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

[ban1o]

I'm just going to say as a huge HallexChloe fan...her voice is far far better than Emma Watson's lol. 

[Krissykins]

I saw this girl when she supported Beyoncé a few years ago. Great voice! 

[Krissykins]

Also: to the people saying “they’ll have to stop selling the old Ariel stuff blah blah”.

 

They haven’t stopped selling the old Jungle Book or Lion King stuff. 

[Inceptionzq]

14 minutes ago, jedijake said:

I actually didn't know about that Sade movie. I'm excited. Btw, I also want them to make a Latin American princess set in ancient Incan culture near Machu Picchu with tales of the Sun God.

 

"Pandering" is such an evil word but there are MANY African-Americans upset about this because of how disingenuous it seems. And I'm not at all sure what Disney prices and cars have to do with anything. 

I’m African American, and I’m not upset. Is there something wrong with me? Is my opinion less valid than the African Americans that are upset?

[expensiveho]

42 minutes ago, Porthos said:

"Don't force change on people, let the market decide."

 

That's been a mantra for a loooooooong time.  As long as I've been alive, I think.

 

Well Disney is one of THE major players in the entertainment market and I think they have a pretty decent idea of "what the market" wants/is going to want in the future.

 

This is what 'let the market decide' looks like.  I strongly suspect Disney has made the right bet here, given how other similar bets have gone recently.

 

In the end, this aspect of the movie will sink or swim (no pun intended) on how good Halle Bailey is in the role.  A few folks throwing their toys out of the pram about it is hardly going to matter in the end.  If Halle Bailey is good/great in this film, their objections will matter about just as much as the objections over Zendaya as MJ in the new Spider-Man films.

 

I.e: Not at all.

 

(will make for a tedious thread to read at times, though )

This. Hollywood is realizing that minorities are bringing cash. It's not about diversity or being inclusive or "SJW". It's about what brings them more money.

 

I guess for some people it's a shock to realize they're not part of the "most profitable" when this was unquestionable through history. I expect fewer and fewer lead roles for the classic white straight male considering the massive sucess of women-led, black-led, asian-led, etc have had recently.

[Porthos]

9 minutes ago, jedijake said:

"Pandering" is such an evil word but there are MANY African-Americans upset about this because of how disingenuous it seems. And I'm not at all sure what Disney prices and cars have to do with anything. 

Care to link to any?

 

Considering there are around 40 million African-Americans in the US, it won't take much for there to be 'many' to be upset.

 

===

 

As an aside, for folks who don't care strongly one way or the other, I tend to think this is the reaction of the day:

 

 

As I quickly scan Black Twitter, I sure as hell ain't seeing much of a backlash to this casting (top level search on Twitter, just looking at Ariel).  If anything, just the opposite.  Sure, there's a few dissenting voices out there.  But they are not nearly in the majority of voices.

[stealthyfrog]

The rare good post on Reddit:

Quote

My general rule of thumb about racial recastings: does this require an utter change of the character and/or the setting for it to be at all realistic?

 

For example, obviously you wouldn't make T'Challa a white dude or make Moana into anything other than Polynesian- their stories are completely set around a specific setting where changing their ethnicity isn't possible.

 

On the flip side, you also couldn't make Steve Rogers (notice how I do not say Captain America) black, as there is no way that the racist United States government of the 1930s and 40s would make a black man the big public super-soldier (there is actually an excellent miniseries of comics about what happened to black soldiers who had had versions of the super-serum tested on them... it isn't a very happy story).

 

But Ariel? What defines Ariel? Well, she's a mermaid who wishes she could be human because she is fascinated by the world she can't see. That's a pretty universal story- people of every culture and race wish sometimes they could explore some part of the world that is forbidden to them. So there's nothing there that says Ariel has to be a white person.

 

You could also make the argument that it wouldn't be realistic if they have Prince Eric, etc. still be white, but A) We have no idea if that is going to be the case and in some ways that might actually increase the isolation and separation between the worlds of the land and sea, which would be thematically fitting.

 

Oh, and least we remember... MERMAIDS AREN'T FUCKING REAL. If mermaids were real and they all were white, that'd be one thing, but THEY AREN'T REAL AND SO CAN LOOK HOWEVER THE FUCK ANYONE WANTS THEM TO.

 

In short: I don't care what color her skin is, I want to know if she can carry "Part of Your World".

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/c8sf5d/disney_liveaction_little_mermaid_has_cast_singer/espozwb/

Edited July 3, 2019 by stealthyfrog

[Porthos]

5 minutes ago, Inceptionzq said:

I’m African American, and I’m not upset. Is there something wrong with me? Is my opinion less valid than the African Americans that are upset?

I mean, no community speaks with one voice on any issue.  Why folks would expect this to be any different, I have no idea.

