Defying her critics in addition to gravity, Kristin Chenoweth has defended Wicked: Part One from a homophobic campaign aimed at smearing the hit movie as “pushing an LGBTQ agenda on families, particularly children.” Inspired to speak out against the One Million Moms campaign complaining that “Wicked not only includes witchcraft but also LGBTQ content,” Chenoweth defended Jon M. Chu’s adaptation from accusations of “wokeness.”
Appearing in a bubble in Out magazine’s Instagram comments, Chenoweth wrote: “Everyone knows the ‘one million Moms’ are a mere few hundred. Maybe. it’s called entertainment. Artistry. I am a Christian woman or originated the role of Glinda and all the silliness that these women spew out of hate. No no no. I can’t help it : i try to love em anyways. For they don’t get it. For anyone who wants to see girl power, then go so WICKED. Onstage or in a movie theater.”
Anyone reading this can probably guess what aspects of the Wizard Of Oz prequel upset these moms the most: Queer actors existing, having jobs, and talking about their lives. “Four of the film’s main characters are openly queer or gay in real life, or at the minimum, these actors have spoken about their queer experiences,” the Million Moms write. “Obviously, this part of the movie is a nod to inclusivity, along with a blatant attempt by Universal to normalize same-sex crushes.”
We’re not sure what these million moms expected from a sorcery-based Broadway musical, but having seen the movie, we also have no idea what they’re talking about. There are, unfortunately, no overt queer stories in Wicked, at least none on the surface. We assume they’re mostly reacting to Bowen Yang’s wardrobe because all of the primary relationships are strictly heteronormative. Maybe there are some queer Shiz students in the background as Easter eggs eagled-eyed moms scouring hit movies for the woke mind virus, but any queerness is mostly subtextual. Sure, we could spend all our time shipping Boq and Fiyero. Believe us, we’ve tried. But then we’d be depriving those characters of the heterosexual relationships that actually occur in the movie—and, to be honest, they’re not particularly sexual relationships because this Wizard Of Oz movie is more about being nice to people.
We all know the point of these campaigns. They’re cynical attempts at reverting heretofore settled social rules, such as LGBTQ+ people deserving dignity and respect. It’s a shame to hear so many mothers disagree, but we guess intolerance is what Wicked is about. But we must disagree with our Good Witch. The people behind these campaigns do get it. What is that feeling? It’s hate.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
