Fans customized the Wicked movie poster to more closely match the original Broadway poster.
Original Broadway Poster:
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Movie poster:
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Some fans, disappointed by the poster, altered it to be closer to the original, moving Grande’s hand and lowering the brim of Erivo’s hat to cover her eyes. The edits prompted Erivo to respond. “This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen
“None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us,” Erivo continued. “The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION. I am a real life human being, who chose to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer… because, without words we communicate with our eyes.”
So, this seems like a completely reasonable reaction to fans making fan content.
That article, which does highlight a valid criticism of society and Hollywood, doesn't really apply to this scenario. The fan edit isn't about sexing up the characters. The edit is doing a more effective job of recreating the original poster than the movie studio did.
I don't fault the actors or even the studio for wanting to feature their high paid actors on the movie poster but by trying to recreate the original but failing to capture the mood, of course fans are going to want to put their spin on it. There is probably even a middle ground that could have been struck to make her face mysterious but still mostly visible.
Is it rude and offensive when fans edit the Lord of the Rings films to better reflect the original story as told in the books?
In the end, I'm pretty sure this whole thing is a PR stunt to stir up word of mouth. Which of course is working because we all like to argue.
But already the original failed to do that. Imagine a movie like that featuring high paid male actors in a way that their faces are minimalized to a point they are unrecognizable (just check their posters and how prominent their faces stare at you). No one would do that. Just because people are used to the old poster does not make it good. The original is a failure that did a disservice to the women on it, just one we know and are nostalgic for. I do not think this fan poster was done in malice but because it is still not recognized wildly as a problem and we need to get the message out: Show the women's faces as much as you show the men's faces.
I don't think this is a PR stunt, I think it is honest feelings that come up for a reason.
Imagine finally as a person of color having made it to a point in your career that YOU are the center piece of a movie poster of a highly anticipated movie and just with a finger snip someone erases that because they love an old poster that erased other women's faces at a time where no one bat an eye about it.
Again, I understand nostalgia. I am 58 y.o. and I had to let go a myriad of things that were just fine in my youth and learn why they definitely were bad back then and are now. Let that old poster die. It is not good, its mood is erasing women, which is wicked, I give it that.