People Are Freaking Out Over James Corden, I Guess

On November 4, it was announced that the beloved musical Wicked—based off of the book by Gregory Maguire—will be made into a movie adaptation, and while James Corden was not mentioned or even hinted at within the announcement, fans of the musical are angry at his potential involvement in the film, so much so that a petition has been made in an attempt to keep him out of it.

The petition has already gained over 84,000 signatures, despite no one involved with the film so far having suggested his involvement, as stated in the above.

“James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie,” wrote the petition’s creator, addressing the appeal to Universal Studios. “That’s pretty much it.”

Did I mention no one involved with the movie has mentioned James Corden?

Look, I’m going to be upfront with you about this: I don’t watch his show. I don’t particularly understand the hype over Carpool Karaoke, and we all know Cats was a hilarious disaster (release the butthole cut!) With all of that said, the reaction to this whole thing feels . . . excessive.

I’ve heard tell that his performance in Prom was offensive, in regards to the degree of flamboyance Corden—a straight actor—put into his character, a gay man named Barry Glickman. I haven’t seen that movie either, so I’m not going to sit here and give you my hot take on something I haven’t even watched.

But I could at least understand the reaction to all this if it was in relation to leaving gay roles for gay actors (regardless of the fact that I still treasure movies like Carol and The Skeleton Twins, the latter of which was written and directed by Craig Johnson, who is, in fact, gay).

I’m not suggesting pop culture doesn’t have a real impact on the cultural conversation at large, either (it does), or that I don’t feel Queer Joy with a capital Q when I see movies and TV shows that allow us to represent ourselves for a change (I cannot tell you how many times I’ve watched the 2019 reboot of Tales of the City). But this isn’t a reaction to gay roles being given to straight actors.

It’s just about disliking James Corden.

And I mean, sure. Like I said, I’m not invested in the guy. Dislike who you dislike, I guess. But the reaction over the not-announcement of his involvement in Wicked feels strange, and with so many real issues that continue to plague the LGBTQ community as we speak, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if the amount of energy that has been put into this reaction was put into something that matters.

Photo by Harmony Korine