A short analysis of Nessa’s character in the movie vs the musical vs the book, from a physically disabled person’s perspective
Spoilers below
Book Nessarose is disabled in a much different way than her acted out counterparts: she doesn’t have arms. Because of this, she has an Ama (kinda like a nurse/nanny lady) with her almost all the time, not just to carry things for her but to make sure she doesn’t fall because she’s got incredibly poor balance. Now I don’t have too much to say about her characterization because I feel like Maguire doesn’t do a terrible job of portraying disability? At least in 1990’s terms. The thing that messes with Nessa’s personality is the shoes. Glinda has enchanted them, not Elphaba. Now, Nessa can walk with perfect balance. It’s described in a way that’s as if she had invisible arms, like an actor portraying someone without arms might not get the gait right if they have arms and are still swinging their arms around while they walk because they’re covered in green screen fabric (think Soul Surfer, if you’ve seen that movie). But that, combined with the magic, turns Nessa into… kind of a bitch. A bit more stuck-up. It reminds me of how some disabled people say “I don’t want my disability cured because it makes me who I am.” Changing the way Nessa’s disability affected her changed the way she affects others.
In the musical, Nessa is honestly a bit whiny and a bit plain, but the musical can only explore so much. She has a bit of the “spoiled baby sister” vibes but it doesn’t get severe. But she is constantly coddled. Elphaba is only going to Shiz to look after Nessa (something I’m glad they removed from the movie), and the Headmistress says “She’ll be rooming with me.” That’s uncomfortable. That’s invasive. Who in Oz are you to make that happen? And it’s pretty much assumed that she does spend the rest of her time at Shiz in Madame Morrible’s room rather than with a roommate or some sort of caretaker. She’s treated like a baby, and for musical Nessa, the entire reason she’s like this is because of her inability to walk. Nobody else gets treated like that. There’s nobody else we see in Oz who’s disabled. And she might be a bit afraid that if the animals are going away… is she next? In my eyes, this is why musical Nessa wants to walk so badly. She’s scared, she’s ashamed, embarrassed. So when she gets a sense of control as Governor of Munchkinland, she goes absolutely overboard. She doesn’t want anyone to leave her, especially Boq, because in her eyes, he’s he first non-family member to treat her like an adult human in her chair. So that heartbreak of realizing it was all a lie drove her to madness.
Movie Nessa, though, she’s got layers, man. I’m no psychiatrist… but I do feel like she gives off BPD symptoms. During the first film, they did take out some of her little scenes that I liked, at least dialogue wise. She’s a lot more independent and is very much not the only wheelchair-user in Oz. We see wheelchair users in background scenes and Shiz has ramps! And she’s staying in a dorm, though the headmistress still tries to do too much to help. Movie Nessa’s problem is that she’s an emotionally stunted child. When I mentioned the “spoiled baby sister” vibe, Marissa embodies it. Especially in the second movie, despite being dressed like an adult, she has never acted more childlike. But her father spoiled her and gave her everything she ever wanted, she had a loving older sister, but she still faces ableism. But for her, the problem isn’t her disability, it’s the environment. She wants everything to go a certain way like dolls in a dollhouse. And she doesn’t WANT the responsibility! Not yet! It got thrown onto her shoulders so suddenly. She doesn’t want to make a decision on the animal traveling law, not until Boq “gives her a reason to”. And that’s the thing with Boq, when he tries to leave she has a full shutdown, but as soon as she has him back, she’s placated. It feels like BPD switching, especially when she tries to cast a spell on Boq. She has never had healthy emotional regulation in her life and it shows. It’s why she goes out in the middle of a storm in her wheelchair to try and find Boq. She can’t think straight, not when she’s splitting that hard.
This was a long ramble, but I really like looking at different interpretations of Nessa. She gets a lot of shit for her portrayal in the musical, but I never got that impression. But I really appreciate what Marissa did with Nessa, she made her so complex and not a good person, but certainly a good character.
Kristen Chenoweth Glinda has the best pokerface of all Oz when Thank Goodness happens she fools every ozian into thinking she is glad about the news, its deliberate.
Ariana Grande Glinda is so raw in her emotions about Elphaba that the ozians think she is truly relived by the news. It's something she can't hide.
