Disability media recommendation: Wicked & Wicked: For Good (2024 and 2025, respectively, musical films)!
Disability-focused/centric: no
Created by a disabled person/people: as far I'm aware, disabled people were not involved in writing or directing the movies, however the disabled character (Nessarose) is played by a disabled actor.
Disability represented: unspecified disability that means Nessarose requires a wheelchair
Fiction or non-fiction: fiction
Summary:
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Wicked and Wicked: For Good are based off the musical play Wicked, which was based off The Wizard of Oz. They focus on Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West), however in this post I will be focusing on Nessarose, her younger sister. Honestly, there's not much I can say about her without giving away spoilers, so I'll move on to the next section now.
Trigger warnings: sex, ableism, racism, abuse, and murder. There's nothing graphic or explicit though.
Why I Think It's Good:
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It shows ableism realistically. It doesn't show ableism much, as the film is not focused on Nessarose, but when it does, it does it well. Gosh, the first time I watched Wicked, I was FURIOUS. I know ableism representation is good when it makes me mad at fictional characters.
It lets Nessa be a bad person and disabled, without making her a bad person "because" of her disability. She isn't forced to be a perfect angel, she isn't stripped of personality, she is just as complex as other characters.
It doesn't "cure" her disability. I've heard that in the play (which I've yet to see, so be aware that this may be wrong), Elphaba casts a spell which makes Nessarose able to walk, however in the movie, this does not occur. The spell allows her to fly (sort-of. Can't explain without giving spoilers) but she still uses her wheelchair.
