The widespread acclaim of “Wicked” has the film on track to wrap its second week in theaters with a whopping $240 million in tickets sold at the domestic box office. The movie is an adaptation of the award-winning Broadway production and stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda.
The musical and film are based on the 1995 book “Wicked,” which was inspired by L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” With all the hysteria surrounding one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, it’s no surprise that some critics have been unable to suspend reality for the two-hour and 40-minute run of the film.
“American Sunrise” host Gina Loudon is among the naysayers who felt producers were not reimagining a work of fiction but, instead, were pointedly sending a message about race.
During the Thanksgiving edition of the conservative-led show on the far-right Real America’s Voice network, Loudon said, “I was very excited at the idea of seeing the interpretation…I should have known it’s Hollyweird. I should have known they’d try to make it woke in the ways that they could think of.” The Donald Trump loyalist went on and expressed disdain for Grande’s casting.
“Let’s just start with the fact they have Ariana Grande, who is obviously a Hispanic woman, playing the part of a ditsy, blond, white, really villain when it comes right down to it, for this particular movie. The racism and racial appropriation I just thought was offensive, frankly,” the MAGA supporter continued, adding that she especially took issue with the one-dimensional depiction of white characters she has obsessed.
“All white people aren’t dumb and evil,” said Loudon, “and I just get kind of sick of that storyline. I feel like that’s where it started, and it kind of lost me there.”
On YouTube, one commentator seemingly agreed with the Women for Trump 2020 co-chair.
They wrote, “There is some truth to how she feels. So many movies are being remade to make the main character Black. Hannibal, rreally? Hannibal was definitely White. Look at a lot of these movies. Historical movies and characters should be visually historicly correct. All of us have our heroes and villains. It’s gotten to a point that its becoming to obvious.”
Denzel Washington and Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Equalizer) are teaming up to tell the story of Hannibal – regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history. The film will cover the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic. Coming soon to Netflix! pic.twitter.com/KInIjkagSV
— Netflix (@netflix) November 13, 2023
However, a survey of comments on the platform and from fans of The Neighborhood Talk reveals an overwhelming amount of people felt the complete opposite. In several of the reactions, Loudon was called a “Karen” caping for white people who “wanna feel discrimination so bad.”
A user commented, “Idk if it’s just me, but when people Use the word ‘Woke’ I automatically feel like there’s a sprinkle of R4cism in there.”
Another person remarked, “The movie is based on the play that started in 2003. The play is based on the book from 1995. Getting mad and saying this is ‘woke and racist’ is crazy when this was created before the term woke even existed.”
Countless people defended the “7 Rings” singer, who the media personality incorrectly called Hispanic. One such defense stated, “So because she sees her name is Grande she thought she was Latina lol… Ariana is a white Italian.” Someone else suggested Loudon direct her rant elsewhere. “The writers are white she needs to take that up with them,” a comment read.
And before too many others were moved to outrage over the “poor YT teas,” a commenter advised, “Black people stand down. This is a whyte on whyte issue. Enjoy your rest, BW.”
“Wicked” was caught in the fray days after its theatrical debut when a TikTok content creator shared that its “black magic” and “spells” led to her 12-year-old falling of the roof while attempting to fly on a broom. Amid criticism, the woman clarified that her review of the film was a sarcastic comedy bit, like much of her other posts.
