Out of the loop @lemmy.world x4740N @lemm.ee 5d ago

What's going on with the wicked movie being a PR disaster

I'm aware of the url mishap with the dolls and vaguely aware of the poster controversy but I've also seen people online call it a PR disaster and I'm entirely out of the loop on that

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"I heard that this media campaign directed kids to a porn site and made the star seem insufferable while alienating hardcore fans of the musical before the movie is even out, but what's the disaster?"

I mean I am sure there is more, OP, but does there even have to be?
- Digital Cat Buttholes. It’s not a musical controversy worth discussing if it doesn’t involve digitally animated cat buttholes.
  
  Andrew Lloyd Webber is laughing at this lil dust up.
- There doesn’t have to be, but there certainly can be!
What's the poster controversy? I guess I'm more out of the loop than you are. I'm still looking forward to the movie though, I love the musical.
- Apparently a fan shaded the green witches face to make the movie poster look like the broadway poster. The actress who plays the green witch complained about it online, saying (among other things) that it “erased” her. While I did understand her point, I also thought at the time that it was an overly defensive response, and the worst possible take on something that was probably made by a loyal fan. Importantly, she later apologized for her initial reaction. I respect that. We all get carried away sometimes.
  
  Sorry I haven’t provided any links. I’m at work.
  
  Edit: just search “wicked poster controversy” and several stories will pop right up.
  
  Edit 2: This seems to be a good one. It covers the bases well enough, while not going into exhaustive detail.
- a fan edited the official movie poster that erased half of the star's face and added lipstick and tweaked a bunch of stuff,, the star got really upset and tweeted that the poster was offensive and her erasure hurt her and she wanted people to know that it hurt her.
  
  so a bunch of people attacked her.
  
  she wrote more than necessary, maybe, but she didn't attack the fan or ask the fan to take the poster down or anything like that, she was just letting people know that she felt hurt, and she was rabidly attacked for expressing herself.
  
  I can understand where she's coming from, but it isn't about her. It wasn't edited to eliminate her. It was edited to reflect the original 2003 poster, which it nailed.
  
  https://www.today.com/popculture/cynthia-erivo-wicked-poster-controversy-rcna175772
  
  Here's an opinionated article on the subject that includes a copy of the modified image contrasting it to the original (and also the poster for the musical), https://worthitorwoke.com/wicked-star-cynthia-erivos-reaction-to-a-fan-made-poster-is-everything-wrong-with-celebrity-entitlement/
  
  That doesn't sound like the movie studio dropping the ball or anything. If it was a fan edited poster, that's completely out of their hands.
I loved the Broadway musical, though I never got to see it in person.

Personally I don't see what the big deal is with the poster. Yeah, it wasn't the same as the original. It seemed fine to me. And yeah, they changed it to match. Also seemed fine to me.

And guess what? The woman being upset that they changed it? Seems fine to me. If my face were essentially Mike Wazowski'd off the cover of something, I'd be a little upset. Maybe not enough to make a public stir, but I'd privately bitch to people for quite some time.

I can definitely see some people considering it a PR nightmare, and do know some people who were pissed about the poster... But I just don't get the same feelings. It's just meh.

I'm sure plenty would say I'm just not an artist/into musical theater/whatever. Maybe that's true.

Now let's have this same conversation if they ever redo Fiddler On The Roof (1971), I'll probably have much stronger opinions since I was in that one multiple times...
- I think the fan made poster looks amazing and is superior to the official one. There is a sense of mystery to it. So much more expression. It makes me want to know more about the exchange that is happening.
  
  In the official poster she is just blankly staring at the camera. It makes me feel nothing.
  
  This has nothing to do with "hiding" someone's face and everything to do with art eliciting emotion.
  
  In my opinion it would be wise to pay the fan to use their poster as the actual poster. It would probably be better PR as well.
- I thought the whole issue with the poster was she was claiming it was racist even though people were just wanting something classic looking.
So they did something wicked?

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