Marissa Bode

For context, I made a post a few months ago, asking about the ambiguity of Nessarose's tyranny/dictatorship at the broadway, since we only get Boq's POV and his statements, and most comments:

https://www.reddit.com/r/wicked/s/7XKnrQ438T

At the end of that post, I made a comment wishing the movie further expands and explicitly shows Nessa's tyranny. Because that seems to be the go-to that people justify when claiming Nessa's 'wickedness'

(Spoilers from here onward, stop reading if you haven't seen Wicked: For Good, as I'll be tackling movie-only changes)

Upon seeing 'Wicked: For Good', and Nessarose's villainy (in terms of being governor) is even more AMBIGUOUS than the broadway. For starters, the Yellow Brick Road opening (where Glinda sung 'Thank Goodness') was in Munchkin Land. Which means Nessarose, as governor, approved of a project that ALLOWS DIRECT access to Emerald City, a far-cry from the "Ever since she took power, she's been stripping the Munchkins of our rights..."

Sure, there was this newly-added movie-only scene, where she "allowed" Boq to leave on a train, ONLY to post a decree that forbids leaving Munchkinland WITHOUT a permit from Nessa. Sure, it may seem controlling/authoritarian, but it's no different than a validating a passport or securing a permit. Implication being the munchkins can still leave and go around Oz, as long they as the authorization/approval from proper authority (in this case, Nessa). Yes, it was a cruel, selfish move to keep Boq in line, and in that context, it was WICKED, but it was NOT dictator-like/Munchkin-abuse. If anything, I recall she was trying NOT to be like her sister (she explicitly said so in one scene where she is publishing decrees), who to their public eye, is a wicked witch. (We know better as the audience, but they don't).

Obviously, (putting this as disclaimer, as with previous post, to prevent the downvotes) Nessarose is objectively still a horrible selfish sister, and an EVEN WORSE love interest to Boq. I'm not defending those, and I acknowledge that she's bad there. We're talking about Nessa as a RULER/LEADER. Why would she earn the title 'Wicked Witch of the East' in the movie-canon with those adjustments?

The song 'Wicked Witch of the East' CUTS the 'ableist' lyrics, but it ALSO STRANGELY cuts off her dialogue that implies 'tyranny': "First of all, I can't harbor a fugitive, I'm an un-elected official!".

I might have to rewatch the film if I miss anything, since I saw just earlier. BUT those stuck to my mind.

Clingy and abusive to Boq? Yes. Selfish and manipulative to Elphaba? Yes. A power-hungry tyrant who enslaves Munchkins? Still questionable.

The actress playing Nessarose, Marissa Bode, did a phenomenal job. Her voice is beautiful and I really enjoyed her range in this film. I think it's great that she's making history by being a leading actress in a wheelchair.

However, due to the actress being unable to walk in real life, the film was changed so that Elphaba casts a spell to make Nessa happy instead of giving her shoes the ability to help her walk, which is what happens in the stage musical.

I'm wondering what the shoes do exactly in the film now, because they still glow red as if Elphaba is enchanting them. Can someone please help me understand this change?

Granted Wicked is all about the complexities and how not everything is black or white, but i'm sorry Nessarose is pure evil. She's worse than Morrible and the Wizard for sure, those 2 didn't have any reason to treat Elphaba well, Nessa did. Elphaba is a very supporting sister to Nessa, she doesn't coddle her, she treats her as a human being and seeks to understand her and how she feels, unlike their daddy. Elphaba also protected Nessa as a child from other children yet how Nessa repays her older sister? Blaming her for everything wrong in her life, pretty much blaming Elphaba for being born with functioning legs (like somehow Elphaba wasn't bullied and condemned over her green skincolor).

For as much as people try hate on and call Glinda the villain, she's an actual compelling character and has a lot more redeeming qualities than Nessa. Glinda's arc is that she's someone who's been pampered her whole life and that she finds herself not being able to have everything she wants for the first time. While Glinda's patriarchal patty ways paint her as unsympathetic in a few moments, her redeeming qualities are always there and there is enough details for us to understand why she choses to stay behind and not rebel like Elphaba, Glinda is about about being Pop-u-lar, she's all about keeping appearances, being in the good graces of people. And most of all Glinda is a mirror to us like Elphaba is, she's the other side of the coin, Elphaba represents the fighter side in us that rebels and suffers the consequences, Glinda represents how we choose not to act out of playing safe and keeping appearances. I feel this is why Glinda is mostly a beloved character, the fans don't judge her harshly because she's also a mirror to us, we all like to think of ourselves as Elphaba, but in fact we're more like Glinda than we would like to admit.

Now back to Nessarose, she's not at all understandable. Her motivations are weak, she hates on her own sister pretty much because Elphaba is not disabled like her, she can't empathize with Elphaba even tho Elphaba got it worse than her. Nessarose is seen with pity, Elphaba is looked down upon and her skin color is a significant factor in her being othered and condemned no matter what she does. Nessarose represents the worst side of humanity, she represents someone who's othered who feels good about herself by opressing and being a douche to others who are equally, if not more, opressed than her. She's the representation of a very famous phrase in my country by educator Paulo Freire "when the education is not liberating, the dream of the opressed is to become the opressor".

I really like the movie actress, Marisa Bode, and what she did for the character. But i was listening to interviews and she was acting like Nessa was good representation for disabled people, i'm sorry, no disabled person would like to be represented by her. Nessa is tho a necessary representation as it showcases that you can be disabled and be a douchebag, she's just not the inspirational type of disabled character.

I’ve read in a few areas that Madame Morrible had involuntarily killed Nessa through the creation of the cyclone. Is it implied somewhere that the house falling in Munchkin land would just cause Elphaba to go and check on Nessa? Or was the intent to kill her in order to lure Elphaba out of hiding? My interpretation from the musical was her intent was murder. Thoughts?