18 Responses People Had To The New Black Ariel
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The upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ has just announced who will star in the leading role – 19-year-old singer Halle Bailey will be Ariel.
After an extensive cast search for the movie remake, director Rob Marshall said that it was “abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance – plus a glorious singing voice – all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic Disney character.”
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Bailey, who said on Twitter that it was a “dream come true,” forms part of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, who first started by doing covers of pop songs on YouTube. Their debut EP, Sugar Symphony, was released in 2016 and contained the hits ‘Drop’ and ‘Fall.’
The pair also made cameo appearances in Beyoncé’s Lemonade visual album and were her opening act for the European leg of The Formation World Tour. ‘The Little Mermaid’ will be Bailey’s feature-film debut.
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According to Variety, the live-action Disney remake will “incorporate original movie songs from the 1989 animated hit, as well as new tunes from original composer Alan Menken and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.” Miranda is also producing the film along with Marshall, Marc Platt, and John DeLuca. Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina are also in the cast of this Disney movie, while Melissa McCarthy is in talks to play Ursula.
People took to Twitter with mostly positive reactions to the animated movie remake casting, with many highlighting the significance of a young black woman taking on the role of Ariel. However, although we should really just ignore them, there were some trolls too.
Someone was instantly triggered and started leaving nasty comments that went viral
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After being called out they tried to defend themselves by saying they have a ‘half black’ friend so they can’t be racist
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They later turned out to be a distasteful joke
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But other people weren’t just ‘joking’ with their comments and were seriously mad with Disney’s casting choice
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Others believed it was all done as a publicity stunt
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Meanwhile, these people came to defend the actress
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Fully-grown adults getting all riled up by the ethnicity of a frickin’ mermaid. Beyond ridiculous, isn’t it? The girl was cast on talent and suitability for the role, why people have to politicize everything to death is beyond me. Shouldn’t we just ignore the trolls and the negativity and just look forward to what should be a great movie?
Let us know what you think about this frankly ridiculous subject in the comments below.
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Disney what were you thinking. She doesn't even have a tail
I also heard that she can't breath underwater. It is disgusting! They should cast a REAL MERMAID! What are they thinking??
Exactly Lol. It’s not even a human being we’re taking about. It’s an animated mermaid. These people need help.
What's sad is that the actress is a real person who is passionate about her craft and probably over the moon for this opportunity, and these people are talking about her like she isn't. Why we as a society feel like we have to constantly tear people down instead of supporting them and cheering them on will never make sense to me. I cannot wait for this movie to come out, it is going to be amazing.
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There's nothing wrong with her, it's just she deserves a better character that fits to her amazing talent. It's best if she portrays Tiana or Moana, I think because she somewhat resembles like them and looks awesome.
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They are using her as a political tool, she is not even human to them black people deserve their own stories from africa not the left overs from european mythology Bailey you would have been a perfect Tiana you are a beautiful girl, instead they throw you away like trash... you deserved better T^T
Best comment!
From Cesi Baca? Yes.
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I am going to take a stab at what I think part of the problem is with it all. If a white actor/actress plays a black character and completely dresses the part, it is automatically called blackface and they are called racist. However, when a black person plays a white character in a similar fashion, nothing is said. It's a double edged sword that I wished didn't exist on any level. But back in the day, like way back in the 50s and before, it was done as racist and that was hateful. Nowadays, I think it is done more out of respect or at least that is how I see it. I just wish we could all exist without labels and hatred in our hearts.
It is not a "white" character though, it's a mermaid, a fantastical creature who lives under the sea. The only description provided of the original mermaid was "her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish’s tail". She wasn't even called Ariel in the book, it was given to her by Disney when they invented her look. By clear skin I read flawless, not white. Your point misses the point. It's a mermaid, not a black woman playing a white woman.
@MWM If you want the story like Hans Christian Andersen imagined it it gets very dark.. The prince marries someone else and the little mermaid gets to choose between killing the prince and return to the sea or get killed and turned into sea foam. So she decides to kill her self. Also, her new legs hurt like knives cutting through them with every step she takes.
Blue eyes ARE white, numpty. Same goes for red hair. Both are by definition a melanin deficiency, if you'd bother to look it up. More to the point : if you haven't raised a child through the pain of being bullied as ginger and soulless and what have you, then perhaps you could speak to other parents that have about their experiences, and consider why you want to disparage their heroes so badly.