 

I'm quite sure there are some African-Americans who disagree over this from a left(-ish) cultural critique.  I wouldn't classify it as "many" though.  Not unless we completely dilute what the term "many" means.

 

[DeeCee]

I don't want to see any of this "Mermaids aren't real" crap.  Mermaids are real.  They're out there, people.  Wake up! 

[Morieris]

14 minutes ago, Inceptionzq said:

I’m African American, and I’m not upset. Is there something wrong with me? Is my opinion less valid than the African Americans that are upset?

 

Yeah, me neither. I'm sure there are some of us who are upset, but using them as a scapegoat to basically say "but but my white mermaid!" .... c'mon.

 

9 minutes ago, stealthyfrog said:

The rare good post on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/c8sf5d/disney_liveaction_little_mermaid_has_cast_singer/espozwb/

 

And that came from r/movies? The sub where people think more than one black person is sjw pandering? Wow!

Of course, it took one reply for an idiot to show up. Never change, r/movies.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Morieris

[YM!]

1 hour ago, jedijake said:

Complaints are not racist if there is legitimate concerns about the big picture. It is also not racist if you have concerns about Disney's intentions (which I do have). I think they are very transparent and I happen to be a HUGE Disney fan and, I admit to say, apologist from time to time. I think this girl seems great but I think that Disney's inclusion was more than just a way to find a talented girl.

I read some very interesting commentary from African-Americans today online about this. Many were upset and somewhat offended by this choice. This was the reason. There are many many tales, legends, and stories based on African culture and history that would make amazing movies. The person saying that felt that it was very disingenuous to cast a black girl as a traditionally white role because it seems forced. Why not have the courage and guts to go forth and make a true African princess story rather than using (yes the word "using") a white-made story and change the character to black. This one person even said that Black Panther was a great effort but was still a white product. Why by-pass what could be an authentic cultural tale for the purpose of saying "hey, look at us, we are being diverse" by just merely piggy-backing off of a different culture's story (a Norwegian story). Again, this was from an African-American who felt patronized by this choice.

 

My question would be whether Disney's intention is to make this like the updated Annie or Karate Kid. I'm fine with that if they do. However, it doesn't fit in well with the nature of ALL their other live-action remakes which have all been true to the cartoons in terms of likenesses at least. Many people have been expecting that Little Mermaid falls into those categories and I suspect that many are/will be puzzled by the direction but not speak about it due to fear of being labeled.

I’m both black and hate the majority of these live action remakes from Disney with a passion and the casting doesn’t feel forced to me.

 

1 hour ago, fabiopazzo2 said:

I think Elle Fanning would be perfect for Tiana in the remake of the princess and the frog

[Valonqar]

Halle Bailey is beautiful and has a great voice. Disney would not risk this castng out of the left field if they didn't have confidence that they have a star on their hands.

 

That said, Ariel with dark hair looks like Vanessa. I thought originally that hair wouldn't matter, but when she posted the dark-haired Ariel cartoon image, that looks like Vanessa (since she is essentially evil Ariel with dark hair). so I think she'll have red hair.

 

Now speaking of hair, there are people of mixed race that have red hair. Erin Kellyman (Solo's Emphys Nest) is such natural red who can also sing (she plays Eponine in West End Les Miz):

 

 

so if they give Halle Bailey this color and not Mera color, she'll look natural. 

 

 

[raulbalarezo]

I’m wondering if she is lesbian in this one 

Edited July 3, 2019 by raulbalarezo

[raulbalarezo]

1 hour ago, fabiopazzo2 said:

I think Elle Fanning would be perfect for Tiana in the remake of the princess and the frog

Okay this made me laugh 

[Valonqar]

fuck those tweets. I think that the thing that they should campaign for is hair color. casting is set in stone. twitter shitstorm is not gonna change it. so get the hair.

[Porthos]

12 minutes ago, cannastop said:

There are people that think this.

 

*checks the TL*

 

That's... an interesting switch in overall perspective from just a couple of days ago.  Why if I didn't know better, I'd say it's a bot/troll. 

 

(also the 'black best friend' pic up the TL can literally be found via a GIS - it's like these folks don't realize Google exists)

Edited July 4, 2019 by Porthos

[Porthos]

5 minutes ago, YourMother the Edgelord said:

This shit gets even funnier

 

As I said, Google Image Search exists. 👍

[eddyxx]

[Porthos]

Yeah, it's bot (not BOT) or troll:

 

Twitter avatar GIS.

 

Yawn.  Next.  Etc.

[cannastop]

3 minutes ago, Porthos said:

*checks the TL*

 

That's... an interesting switch in overall perspective from just a couple of days ago.  Why if I didn't know better, I'd say it's a bot/troll. 

 

(also the 'black best friend' pic up the TL can literally be found via a GIS - it's like these folks don't realize Google exists)

well there are still people who actually think this. Granted they're laughable scum...