After 34 years since its first release, one of Disney’s most popular and beloved tales, “The Little Mermaid” was adapted into a live-action film that will be released into theaters tomorrow. But instead of celebrating the new mermaid, the film has been met with controversy due to racism aimed at singer Halle Bailey who plays Arial.

Over a year ago, when word hit that Disney would adapt the animated movie into a live action film many fans were elated, until it was announced that the leading role of Arial would be played by a Black/African American actress, the internet went into a frenzy. There have been many fierce debates on whether a fictional role once played and voiced by a White character should be readapted as a Black character. The racial debates simmered for a while but returned with ferocity when the trailer finally hit.

With the amazing visuals of ocean thrashing, fish and turtles swimming in a colorful array of eye-catching scenes of an enchanting world under the sea, a glimpse of a mermaid is then seen swiftly swimming by. In comes the voice of Halle soulfully singing “Part of your world”. The trailer again sent the internet into a frenzy.

There have been numerous viral clips of moms showing little girls of color the trailer of the film, capturing their elated reactions to seeing an Arial that looks like them. But it also generated more negativity over the casting of a non-White actress. Some critics have even gone as far as creating hashtags expressing their dismay, others chimed in with controversial opinions, and for some bringing outright racism out in others. Not all feedback has been negative or racist. The screenings received positive feedback from professional movie critics, but for some fans, race, however, has still been the only issue spurring the debates. 

It’s hard to deny that since Walt Disney started their animated studio about 100 years ago, there was little to no diversity. Until recently, most of Disney’s films have excluded people of color entirely. Despite that, many people of color still loved and enjoyed the films, and even now many older adults get nostalgic over thinking of their beloved Disney films, despite the lack of representation. Since Walt Disney Animation Studios were founded, Disney has been called out for the lack of ethnic representation in their animations and films. Some said that The representation that was seen were people of color portrayed as mainly animals. Some accused Disney of also “coding” characters as a certain ethnic or racial background. The term Black coding, is used to describe when a character is implied to have a particular Black trait. One example is in the 1940’s animation Fantasia, Sunflower, a small black centaur, appears to be a servant of the other tall blonde centaurs in the film. In Disney’s later volt release of Fantasia, Disney restored the version, removing Sunflower from the film. Another example is in Disney princesses. In classic Disney tales, characters such as Cinderella, Snow White, Bell, Bria Rose, Aura and Rapunzel where all White, up until Jasmine in 1992, portraying a debated Indian, or possibly Arabian, princess. Although Jasmine in the animation was a woman of color, the creator Mark Hen was documented stating he depicted her based on his White sister, and the voice of Jasmine was also voiced by a White women. Before Jasmine in Aladdin’s 1992 classic, the Jungle Book In 1967 was just one other animation that starred a character of a different race. The first Black or African-American princess would come 70 years after the first Disney princess and over 15 years after Jasmine. The princess and the Frog introduced Tiana, Disney’s First Black princess, set in the early 1900’s. So after years of little to no people of color representation in Disney animation, why is it such a problem that a once white fictional character is now being portrayed as Black?

Personally, “The Little Mermaid” is my favorite Disney classic animation. I agree with comments about nostalgia, loving the music and the beauty of the film. Growing up, there was a color blindness in films. I imagine it was because most children during that generation figured that was a norm to see all the characters portrayed as white. Despite that, it didn’t matter. Family’s of all ethnicities across the world still loved the film. Now over 34 years later, during a time of “progression” it’s unfathomable that, these adults can’t see the new adaptation the same way. A mermaid is only a fictional character anyway, right. Since the announcement of Halle’s role, there has been hashtag’s started, like #NotMyArial that took over Twitter from fans displeased with this casting. It wasn’t that critics personally disliked Hailey, they disliked a Black actress playing the role of Arial. The backlash was so significant that the trailer reached over 1 million dislikes.

Halle was not the only person of color casted in the film. It is filled with a multicultural of cast members that wasn’t previously seen on the animation, like Simone Ashley a British Indian actress playing Indira one of Ariel’s sisters, and Oscar-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem playing Ariel’s father King Triton. Yet fans seemed to only have a problem with Ariel. The diversity in the cast didn’t stop trolls from creating their own trailers with a white face CGI over Halle’s face. Twitter and other platforms are also filled with hundreds of thousands of racial remarks upset with the change. Examples of some of the less direct racial remarks were accusations of Disney creating re-woke films, also insinuating that films like the color purple should be changed to all White cast. trolls also  angry that she didn’t have blue eyes, and red hair. Despite natural red heads not actually having fire red hair in reality. But Like mentioned before, during the generation when the 1989 animated little mermaid was created, there was not much representation, and the few black roles that were cast in films or animations seemed to be mainly cast for roles that were merely comical, and satirical or roles that are not taken seriously. Many of these millennial adults that are becoming triggered by a fictional character, like a mermaid that have a problem with the new adaptation of Ariel grew up during that generation were racism was strongly present in entertainment.

“As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore. I know people are like, ‘It’s not about race.’ But now that I’m her … People don’t understand that when you’re Black there’s this whole other community. It’s so important for us to see ourselves.” Halle told The Face.

Disney reportedly plans on making further changes to their casting, bringing up the question if this choice and future casting choices are just so that they may seem more inclusive. Whether or not inclusivity was an intentional factor, there is nothing wrong with giving an option for people of color ( POC ) to audition and possibly be casted for roles that were once played by whites, especially roles that where created during a time when people of color where never given the opportunity. Especially If the role the actor is casting for is not race or heritage-based like “The Color Purple.”

Disney’s other future films like the upcoming “Captain America 4” has also received negative backlash for casting Anthony Mackie, a Black actor who plays Sam Wilson, also known as “The Falcon” in “Avengers” and other Marvel productions. Sam will take the mantle as Captain America which Chris Evans helmed for nearly a decade. Previously reported by BLKnewsnow Corey.

There has also been heat in other networks, like with Amazon’s new “Lord Of the Rings: The Ring of Power” series, adapted from J.R.R Tolkien’s books into films. The new series didn’t replace any existing character with POC, but did cast new characters that included a diverse range of actors which previously were non-existent in the films. Still fans said creators of the new series went against J.R.R Tolkien’s “Ancient European” vision, and like The Little Mermaid, another fictional fantasy film, was accused of being “too” inclusive and perfect how it originally was. Fact is that J.R.R Tolkien’s books never implied or stated that his characters were or had to be all white. Race nor human skin color was never mentioned. His stories were about different creatures of different shapes and sizes coming together across their world to fight a common enemy or evil. So it only makes sense to add different races to that as well. Despite absolutely no people of color in any of the original Lord of the Ring films, the creators did a great job of being more inclusive with the series, adding a different layer to J.R.R Tolkien’s world that didn’t look forced. 

Anyone angry at the fact that The Little Mermaid, a fictional fantasy character was recreated in a live action film to now be Black, is telling of how far we still are as a society and country. A Black artist should be able to cast for roles such as this when race does not factor or change the character just as much as Whites. Blaming being “woke,” a term that has been misused and diluted by the far right, and blaming Disney’s emphasis on more inclusivity after releasing so many projects that were overwhelmingly White, is also telling. Disney still has work to do. For the racists seeing a beautiful Black girl play a mermaid, to them it’s like watching a fish out of water. Respectable movie critics have overlooked the racism, as they should, and gave high marks for the film. I’m hopeful the hard work and talent of the stars, and the beauty of the film, is still able to shine, and racism won’t overshadow the film… sinking it under the sea.