No Ariel was a red headed white Danish girl..... In all the original stories even before Disney had it
She is a DANISH white girl in the movie.
fox_in _xxs_clothes yes
Please... this would be considered "cultural appropriation" if the original character were not from a historical fairytale of a white culture.
Hey, she’s definitely a white character. From the original book: “They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish’s tail.”
Princess Ariel IS a white character with red hair blue eyes a green tail and a purple shell bikini top. That is the character that has existed for 30 years - in all the games, books, stickers, figurines, computer games, comics, the likeness that greets you at Disney. Make your own new mermaid character - this is an adaption based on Disney's earlier work which was inspired but is NOT THE SAME as the tale by Hans Christian Andersen.
This is a disgusting thing to do because it would mean the same thing as changing Tiana to have white skin. White washing and black washing characters to appease the respected audience, instead of just creating new princesses. They did the same thing to Matilda, but I can slightly still let that one go. And they also did the same thing to winx club saga, white washing most of the characters. This is a disheartening story of unrest and changing a character from a story we all know and love..
Maybe the problem also is we are used to what they originally looked or where the story happens, for example if Mulan was played by a white blond girl it's not Mulan anymore since we are used to what she originally is. At the end of the day we should at least give it a chance if Disney can justify the live action movie.
I think in that time they tended to like pale skinned people in Europe people would do thing like blood letting and put harmful makeup on just to be pale so I believe that the Ideal for her skin color would have been very pale. At least if I remember correctly you could just look up the beauty standards in The time the story was written.
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Isn’t Ariel a Hebrew man’s name? I can see why a Dane wouldn’t have chosen it.
But a black person playing a role of a fictional character which was once portrayed as a white person is NOT THE SAME as a white people painting their skin to appear black. Not even remotely close. But what people lose sight of in this situation is perspective...you’re so bent on the issue of the skin color change to realize that EVERY DISNEY PRINCESS until Aladdin was white...the the first black in was Tiana. The fact that people feel so attacked and insulted by this is the exact reason black people feel out of place...the be black is to be stained and to white people anything white must remain white or it’s a travesty. Black people would be angry if they switched the ONE black Disney princess to a white one because there’s only ONE BLACK PRINCESS. The fact that it matters so much to white people that one Disney character is casted as a black person shows how racist this country really is..it’s so deeply engraved in the society that people think this type of mindset isn’t racist. Smh
Were any princesses of color changed into white people? I like my stories original. The problem is changing original stories, not racism.
In the comics I think Nick Fury is a white guy while in the movie he's a black guy I think no one reacts maybe if the person who portrays the character can justify the role whether what race they were it'll be just fine.
You hit the nail on the head perfectly! Dare a white attempt what a black person just does & expects to call it racist. You can only bully whites for so long. That's my thoughts. Definitely a double edged sword these days
“Whites” have been bullied in the past. Light skinned Jews were slaves to dark skinned Egyptians for example. Let’s not forget the Huns.
Bully whites....??......?.???? Did...you...did you just say “bully white”? Explain to people when and how whites have EVER not be the bully. Wooow. Y’all feel bullied when a white character is casted black huh?? Y’all have bullied entire civilizations for hundreds of years but now y’all feel bullied. 😂😂😂 It’s amazing when white people are threatened by any form of equality. A black personplaying a “white role” threatens you huh? You feeling bullied? Call a hotline. 🙄
Nope. It's a mermaid. Not a person. A pretend character with no discernible race. I don't feel bullied by this, I am sorry that you feel that way.
When have whites ever been bullied? Are you high? Equality is not special rights. Your talking about a FICTIONAL MERMAID. She never existed.
Exactly! I wish people could just forget about race and just enjoy the movie. Like you said, the "double edged sword" that is created by people being determined to call out the other race makes everything overly complicated in our society. I'm so sick of it...I just want to go watch a princess mermaid movie for gods sake.
So what if Moana, Tiana and Jasmin would be played by white woman? Guess what, there would be an outcry of "its racist". Double Standards at its finest.
Would you say the same if Black Panther had been cast as a white person? Or if Aladdin and Jasmine were played by white people? I doubt it.
It’s very telling that you think whitewashing characters is done out of the kindness of a bigot’s heart and only happened ‘way back in the day’ of a whopping generation ago 😒 Just say you want white people to keep hoarding everything for themselves and go 🙄
She is not going to play her in white face. Stop making excuses for racism. Her skin color had nothing to do with the story.
Again, then we should cast Tiana as a white or asian woman, right?
