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Ever watched the trailer for The Little Mermaid?
This trailer sparked a fierce controversy among European and American netizens for a simple reason: this time Disney chose a black actress to play The Little Mermaid Ariel.
Although Disney's decision should be welcomed in today's Western politically correct atmosphere, it still aroused the resentment of many foreign viewers because they feared:
Their cherished childhood memories will be ruined by this film.
A mermaid can't be black!
Disney's last "The Little Mermaid" was filmed in 1989, and this film not only achieved great success at the box office and word of mouth, but also created the "Disney Renaissance" at that time, shaping the image of the Little Mermaid in the hearts of a generation:
Red-haired, blue-eyed, shell-clothed, fish-tailed legs.
This image is also in line with Hans Christian Andersen's description of the Little Mermaid in his original book:
"Her skin is as delicate as rose petals, and her eyes are as clear and pure as the waters of the deep sea."
However, all this fairytale imagination came to an abrupt end in a live-action trailer released by Disney last September. When the dark-skinned little mermaid appeared, European and American netizens were shocked.
Some ordinary YouTube UP owners felt embarrassed after watching it, the big anchor xQc frowned, and even some black netizens had to record videos to complain, saying that "Disney ruined the Little Mermaid."
In just two days, the trailer was stepped on 1.5 million times on YouTube, and the comment section was dominated by opposition, with people praising Ariel's lines from the film, but not a single word about The Little Mermaid.
On Quora, a Zhihu community in Europe and the United States, someone asked a question:
"Should I boycott The Little Mermaid?"
The high praise responses at the top of the ranking were all one-sided in support of "should be resisted."
Some conservative commentators, such as Matt Walsh, have questioned it from a "scientific" perspective, arguing that the skin of the Little Mermaid cannot be black, if not white, and that the pigment should not be deposited so much.
Angry netizens even created a community on Facebook called "Christian Boycott The Little Mermaid," attracting tens of thousands of supporters.
On social media, there were insulting attacks on the film. Some say it's not a little mermaid, but a swamp monster; Some people said that they would never let their children watch this broken movie; Others scoffed that the film allowed black people to finally learn to swim.
The spoof images appeared on Twitter alongside the 1813 version of The Little Mermaid.
One white woman tweeted that the film was wrong, arguing that "those of us white girls who grew up with The Little Mermaid deserve an authentic Ariel".
The tweet was retweeted heavily and sparked a trending topic called #NotMyAriel.
Some people couldn't stand it and put the color of the little heroine's skin in the movie white, which was also criticized.
In addition, not only in the European and American communities, the live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" has also caused "strong repercussions" around the world.
In East Asia, for example, after the trailer was released, the Japanese said they couldn't understand it, South Koreans said "Disney is crazy," and Chinese audiences thought it was a "Cthulhu movie" made by Disney.
So, did Disney really just make a black version of the Little Mermaid that no audience liked at the box office just for the sake of political correctness?
Apparently not.
Because although there are many people who hate the new version of The Little Mermaid, there are also many people who like this version in which black people play the protagonist.
After the film's release, a large number of "Black Girls' Reactions to Watch the Trailer" videos quickly appeared online, some of which exceeded 30 million views.
In these videos, many little black girls exclaim excitedly when they see Ariel with dark skin on the screen: "Her skin is as dark as mine." ”
There was even a 2-year-old South American girl inspired to imitate the image of a Little Mermaid.
In a community in Richmond, Virginia, people launched a crowdfunding campaign inviting a thousand black students to watch the movie when it was released.
Support the film
The reaction videos are the best evidence of The Little Mermaid's success. If you don't like the film, as Twitter user Eden H said, you'll be classified as racist.
Some even argue that this Disney trailer proves that they are not politically correct enough.
Actor Christian Navarro commented bluntly: "One brown-skinned protagonist is just right, two brown-skinned protagonists are too much, is this Disney's diversity?" ”
In the eyes of proponents, Andersen's original book never explicitly states that the skin color of the Little Mermaid is white.
And, if we talk about inappropriate characters, then look at the musical The Little Mermaid next door, which from 2016 featured Ariel played by an Asian actress.
And playing this dark-skinned little mermaid is the new generation of American singer Halle Bailey.
The young girl has an excellent voice and has attracted widespread attention as early as when she debuted with her sister Chloe × Halle, and even Beyoncé praised her after the song.
Although Halle's image has caused great controversy in several rounds of teasing, her singing ability as a Little Mermaid has not been questioned.
In addition, after learning that Halle would play The Little Mermaid, Jody Benson, the voice actor of the 1989 version of The Little Mermaid, immediately stood up to support her, saying that "the most important thing in a character is not the appearance, but the spirit conveyed".
Therefore, in stark contrast to the bad comments from netizens, Hollywood and the mainstream media are firmly supportive of Halle.
However, it is worth noting that in this "The Little Mermaid" movie, the role of human princess Vanessa was chosen as British actress and model Jessica Alexander.
Some foreign viewers said that "the prince will either marry the villain" and began a debate of criticism and praise.
In addition, if we look back at the production of this The Little Mermaid, the initial choices were Lindsay Lohan and Zendaya, two actors who are much better known than Halle.
However, despite the controversy, Disney insisted that Halle be the new Little Mermaid of Generation Z.
After all, for the century-old DreamWorks, the controversy caused by the character's skin color has not been the first time.
Last March, Disney executives promised at a company meeting that half of future role choices would be either minority or LGBTQ+.
This means that the company will change the skin color of countless classic cartoon characters they have created.
The Little Mermaid is just the beginning, and in the future upcoming Peter Pan and Wendy, the fairy genie "Tinkerbell" will be played by black actress Yara Shahidi.
The starring role of the live-action version of "Snow White" in the future also chose Latino actress Rachel Ziegler.
There is no doubt that every adaptation of the character will spark a long debate and debate.
Meanwhile, at Disneyland, the "ladies and gentlemen" in the host population was replaced with the more neutral "friends and everyone"; The company's introduction page also prominently places diversity in a prominent position.
Disney is doing everything it can to project an inclusive image. In nonconservative terms, the company is breaking with the notion of "white nostalgia," a white-dominated narrative — that has long been ingrained in the minds of many Americans.
During the controversy surrounding The Little Mermaid, someone created an image called "The Little Mermaid Boycott," which was full of standard white males, satirizing conservatives clinging to the old dream of "Great America."
Opponents of the new "The Little Mermaid" movie, however, argue that Disney's introduction of so many minorities into its films shows the company's slack and irresponsibility in storytelling.
An article by Papermag put it bluntly: "The film side turns the audience's beloved characters into black people, so that they don't have to start from scratch and really write a story that truly belongs to and reflects black people." ”
In other words, the reason why a series of live-action versions of classic fairy tales represented by "The Little Mermaid" will make many viewers feel uncomfortable is only because these stories are white from the beginning
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