What do you think of the little mermaid being played by a black girl in the live action remake?

[Anonymous]

a lot of people have taken issue with that arguing that the little Mermaid was white in the original movie and the story comes from Denmark.

I don't think it's a big issue because the remake takes place in a fictional kingdom versus Denmark. Also folk tales adapt to local traditions. I mean mermaid myths didn't come from Northern Europe in the first place; they were basically a mix of the Greek sea nymphs and the Assyrian moon goddess (and there are African legends of mermaids).

But I also studied health science and dark skinned mermaids actually make more sense. If mermaids did exist they would have to live in tropical waters (they'd freeze to death pretty quickly in the North Sea) but even then they'd have to come out on shore to warm up every few hours and in tropical areas, if you don't have dark skin you'll get burned pretty bad if you're not wearing a shirt.

#Mermaids

Updates

+1 y

OK I made a mistake, surface waters in the tropics are warm enough that you could live in them indefinitely but UV light is still an issue near the surface.

[doopayo]

It’s not a big deal, it’s a fictional character and she just happens to be black. People getting pressed over this need to find better stuff to get mad about. Us black girls rarely get to see power black female protagonist and now that we finally can it makes me sad that so many people dislike her only because she's black?


I personally don’t think anything can justify that, it’s a fictional character and changing Ariel in the live action the be black doesn’t “take away” from anyone’s culture since Ariel is a fictional character made by Disney.

[FunkyMonkee]

It's stupid!! It's the same as having a black Santa Claus or a black Jesus or a black female JAMES Bond!!!
When are they gonna do the Hindi or Jewish remakes of all this shit? Don't those people count, too? Mustn't offend them!!!
How about, from now on, every movie or t. v. show we make, the characters change ethnicity and gender and even species in every scene? That'll include everybody across the board and NOBODY will be offended except the people watching the shit that can't keep track of who's who from one second to the next!
Cut 1: Camera is behind the Chinese James Bond who is about to shoot the black Dr. No.
Cut 2: The camera is behind the now Hawaiian female Dr. No as she speaks her lines to James Bond, who is now a dog with a gun in it's mouth!!
Cut 3: The camera is again, behind Bond, who is now a sexy feminist redhead and takes aim at Dr. No who is now a dolphin!!
People need to get a fucking grip, already!!!

[AngelOfLight258]

Funny you should mention Jesus after how much his image has been skewed.



But the first mermaid was the Assyrian moon goddess Atargatis so if race bending is wrong shouldn't Ariel be played by an Assyrian actress?

[FunkyMonkee]

@AngelOfLight258 The point is, if something starts out one way, why does it suddenly HAVE to become something else? When are we gonna start portraying Joe Biden as a black man just to make all the black people happy? OH, NO!! YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT!! A white man portrayed as a black man would be RACIST!! Okay so, why does Santa Claus have to be black, then? Wouldn't THAT be racist, too? If we're not allowed to have a black person on a syrup bottle, a box of rice or in cartoons, why are The Cosby Kids still allowed to be black?

[MCheetah]

I said it on Facebook last year: That girl is absolutely HIDEOUS (not to be mean, but she just is; she's very very ugly), was only cast because she's Beyonce's niece or some crap, and Hollywood likes to commit Gingercide for some unknown reason to us. (Maybe redheads are their weakness and the thing Hollywood pedos and scumbags fear most?) Just want to say, as a black person, we don't support this crap, either. You should know Hollywood woketivists don't speak for most people in general.

But yeah, it's bad.

[MCheetah]

Also, your point about skin color makes no sense. They'd live deep underwater WHERE THERE IS NO LIGHT! If anything, they'd be VERY pale and probably blue. But that's beside the point; they just cast this girl for bullsh*t political reasons and nepotism.

[kyleelyn199723]

I think people need to learn to stop touching tradition. Let the little mermaid be white. Let Princess Jasmine be Indian. Let the princess and the frog be black.

[Asker]

1. Mermaids only exist in Danish folklore because danes touched Greek and Mesopotamian traditions.

2. Jasmine is Arabic.

[kyleelyn199723]

Whatever they are, they should stick to tradition. Black people would not like if they white washed an originally made African or princess of color. We need to learn to accept all races and not everything needs to be built for one race only. I don’t think it’s good that a black person would turn on only the black little mermaid.

