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Controversy as Wicked Dolls Have the Wrong Website Printed on the Box

Movies

| Nov 10, 2024 |

Wicked may be making a play for the male audience. The adaptation of the popular Broadway play that was an adaptation of the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire will arrive in theaters on November 22, 2024, and it’s been surprisingly mired in controversy of late. It’s surprising because, as the Critical Drinker pointed out in a video, Wicked was coasting to a big opening, with the fan base seemingly happy with the way the film looked. Then, almost a month ago, one of the movie’s stars, Cynthia Erivo, lost her mind over a fan-made poster that evoked that of the Broadway show. Erivo went on a tirade, calling the poster the “most offensive thing [she had] ever seen” and accusing the fan of trying to “erase” her. The backlash was quick, with virtually everyone agreeing that Erivo’s reaction was insane and completely unfair; Erivo’s co-star, Ariana Grande, even tried to distance herself and the film from Erivo’s meltdown. Once again, Hollywood types prove that they will find a way to insult fans of anything.

Today’s Wicked drama isn’t insulting or alienating so much as it’s kind of funny. Well, I think it’s funny, anyway; others may not be as amused, especially if they have kids. Wicked is a big deal, so the movie adaptation is coming with plenty of merchandise, including dolls from Mattel, the company that makes Barbie. But YouTuber Sarah Genao of the channel just2good discovered that the packaging has a pretty big mistake on it: it directs people to the website www.wicked.com. There’s a reason I didn’t hyperlink that; www.wicked.com is a pornography site. What they assuredly meant to type was www.wickedmovie.com, the official website of the film, but somebody was asleep at the wheel (or possibly otherwise engaged; I’m not here to judge). Other tie-ins, like the Wicked-inspired LEGO playsets and Betty Crocker cake mixes, do not have the porn site on their packaging, which Genao shows in a couple of follow-up posts on X.

Be honest: I’m not the only one who laughed at this, am I? I mean, if it were a Disney product, I’d hesitate to call it an accident, and I’m sure there are parents who won’t be thrilled when they find out about the website. But this seems like an honest mistake to me, made by someone who didn’t double-check the URL of the movie’s actual website. Sarah Genao is likely right about an incoming recall of the Wicked dolls, meaning the one with the porn website will probably be collector’s items soon, so if you’re into that sort of thing, you may want to get to your local department store post haste. If not, or if you have kids, maybe hold off till there’s word that a new batch with corrected boxes has shipped.

As for the movie itself, I doubt this will have any serious impact on it. Nobody thinks Wicked is going to advertise for a porn website, and I’m sure it’s safe to take kids to see the Wicked Witch of the West portrayed as the unsung hero of The Wizard of Oz. (Everyone knows Glinda was the real monster.) If anything would hurt the film’s business, it would have been Cynthia Erivo insulting a fan over manufactured offense, but Wicked is still tracking to clean up at the box office, even with Gladiator II as its direct competition. And the weekend after that is Thanksgiving weekend, when parents will be taking their kids to the movies; I’m sure Wicked will be the movie of choice for families recovering from family and Black Friday. They’ll just skip the dolls.

Let us know what you think of the Wicked dolls controversy in the comments!

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If you want to know what kind of political leanings movies have or just talk about cinema, check out the movie ratings community Criticless.

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