The Little Mermaid

(People.com)

Hello darlings, I'm back (for now).  Summer is here and I'm enjoying it while it lasts because this year is going by rather quickly.  It's also the time for blockbuster movies such as Spiderman: Far from Home, Avengers: Endgame and now the live-action movie, The Lion King.  Speaking of live-action, The Little Mermaid and Mulan are in production right now and they should be out sometime next year.  There's a huge controversy concerning The Little Mermaid with Ariel being cast as a black woman compared to the cartoon version of Ariel who's white.  Lord, Pandora's box has opened and many people (hwight people) are extremely upset.  Before I address the controversy, I want to give you a little background of the original movie.

The Little Mermaid is an animated movie produced by Disney in 1989.  It is loosely based on the Danish tale, The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837.  It's a story of a young mermaid named Ariel who dreams of becoming human, especially after falling in love with a human prince named Eric.  Along with friends Sebastian the crab, Flounder the fish and Scuttle the seagull, the motley crew went on their adventures, learning the ways of the humans.  Ariel's desire to become human became true thanks to Ursula the sea witch and her magic but naturally, it came with a price.  Still, in the end, Ariel's wishes finally came true and she and Prince Eric lived happily ever after (Wikipedia).

Mami Wata (face2faceafrica.com)

Yemaya (Hijo de Yemaya)

Mermaids have appeared in folklore in many parts of the world, including the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Mermaids (and Mermen) can be benevolent and in some cases, plain evil.  Mami Wata, for example, is a West African spiritual entity, also found in the Caribbean and other places with the African diaspora.  Speaking of the Caribbean, in Trinidad and Tobago, we have our own mermaid, Mama D'leau, a beautiful woman with a fishtail or snake tail, who is a healer or protector of river animals.  Lastly, we have the Yoruba Orisha Yemaya, not really a mermaid but a water deity worshipped in Nigeria, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil among others.  Now if they would stop whitewashing Yemaya, that would be great.

Now back to the movie.  Since its release, The Little Mermaid was a huge success, making $84 million in the local box office and $233 million worldwide.  It was considered a huge success for Disney after years of animation failures.  It even won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, "Under The Sea," (Wikipedia).  I remembered singing this song with my friends in primary school and we wanted all things Ariel and even Sebastian the crab.  There was even local commercials in Trinidad based on the song.

(insidethemagic.net) 

Now it's time to address the controversy.  Unless you have been living under a rock, Disney is producing another live-action film, this time The Little Mermaid.  Well, Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel and the internet exploded!! Halle Bailey is an African-American actress and singer, portraying a character who was originally white and ginger (red hair). People were so pissed that they created a hashtag, #notmyariel in protest. Some are even boycotting the movie altogether.  However, there are some who supported Bailey's role, stating it's about time that Disney is promoting diversity.   Here's my take in all this.  I'm a black woman and I'll probably be in the minority, but I really don't agree with the casting.  It reeks of tokenism and a pat on the back for Disney in promoting actors of color in their movies.  It's also really lazy in my opinion and I don't see why they can't create new POC characters and give them a dynamic storyline in the movie itself. 

I don't see the need to change the original characters to a different color to promote diversity.  Now, what would happen if they changed Tiana's (which they already did), Black Panther and Pocahontas' skin colors?  We would have a fit right?  These are all fictional characters (except Pocahontas), so there should no problem changing skin colors, right?  To be honest, I probably wouldn't go see the movie if it comes, quite frankly I'm getting tired of live-action films but I will see the Lion King and that's it.  What's interesting however was the casting of Ursula the sea witch.  Melissa McCarthy was originally cast for the role but other celebrities such as Lizzo (a black singer) were considered.  Many black people are supporting the casting of Ursula as a black woman.  Noticeably, whights were eerily quiet.  I guess if it's a plus-sized villain, of course, they have no problem with that.   However, Ursula was inspired by a drag queen.  The narrative of black women portraying fat mammy and evil types is really getting old.   I wonder who is going to be portraying Prince Eric though.  I wish Halle Bailey all the best, and who knows, maybe the movie might do well after all despite the controversy.  Then again, controversy sells anyway.