In celebration of Black History Month at the University of Wisconsin, the UW Black Cultural Center invited Los Angeles-based actress Marissa Bode to speak on intersectionality at Memorial Union on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
The event began with BCC’s Black History Month Chair Caasandra Woji discussing the theme behind this year’s Black History Month at UW.
This year’s Black History Month at UW highlights intersectionality — how race, gender, sex, class and other identities shape Black people’s experiences — Woji said.
The moderator for the night, Kamaya Benson, introduced and welcomed Bode to the stage.
Bode is a Wisconsin native from Mazomanie and began acting at 8 years old through community theater, participating in numerous plays and musicals, Benson said.
In 2011, Bode was paralyzed from the waist down in a traffic accident on the way to practice for a Children’s Theater of Madison production but did not let it get in the way of her passion for acting, according to Channel3000.
The Universal Pictures Production of “Wicked” (2024) marks Bode’s film debut, according to Today.
Bode was cast as Nessarose, making history as the first actress who authentically uses a wheelchair to portray her character.
Her casting marks a significant step forward in authentic representation of actors with disabilities in mainstream cinema, Benson said.
Benson led a Q&A with Bode, discussing topics of intersectionality, accessibility, disabilities as portrayed in media and diversity in all levels of production.
To start the conversation, Benson asked about growing up in Wisconsin and how that influenced Bode’s view of intersectionality and issues of identity and justice.
“I think holding on to the identities I have is very important and holding that close in spaces where I don’t always see myself,” Bode said. “I’m from a very small town and there wasn’t a lot of racial diversity there, which at times can feel isolated. Even just seeing other people that look like me on the screen racially was really cool, and helped me feel less alone in that way. And now, the more the industry has come along and casting more disabled people in roles, myself now included, I think that is helpful, not just for me, but so many other people out there to see themselves represented.”
Benson then asked how Bode has used her social media platform and how she will continue to speak out on critical issues, such as visual aids, accessibility and racism with a larger scale of followers now.
“I think it’s incredibly important and I think people with a large platform should be using it for things like that, especially for people that don’t reach that wide of an audience,” Bode said. “I think it’s important to uplift those voices to create that kind of change in the world.”
Benson asked about the dynamic character of Nessarose, who Bode plays in “Wicked.” She asked about how the character dynamic reflects on how marginalized groups, including those with disabilities, can be misinterpreted or villainized in society.
The whole idea behind “Wicked” is showing the complexities of all the characters and no character is just inherently evil for the sake of being evil, Bode said.
Nessa wants to be independent, but she is coddled a lot, Bode said. Because of this, she doesn’t always make the best decisions, but it is not inherited from pure evil and she’s just as complex as the other characters.
It’s important to reflect on that and see the humanity in every one of the characters because that’s the whole point, Bode said.
To wrap up the conversation, Bode touched on the importance of diversity behind the scenes.
“I think hiring people of all identities behind the scenes is equally as important as putting it on screen so that we know that authentic stories are being told,” Bode said. “I think the more diversity we have behind the scenes is crucial to portraying the most authentic and real and raw stories as possible.”
The BCC will be hosting other events throughout the rest of the month, which can be found on their website.