[t_time]

1st off I want to say everyone is entited to their own opinion. I disagree with the choice. And it's definitely NOT because I am a racist. Which I most certainly am NOT! I do NOT hate anyone because of their skin color. I was just surprised they did not match the description of what we have grew up knowing Ariel to be. Let red heads have their moment. On that note I also disagree with the choice of emma Watson playing Belle in the live action Beauty and the beast. She ruined one of my all time favorite movies. It just wasn't who i pictured playing belle. I think people are forgetting they also came out with a Cindrella movie (which I loved as a kid by the way) who was also black. You can watch it on Disney plus. Also there is Tiana. Mulan, and even the movie life size with Tyra Banks as barbie, jasmine. I loved all those movies and they are All woman of color. Why is this movie just so special? I feel like if you don't agree you get called racist. And that's just not fair

[Ecologygirl76]

It's woke bullshit. Nobody wants to see a nostalgic character from their childhood (who happens to be a red head --where's the ginger's representation?), race swapped because Hollywood is looking to fill some race quota but engaging in reverse racism. I've said this before and I'm going to continue to say it... the more you bring attention to race, whether or not it's perceived as "positive" attention, the more you helping to worsen race relations and point out people's external differences.

[Adam1978]

Your logic doesn't hold up. Water in the tropical is warm enough so they don't need to go up. The sun is unlikely to be a problem if you spend most of the time in water so you would most likely be of lighter tones. Especially if they dive deep. You would most likely have colors like dolphins.

[Asker]

Well even in tropical areas if you dive deep the water gets pretty cold so they'd spend most of their time close to the surface.

[Celtero]

Lol, stop trying to scientifically justify it. They're damn mermaids.

I'm just peeved for the reason that they're not staying true to the original animated version. Why don't they change her name and gender while they're at it?

And if they're doing this for the sake of their forced diversity... why not just make new stories with black characters instead of blackwashing old ones? Oh, that's right, Hollywood has run out of creativity.

[doopayo]

It’s just a modern adaptation of a fictional character? It’s not like they erased the original Ariel, plus the actor playing her is good so that’s all that matters

[Celtero]

@doopayo I really don't care in the long run since I won't be seeing it regardless, despite watching the animated one over and over again as a child. These live action remakes are just a shameless money-grab to me.

But these politically motivated character changes... I think they're stupid regardless.
People need to write new stories instead of constantly making remakes and sequels and then doctoring their characters to fit a political narrative. It's just lame and makes for dogshit storytelling.

[doopayo]

Just because a black woman was given the role doesn’t mean it’s political? How do you even know the story tellings bad if you already admitted you’re never going to watch it? I don’t get how the stories terrible just because ariels played by a black girl

[Celtero]

@doopayo Hollywood is just that predictable. I think it'd be shit even if she was a pale redhead.

I mean... it's probably political, I can't say for sure though. Part of the fun of turning animation into live-action is seeing what a real-life version of a character looks like so it's kinda a lame decision anyway.

[doopayo]

The character still has red hair in the live action though, it’s just in braids or dreads I think. The only thing different is the color of her skin, I know this actors been in a lot of other works too and they’re really good so I don’t think the fact that Ariel doesn’t look exactly like the one in the original is a big deal

[Asker]

Also, I think Ariel's hair is way too red to have anything to do with her "race"





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_algae

[clampfan101]

Aren’t Disney’s remakes all about recreating the feel of the classic movies? Not trying to be more like the book it was based on or being more scientifically accurate? Isn’t Ariel’s red hair just about as iconic as her tail?

[Asker]

Her hair's way to red to be natural in the first place LOL.

[clampfan101]

But she can still be played by someone with natural red hair. The point is how iconic it being red is.

[anylolone]

I have bigger issues with disney as it's today than this.
Sometimes it makes sense to not have an actress or actor that resembles the original character becuase they can really deliver in acting.
But without such inconsistencies, I can't ever believe disney nowdays will ever hire the best for the job.

[nevernevernever]

I think that as long as she can play a good ariel it doesn't really matter.

[Anonymous]

At first I was all for it. Because respresnetauon matter to me when I was kid. And I remember don't having nobody to relate to.


BUT now that I see the world for what it is. I don't want apart of any of it

[doopayo]

Any part of what?

[OddBeMe]

Egyptians played by whites in live action remake…of older white actors from the 50s.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/t-8YsulfxVI

[JesseJayNeak]

It the original owner was alive, he'd be upset. Carlo Collodi was upset about how Disney handled Pinocchio. I'd be upset too and this coming from a black guy

[doopayo]

What would he have to be upset about?

[JesseJayNeak]

@doopayo about how his seller was handled. He already was upset about Disney but with this he'd be even more

[UncleJessieRabbit]

I think the original Ariel is more of my type, and she is animated.

[najekim]

One question, would Hans Christian Andersen approve?

[everythingisblue19]

I don't care tbh