Newsmax commentator predicts ‘go woke, go broke’ on Wicked despite shattering box office records
A Newsmax panelist believes that ‘go woke, go broke’ applies to the new Wicked film starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The movie’s box-office record-breaking ticket sales prove otherwise.
Ariana Grande implied that her character, Glinda, might be queer. Additionally, she called Oz “a very queer place, and has always been, even from the L. Baum books. It’s always been queer.” These comments upset Newsmax panelists, who believe the Wicked cast is pushing a “woke narrative.”
One of the panelists disagreed with Grande’s interpretation. She claimed that it wasn’t her takeaway and thought it was a terrible strategy for Wicked to pander to a “woke” ideology. The panelist added, “If you go woke, you go broke,” citing the recent Walmart DEI scaleback as a point of reference.
Despite claiming “go woke, go broke” on the movie, her fellow panelist, Alex Kraemer, said at the beginning of the segment that Wicked has broken records as a box office hit. Wicked has grossed $165 million during its opening weekend. It also became the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway play movie adaptation in the world, overtaking Les Misérables (2012).
Newsmax panelists have essentially negated their claim. People are coming to see Wicked because of its classic story. Some detractors can whine about ‘wokeness’ and it wouldn’t move a needle. Those complaining are clearly in the minority given how tickets for Wicked are selling out in multiple cinemas. Besides, every anti-woke culture warrior who decides not to watch Wicked will be replaced by an excited theater kid at the cinema. They’re not exactly winning this war.
Exhausted of anti-woke
While these hosts whine about ‘wokeness,’ social media users have had it with right-wing conservatives who think this was an issue to begin with. One reply states, “Can these people just watch a fucking movie and enjoy it? Don’t they get exhausted of this shit?” Another reply on Twitter wanted to understand how these right-wing conservatives actually define “woke.”
It seems that anything featuring queer people ruffles their feathers easily. The best response, so far, encouraged the panelists to touch grass.
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