The Little Mermaid | Disney | May 26, 2023 | Queen Halle will rule the summer!

[grey ghost]

11 minutes ago, joselowe said:

Zendaya actually really fought for the role of Ariel and dyed her hair red for the film while auditioning in 2019. Halle did amazing and is perfect for the role but with Zendaya this would’ve grossed over $1 billion worldwide 

 

 

It's hard to say but I still think there would've been a global backlash.

[nydedan]

please zendaya's singing ability is nowhere near Halle's. I think in the long run Halle's Ariel will become a classic and be proven one of the best decisions ever made by Disney.

[imbruglia]

38 minutes ago, joselowe said:

Zendaya actually really fought for the role of Ariel and dyed her hair red for the film while auditioning in 2019. Halle did amazing and is perfect for the role but with Zendaya this would’ve grossed over $1 billion worldwide 

 

 

lol

this was her during Spider man press call.

and she did this because there were people hating her being black and MJ.

so she did red hair, just like comic mj.

 

 

[joselowe]

25 minutes ago, grey ghost said:

 

It's hard to say but I still think there would've been a global backlash.

The backlash when Zendaya was cast as a black MJ in Sliderman was very short and she didn’t get any backlash for playing Chani in Dune. At the end of the day Zendaya is a racially ambiguous biracial woman who isn’t considered a threat and has a huge fan base. Zendaya is as mainstream as they come. 
 

 

 

[jedijake]

I'm glad they didn't cast Zendaya. I like Zendaya. However, I think it would have felt like "that's just Zendaya playing Ariel" rather than "that's Ariel". Emma Watson was always Emma Watson/Hermione in Belle's clothing. It was not her own or didn't feel like her own. Same thing would have been true about Zendaya. With Halle, she REALLY seems like Ariel and there's really not a "that's just Halle playing Ariel". Now, for her future roles, she may get typecast and there may be a "that Halle as Ariel playing <fill in the blank>", but that's for the future to determine. At the moment, Halle IS Ariel and seems to make it her own without any past recognition getting in the way.

[joselowe]

2 minutes ago, jedijake said:

I'm glad they didn't cast Zendaya. I like Zendaya. However, I think it would have felt like "that's just Zendaya playing Ariel" rather than "that's Ariel". Emma Watson was always Emma Watson/Hermione in Belle's clothing. It was not her own or didn't feel like her own. Same thing would have been true about Zendaya. With Halle, she REALLY seems like Ariel and there's really not a "that's just Halle playing Ariel". Now, for her future roles, she may get typecast and there may be a "that Halle as Ariel playing <fill in the blank>", but that's for the future to determine. At the moment, Halle IS Ariel and seems to make it her own without any past recognition getting in the way.

Yeah but despite Emma Watson just being in Bell clothing it made almost 1.3 billion worldwide. I agree Halle is the best for the role as I’ve always said, BUT Zendaya would’ve made this a billion dollar grossing film. With Halle in the lead and the backlash and racism, this film is lucky to make at least $500 million worldwide. Don’t know if Disney will be able to break even for this film.

[Noctis]

I loved this film. A bit bloated, but I enjoyed it more than the animated film (which is fine for me but nothing great). 

 

Halle has been the best live action princess by far. Naomi as Jasmine was my personal favorite until now.

[PrinceRico]

1 hour ago, joselowe said:

The backlash when Zendaya was cast as a black MJ in Sliderman was very short and she didn’t get any backlash for playing Chani in Dune. At the end of the day Zendaya is a racially ambiguous biracial woman who isn’t considered a threat and has a huge fan base. Zendaya is as mainstream as they come. 
 

 

 

And why is Hallie a threat 

[joselowe]

7 minutes ago, PrinceRico said:

And why is Hallie a threat 

She’s a black woman with strong Sub-Saharan African features and dreadlocks. As an African American it’s not a threat to me but it’s scares the hell out of a lot of white Americans.

[jedijake]

1 hour ago, joselowe said:

Yeah but despite Emma Watson just being in Bell clothing it made almost 1.3 billion worldwide. I agree Halle is the best for the role as I’ve always said, BUT Zendaya would’ve made this a billion dollar grossing film. With Halle in the lead and the backlash and racism, this film is lucky to make at least $500 million worldwide. Don’t know if Disney will be able to break even for this film.

Well let's not be extreme. It will do fine and will make at least close to $400 million domestically alone. So I gather it will make at the very minimum $700 million WW, probably over $800 million.

[raegr]

they should do an avengers style team up movie with all the disney princesses

[poweranimals]

4 hours ago, imbruglia said:

 

lol

this was her during Spider man press call.

and she did this because there were people hating her being black and MJ.

so she did red hair, just like comic mj.

 

 

I don't understand why she couldn't have done that for the movies.

[joselowe]

I love this mix

 

[nydedan]

Finally saw it and man I love it. I've been hyped for this project for 4 years since the moment Halle's casting was announced and I actually expected it to be a normal mix-reviewed Disney remake I would end up liking anyway because I just have these rosy eyes for Halle. But the actual quality of the movie exceeds my expectation and I think it is no doubt the best live adaptation. Besides Halle's star-making turn, what I love most is all the small changes and details they add to the love story, which make the development of the relationship more convincing and more "modern". Eric is FINE as hell on the big screen and the promotion materials really do dirty to the chemistry-Ariel and Eric got the best chemistry in any princess live adaptations and every moment they share on screen I have a big grin on my face. I teared up 4 or 5 times throughout the movie and I'm a 25 yo male lol. The movie does have its problems for example the CGI looks off in some underwater scenes and the pacing could've been better but these are all minor aspects. I had a really great time watching this movie and I left the theater with a full heart. And the more I think about how a movie with such a moving story and kindness receives so much hate the more upset I get. I really hope Halle won't be affected by the naysayers and enjoy the success of the movie because it's her movie and her moment.

