,” “Avenue Q,” and “Les Mis.” However, I only knew part of the story because I listened to the soundtrack.  That changed this past November when Wicked, the motion picture, hit theaters.

I went to see the movie with my girlfriend, Samantha LeBron, who is not as big a musical fan as I am. Because I didn’t know the story well, I was unaware that a character was in a wheelchair. Universe, please forgive me for being late to the party. The movie was great, and the character in a wheelchair was portrayed extremely well. However, I did not know until after seeing the film that I would be writing a blog about not only the character in the wheelchair but the individual who played her as well.

After seeing the movie, I became more enthralled with the soundtrack, which I shamelessly sang on the car ride home. Sorry, Tianna and Sam. Anyway, upon doing further research, I found out that the girl who played the character in a wheelchair was actually disabled herself. Immediately, my advocacy and happy bug started dancing together.

For those of you who haven’t noticed yet, I frequently refer to articles published by Disability Scoop when writing these blogs. After seeing the movie, I noticed that Disability Scoop wrote an article about the actress who played Nessarose. I will attach the article at the bottom of this piece, but to summarize, the actress who plays the disabled character in the movie got into a motor vehicle accident as a child, which caused a spinal cord injury. From what I can tell, the actress Marissa Bode is a lot like me. She did not let her circumstances stop her from living her life. She went on to study theater in Los Angeles and has now landed herself in a movie that was a box office smash.

Although (spoiler alert for anybody who hasn’t seen the play yet) the disabled character of Nessarose will have a spell cast on her in part two, which will allow her to walk. The fact that they actually cast someone who is disabled is refreshing. It has caused me to ask myself where the disabled stand in society today. After some thought, I have determined that I will never fully know the answer to that question, but I have come to the following conclusion.

It is a great thing that disabled people are finally being authentically represented in the media. However, we have a long way to go before disabled people are no longer the voiceless minority but instead full members of society. I could continue on for pages and pages, but I will end by saying that the media has such a big influence on American society that I can only hope that Miss Bode’s inclusion in a major motion picture is only the beginning of things to come.

Until next time. Your optimistic, friendly neighborhood super advocate, Jay

 

References:

https://newmobility.com/wheelchair-user-marissa-bode-plays-nessarose-in-wicked-blockbuster/


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