Halle BAILEY, not Berry.
and what so many are forgetting, is that Halle Berry is multi-racial, not "black". Her mother is white. <3
White actors wearing black face to play a part is not the same as black actors just playing a part. I can't offhand think of any black characters who used white face to play a white character.
Two words....White Chicks. Case of two black actors wearing white face....but that's ok...right?
Is it really a double edged sword if it only cuts one way? You need to recast your metaphors. :-D
Before you comment, you really should read the rest of my comment.
Black people are so underrepresented in films that I think the only way to alleviate this is to swing the other way for a time. Having the occasional black film does not fix the broken system and takes forever to change this underrepresentation. I have no quarms about changing any lead into a black person if it helps. Creating new characters does not have as much of an impact as changing existing characters. If skin colour is not integral to the plot then it is up for grabs.
So you’re saying that we should scrap original white characters and make them black... Is that really better than making new original stories? Also, I don’t see any lack of black representation. Every time I browse the latest movies I see tons of minority actors. They make it big in Hollywood, just like white people.
Absolutely!
WRONG. A greater percentage of actors are black than there are black people in the united states. So in REALITY, black people are better represented than their actual population would hint at. Try again.
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On the surface, that seems to make sense. The problem is, that we don't live in a world where whites and blacks have the same power and opportunities. This standup piece does a great job of laying out the problem with "reverse racism" as a concept: https://youtu.be/dw_mRaIHb-M
There is no such thing as reverse racism! Racism isn't defined as negativity towards one color of skin. It's racism regardless of who it comes from and who it's applied to during a moment.
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It's only blackface if they darken their skin. Haile won't be whitening her skin for this movie so you have nothing to worry about
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Tell me which white actresses have put on blackface while portraying a black character in the last fifteen years? You seriously got EVERYTHING wrong! This is not about white people trying to look black and vice versa, they're turning the characters into something new!! If you can't handle that, just stay at home and watch the animated version, I think both you and the rest of the enlightened world would feel more comfortable that way.
Why would you think she would do it in whiteface? She's exactly the same character. Why do you think she's different? The color of her skin does not define her character, literally or figuratively.
Oh good grief! So Disney gave her red hair and that's the colour it must forever be? I don't think her hair colour is even mentioned in the original story. Yes, she was described as very white with blue eyes and dark lashes. I've seen a foreign drama where she was blonde. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that the actor can do a really good job with the role and make us believe in her. Talent, not appearance.
My big issues was "Hell, she's too old to play the role." Then I was like "Wait, they aren't talking about Halle Berry ... Who is Halle Bailey? Damn *I'm* old!" 🤣
Right? I was all "Catwoman is going to play Ariel? WTF???" Then like you, I realized that I had the wrong Halle too LOL
Have you seen Halle Berry recently? She looks amazing and could totally pull it off even now!
I also thought that it was Halle Berry and I thought that it is great to see older and more mature version of Ariel. :D
Haha! I did the same thing!
I did this too lol! I thought they were talking about Halle Berry.
It's sad that a Google search doesn't list Hans Christian Anderson first. I'm sure there are a number of people who think it's a Disney story :(
I believe you spelled his name wrong.
People want a person who looks like a cartoon character... sigh. She would need to be an extremely odd shape then as they never give cartoon characters realistic figures.
I remember fans protesting when the blond Daniel Craig became 007, because James had to be dark. Turned out he is the best. I think history is about to repeat itself.
Hopefully!! 🤞🤞🤞
uhg. one of *those*. Sean Connery is the actor that made bond... Bond, James Bond. :)
Oh my, Daniel Craig, I do believe I have the vapors!
They can still give her whatever hair color they want. Who says mermaids have the same hair color types as humans?
Exactly - I'd love it to be a silvery blue or rich green!
Thing is though Bonnie - she's a cartoon red. Doesn't really make you think of ginger hair (which I think is gorgeous by the way). I agree that it would be amazing for non-white gingers to be represented. Do you know, genuine question, if there are any actors that fit the bill? I'm sorry you've been bullied. I was as well - it's hell.
As a Ginger who's been bullied for it, I will be kinda sad if they make her not-ginger (certainly not going to have a tantrum about it though). But it would be AMAZING for non-white gingers (real humans, google it!) to finally get some representation.
As a Zelda fan I would be up for her being blue like the Zora's.
