TW: discussion of eating disordersÂ
If you’re like me and the Wicked: Part I release couldn’t come soon enough (I actually saw it two days early, thank you, Chinese Theater!), you also probably witnessed the seemingly never-ending press tour that was Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s cry-montage, therapy session, and overall love for the Broadway show to movie adaptation. This press tour did not come without its fair share of controversy, though, most noticeably being discourse surrounding the pairs’ weight since before filming and now, with before and after photos causing public outcry wondering if they were forced to lose weight (like so many actresses have been, including Judy Garland on the set of 1939 “The Wizard of Oz”), are on Ozempic, or are struggling from eating disorders amalgamated by a busy filming schedule and even busier press tour. Â
I hesitate to write this piece for a few reasons. Firstly, I’m a firm believer that you should never comment on someone’s body. Full stop. You never truly know what someone’s going through, their trauma, if they’re in the midst of an eating disorder recovery or relapse, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. However, in the case of promoting a cult-classic, fan-beloved, woman-empowering favorite, the sheer amount of young women looking up to Grande and Erivo is truly insurmountable, and I’d say that standing back, saying nothing, would do more harm than good.
It takes only a brief Google search to compare the Erivo and Grande before Wicked and now, and as so many fans have pointed out, including a tweet with over 560K views, it’s not a jump to ask “Are they getting starved” (tweeted by @ryanranime). Bones of collarbones are peeking out to a skeletal degree, hollow eyes stand above even hollower cheeks, and if I’m being completely honest, it makes me and so many others uncomfortable, left wondering if the return to the heroin-chic of the 90s is back (and with it, a slew of horrific eating disorder related illnesses and deaths).Â
With that said, I’d like to acknowledge that we exist in a society where nothing women do is right. Grande and Erivo could have gained weight and been shamed, just as they have been shamed for the opposite. In fact, the public has been obsessed with Grande’s health and body image for years, as detailed here. Public obsession with celebrities more than hints at a level of parasociality we’ve all accepted as normal, and yet, obsession is not just from a critical eye but an adoring one too.Â
Growing up, I would look to my favorite actresses and celebrities as inspiration and examples of who I wanted to be. Whether it was Taylor Swift, Audrey Hepburn, Lorde, or anyone else, I’d idolize everything about them (that’s something to unpack later though). And yet, in that idolizing relationship, I’d too stop and wonder why they were so thin, why I couldn’t be like them, and what I had to do to achieve their looks. I myself struggled with an eating disorder and as a “survivor”, I can say that little voice in my head, telling me not to eat this or that, that I should be exercising more, never really goes away. I can only imagine the impact an entire world of opinions can have on body image and that voice, which makes my empathy and love for stars perhaps suffering from the same thing I did (and arguably still do) that much greater.Â
It turns out the women I compared myself to all suffered from eating disorders or related illnesses; Swift elucidated her struggles in her 2020 “Miss Americana” documentary, Hepburn grew up in the starved environment of World War II and ostensibly never recovered, and Lorde recently revealed to fans her body-image struggles on Girl, so confusing featuring lorde with Charli XCX. All of this to say, while it’s damaging to only focus on Erivo and Grande’s looks — hello, there’s an entire masterpiece of a movie to talk about — it’s also detrimental not to, because those watching (and best believe there are a lot watching) may be looking to them, thinking they have to look a certain way to be successful and beautiful in today’s day and age.Â
Maybe Erivo and Grande are healthy, maybe this is all speculation and bad lighting, but in my heart of hearts, I believe it’s necessary to make a stand against the toxic standards Hollywood sets up for humans everywhere — standards that are reinvented, revisited, and redefined as impossible every few years. I loved Wicked and will be seeing part 2, but I just hope the press tour of that doesn’t reveal an even more hollowed version of my favorite duo — because beyond the tragedy of who they stand to influence, they are humans too, and I want them to be okay.Â