WICKED Movie Gets Trigger Warning In UK For 'Upsetting' Response to Green Skin

The Wicked movie has received a trigger warning in the U.K. for "discrimination."

The British Board of Film Classification has ruled that audiences may find seeing “beloved characters” being mistreated as “upsetting and poignant," the Daily Beast reports.

Several scenes of the film show Elphaba being bullied and ridiculed for her green skin, including during her childhood and as she arrives at Shiz University.

In 2021, the BBFC revealed that parents would like content warnings on racism and discrimination being shown in media so they can make informed decisions. The research also concluded that some parents found value in exposing their children to instances of discrimination to "prepare them for real life."

Regulators also found that a woman in a wheelchair being “treated in a condescending manner by able-bodied people” is an additional factor for the content warning, as well as talking animals being “persecuted in a fantastical society." These details stem from characters Nessarose and Dr. Dillamond.

“Occasional threatening scenes”, “brief scary moments” and a “not wholly reassuring” ending also were factored into the film's PG rating.

In the US, Wicked is rated PG for "scary action, thematic material, and brief suggested material."

The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Ethan Slater as Boq, and Marissa Bode as Nessarose. 

Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, follows Elphaba who is misunderstood because of her unusual green skin and has yet to discover her true power, and Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart. 

The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. After encountering The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads, and their lives take very different paths. 

Read the reviews for Wicked here.