No, she doesn't have to be ginger. (And there's no reason a mermaid can't still have red hair no matter what colour their skin is.) However, given how rare Ginger characters are (in general, not just Disney) it does tend to automatically become one of their defining features, especially to ginger kids (most of whom get bullied for it, and who have so few positively portrayed examples of other redheads). There's no excuse for people to be so racist or angry about the casting choice. But it's fair for people to be disappointed if they change that aspect of the character. She DOES look kind ginger in that photo though, so personally, I'm pretty excited. Since there ARE non-white ginger people in the world it would be freaking awesome to see that represented.
The comment showing up in several places is some temporary glitch that goes in you refresh (or has for me). Merida is a ginger lass.
SORRY - IDK why that comment showed up in three places. :/
Then i demand Tiana gets played by a white woman. If skin color really isnt an issue, you should be fine.
Yes. Disney gave her red hair and that's the colour it must forever be because we're not talking about the original little mermaid by Andersen or all the other representations of the little mermaid, we're talking about this specifical Disney character, Ariel, who is recognized by her red hair, blue eyes and white skin. Just like Cinderella has to be blonde and Tiana has to be black, and Mulan asian, each disney princess has a specific appearance which is the way we can recognize them in the Disney franchise, if they're making a live action version of a Disney princess one of the most important things should be making the actress look as close as possible as the original character. What's the sense of giving them an iconic appearance and then changing it completely? Appearance is just as important as talent when performing a character.
Ariel doesn't even exist with that name and physical features in the original tale but that doesn't matter because this a live action remake of Disney's animated film, not the original tale. Ariel is not the little mermaid of Andersen. Ariel as a Disney character is clearly a white redhead and her appearance is just as important as her personality, it's part of who she is and how she's recognized as a princess in the Disney franchise. Just like Mulan who is Chinese and has black straight hair and slanted eyes, or like Belle who is French, white with curly brown hair and the iconic yellow dress, or like Tiana who is black and wears a green dress. All of them have a specific physical appearance and for a live action we want to see actresses who ressemble them and look like the original.
🤦🏼♂️
Disney didn't give her red hair, the original DANISH fairytale did... we are removing the original culture to satisfy another
Hair colour wasn't mentioned in the original.
She might still have red hair. They most likely would not have cast a natural red head anyways.
Nah she was blonde in the original one i thinkm if I'm wrong can u show me whatever info u have on it? I've never actually researched this
Disney what were you thinking. She doesn't even have a tail
I also heard that she can't breath underwater. It is disgusting! They should cast a REAL MERMAID! What are they thinking??
Exactly Lol. It’s not even a human being we’re taking about. It’s an animated mermaid. These people need help.
What's sad is that the actress is a real person who is passionate about her craft and probably over the moon for this opportunity, and these people are talking about her like she isn't. Why we as a society feel like we have to constantly tear people down instead of supporting them and cheering them on will never make sense to me. I cannot wait for this movie to come out, it is going to be amazing.
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There's nothing wrong with her, it's just she deserves a better character that fits to her amazing talent. It's best if she portrays Tiana or Moana, I think because she somewhat resembles like them and looks awesome.
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They are using her as a political tool, she is not even human to them black people deserve their own stories from africa not the left overs from european mythology Bailey you would have been a perfect Tiana you are a beautiful girl, instead they throw you away like trash... you deserved better T^T
Best comment!
From Cesi Baca? Yes.
This comment has been deleted.
I am going to take a stab at what I think part of the problem is with it all. If a white actor/actress plays a black character and completely dresses the part, it is automatically called blackface and they are called racist. However, when a black person plays a white character in a similar fashion, nothing is said. It's a double edged sword that I wished didn't exist on any level. But back in the day, like way back in the 50s and before, it was done as racist and that was hateful. Nowadays, I think it is done more out of respect or at least that is how I see it. I just wish we could all exist without labels and hatred in our hearts.
It is not a "white" character though, it's a mermaid, a fantastical creature who lives under the sea. The only description provided of the original mermaid was "her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish’s tail". She wasn't even called Ariel in the book, it was given to her by Disney when they invented her look. By clear skin I read flawless, not white. Your point misses the point. It's a mermaid, not a black woman playing a white woman.
@MWM If you want the story like Hans Christian Andersen imagined it it gets very dark.. The prince marries someone else and the little mermaid gets to choose between killing the prince and return to the sea or get killed and turned into sea foam. So she decides to kill her self. Also, her new legs hurt like knives cutting through them with every step she takes.