Edited May 28, 2023 by nydedan

[cinedude9393]

7 hours ago, GipJo said:

Tbh, as a Chinese, I think the beauty standard we use to judge Helle is not all about her skin, actually the skin is not the biggest ''issue'', it's her facial structure. The biggest reason is her not being beautiful, and that's because her eyes are too wide from each other, and then her face doesn't have good dimension, so her face looks flat and that's not what Chinese would think when talking about beauty. Sure her skin color is at play, but really that is not the main issue here as I observed over the months.

The second biggest reason is how little chemistry the two leads displayed (at least in the trailers). Chinese people want to go in and see two people that they can ship and support, but frankly the acting between them is horrible, especially the scene where they kissed, people are saying how uncomfortable he looks when he is kissing her.

The third reason is a political one. The biggest reason I think that caued the flop. ''Politcal correctness'' is a sensitive topic in China. Chinese hate change, especially classics they knew and love. See the recent American Born Chinese, people here are hating it because it uses Journey to the West in a very comedic way. In this matter, they think Americans are not ''politcal correctness'' enough when they tell a Chinese story, that Chinese story can only be told as a joke, it can only be about how sensitive and embarrassed they are in American society, like that's all Chinese is. But for TLM they think they are too ''political correctness'' and only check the race box with all the different races of mermaids. An ugly (to them) black actress, but somehow the villain is this typical beautiful white actress, as if when the minority represented, they can't be beautiful so the white people would stand out. This sentiment is shared with Shang-Chi, people here hated how Disney can't cast a gorgeous man and woman to be the leads (no disrespect to the actors), and instead they cast them and on top of that they use the female lead as a joke machine, a stereotype Chinese hate. This issue actually is very delicate and racism is not the only factor in this.

 

 

This is really interesting because I feel like in America most people would look at Halle Bailey and Simu Liu and think that they're very attractive and not think twice about someone casting them in a role like this. Like I feel like they're both pretty people haha. Maybe it's the fact that China is a relatively homogenous population. Not as much of a melting pot like other countries and so the beauty standards reflect that. Like I notice a lot of East Asian celebrities over-whiten their faces. Needless to say, it's unfortunate there is so much hub-bub over something as inconsequential as race. The original version will always exist but now there's a new take on it!

[GipJo]

1 hour ago, cinedude9393 said:

 

 

This is really interesting because I feel like in America most people would look at Halle Bailey and Simu Liu and think that they're very attractive and not think twice about someone casting them in a role like this. Like I feel like they're both pretty people haha. Maybe it's the fact that China is a relatively homogenous population. Not as much of a melting pot like other countries and so the beauty standards reflect that. Like I notice a lot of East Asian celebrities over-whiten their faces. Needless to say, it's unfortunate there is so much hub-bub over something as inconsequential as race. The original version will always exist but now there's a new take on it!

Skin color discrimination here has complex history. For one, because China used to be an agriculture country, poor farmers are regarded as the lowest class in society and they usually have dark skin tone. For two, Africans who are black are the largest foreigners population in China in recent decades because of China's relationship with Africa, China gave them very easy access to China such as work and education, but their actual skill or civil level are way worse than Chinese people in the same position or education level. For Chinese students they have to fight like hell to get in a good university but then some random Africans that don't even know mandarin can too just because. And then some Africans who are not civil and polite enough cause troubles in big cities, gave the whole race an bad name in China.

The whole thing is delicate and you can't just put racism on it and not see what really happened there.

[Dbui8743]

Vietnamese here, and most of the backlash on the web in Vietnam is a black actress being cast for a traditionally or originally white.

 

you could cast the most beautiful black girl or even asian girl to be the mermaid and the hate would be the same.

[lazyboy2809]

26 minutes ago, Dbui8743 said:

Vietnamese here, and most of the backlash on the web in Vietnam is a black actress being cast for a traditionally or originally white.

 

you could cast the most beautiful black girl or even asian girl to be the mermaid and the hate would be the same.

TLM is flopped badly in VN when released on same day with Doreamon. Never underestimate the power of Blue Cat in Asia. Look like Asian rejects this one, unlike other LA movies before.

[Spidey Freak]

10 hours ago, poweranimals said:

I don't understand why she couldn't have done that for the movies.

 

It wasn't her, it was Marvel that decided to go with a non-glam version of MJ for the MCU. Dumbest decision ever because Zendaya is the most Mary Jane Watson person to ever Mary Jane Watson.

 

[ZattMurdock]

1 hour ago, Spidey Freak said:

 

It wasn't her, it was Marvel that decided to go with a non-glam version of MJ for the MCU. Dumbest decision ever because Zendaya is the most Mary Jane Watson person to ever Mary Jane Watson.

 

I actually think they are going for an arc. Glam bombshell MJ is coming.