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NBC News culture critic Ani Bundel called out movies like "Spirited" and "Scrooge: A Christmas Carol" for glamorizing the "cruel corporate czar" on Saturday.
"Spirited" and "Scrooge: A Christmas Carol" are musical adaptations of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Bundel wrote that both adaptations "hit the wrong key."
"But both renditions’ insistence on preaching this secular myth of the billionaire turned benefactor at a time when the news is full of stories to the contrary means both musical adaptations hit the wrong key," she wrote.
Bundel suggests in her critique of the movies that neither version wants to admit the "cruel corporate czar" or Scrooge-like character is a "bad person."
Cast members Octavia Spencer and Will Ferrell attend the premiere of the movie 'Spirited' in London, Britain November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska (REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska)
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"In a year when it seems nearly every monopolistic company is laying off workers, the cathartic comeuppance of a hard-hearted billionaire makes cultural sense. But neither film is willing to even admit its cruel corporate czar is a bad person, as if the producers fear insulting the rich men who run their respective streaming services," the NBC News critic wrote.
Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer and more star in "Spirited" on Apple TV+. Ferrell plays the ghost of Christmas present and Reynolds stars as Clint Briggs, a reimagined Ebenezer Scrooge.
NBC's Bundel also argued that the entertainment industry's failure to recognize a "societal shift" was "more troubling."
"The entertainment world’s refusal to notice a societal shift is more troubling. Dickens’ story is timeless for a reason, and there should be space right now to make a version that speaks to the current moment. Too bad neither of these knows how," Bundel continued.
A sign is pictured outside NBC headquarters at Rockefeller Center in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 16, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)
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Spencer opened up about preparing for the musical in November.
"I had no idea what it takes to do a musical, because here is the thing, we all sing every day," she said. "I don’t consider myself a singer, but I thought I could probably do it, because when you’re singing with the radio, you sound so good right? You hit the notes, but you realize that you’re singing very low. They were going to have a microphone, so I thought I could use my little radio singing voice… and the voice coach Eric Vetro was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to need you to sing out — project!'"
After working with Reynolds on "Free Guy" and "The Adam Project," Shawn Levy will direct "Deadpool 3." ( Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)
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Reynolds said earlier this year that he and the cast went to a seven-week theater camp to prepare for the musical.
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