Blue eyes ARE white, numpty. Same goes for red hair. Both are by definition a melanin deficiency, if you'd bother to look it up. More to the point : if you haven't raised a child through the pain of being bullied as ginger and soulless and what have you, then perhaps you could speak to other parents that have about their experiences, and consider why you want to disparage their heroes so badly.
No Ariel was a red headed white Danish girl..... In all the original stories even before Disney had it
She is a DANISH white girl in the movie.
fox_in _xxs_clothes yes
Please... this would be considered "cultural appropriation" if the original character were not from a historical fairytale of a white culture.
Hey, she’s definitely a white character. From the original book: “They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish’s tail.”
Princess Ariel IS a white character with red hair blue eyes a green tail and a purple shell bikini top. That is the character that has existed for 30 years - in all the games, books, stickers, figurines, computer games, comics, the likeness that greets you at Disney. Make your own new mermaid character - this is an adaption based on Disney's earlier work which was inspired but is NOT THE SAME as the tale by Hans Christian Andersen.
This is a disgusting thing to do because it would mean the same thing as changing Tiana to have white skin. White washing and black washing characters to appease the respected audience, instead of just creating new princesses. They did the same thing to Matilda, but I can slightly still let that one go. And they also did the same thing to winx club saga, white washing most of the characters. This is a disheartening story of unrest and changing a character from a story we all know and love..
Maybe the problem also is we are used to what they originally looked or where the story happens, for example if Mulan was played by a white blond girl it's not Mulan anymore since we are used to what she originally is. At the end of the day we should at least give it a chance if Disney can justify the live action movie.
I think in that time they tended to like pale skinned people in Europe people would do thing like blood letting and put harmful makeup on just to be pale so I believe that the Ideal for her skin color would have been very pale. At least if I remember correctly you could just look up the beauty standards in The time the story was written.
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Isn’t Ariel a Hebrew man’s name? I can see why a Dane wouldn’t have chosen it.
But a black person playing a role of a fictional character which was once portrayed as a white person is NOT THE SAME as a white people painting their skin to appear black. Not even remotely close. But what people lose sight of in this situation is perspective...you’re so bent on the issue of the skin color change to realize that EVERY DISNEY PRINCESS until Aladdin was white...the the first black in was Tiana. The fact that people feel so attacked and insulted by this is the exact reason black people feel out of place...the be black is to be stained and to white people anything white must remain white or it’s a travesty. Black people would be angry if they switched the ONE black Disney princess to a white one because there’s only ONE BLACK PRINCESS. The fact that it matters so much to white people that one Disney character is casted as a black person shows how racist this country really is..it’s so deeply engraved in the society that people think this type of mindset isn’t racist. Smh
Were any princesses of color changed into white people? I like my stories original. The problem is changing original stories, not racism.
In the comics I think Nick Fury is a white guy while in the movie he's a black guy I think no one reacts maybe if the person who portrays the character can justify the role whether what race they were it'll be just fine.
You hit the nail on the head perfectly! Dare a white attempt what a black person just does & expects to call it racist. You can only bully whites for so long. That's my thoughts. Definitely a double edged sword these days
“Whites” have been bullied in the past. Light skinned Jews were slaves to dark skinned Egyptians for example. Let’s not forget the Huns.
Bully whites....??......?.???? Did...you...did you just say “bully white”? Explain to people when and how whites have EVER not be the bully. Wooow. Y’all feel bullied when a white character is casted black huh?? Y’all have bullied entire civilizations for hundreds of years but now y’all feel bullied. 😂😂😂 It’s amazing when white people are threatened by any form of equality. A black personplaying a “white role” threatens you huh? You feeling bullied? Call a hotline. 🙄
Nope. It's a mermaid. Not a person. A pretend character with no discernible race. I don't feel bullied by this, I am sorry that you feel that way.
When have whites ever been bullied? Are you high? Equality is not special rights. Your talking about a FICTIONAL MERMAID. She never existed.
Exactly! I wish people could just forget about race and just enjoy the movie. Like you said, the "double edged sword" that is created by people being determined to call out the other race makes everything overly complicated in our society. I'm so sick of it...I just want to go watch a princess mermaid movie for gods sake.
So what if Moana, Tiana and Jasmin would be played by white woman? Guess what, there would be an outcry of "its racist". Double Standards at its finest.
Would you say the same if Black Panther had been cast as a white person? Or if Aladdin and Jasmine were played by white people? I doubt it.