Does the race of the Little Mermaid matter? - Callum Breese

The trailer to the new live-action reboot of the 1989 Disney classic, Little Mermaid, scheduled to be released next year, was recently publicised. The trailer has, so far, received backlash on social media as some people have viewed it as yet attempt to retell a beloved film through the politics of wokism and identity politics. For some, there is a problem with the Little Mermaid, Ariel, a character with a Caucasian appearance in the original film, being played by singer Halle Bailey, is who is black. The movie trailer has now surpassed over 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube. However, at same time, support is also growing for the film. There’s always critics firing back to the outrage. Trevor Noah  has dismissed the ‘internet racists’ attacking the film as ridiculous, and they need to be reminded that this is purely of imagination and open to interpretation. In my opinion, both sides of this woke culture battle are equally as bad as each other.

I do believe that there is some truth in the claims that the mainstream film industry have a tendency to enforce its rather conspicuous political opinions through recent reboots of classic films, in the name of racial equity.  However, the problem I find with this recent outrage is how, before the film has even been released, we already have pre-conceived ideas about how this movie will pann out: It risks being a film which concentrates purely on racial identity and how diverse the cast is rather than observing the quality of the acting and movie. Halle Bailey, after all, is a fresh and young talented musician who has a lot of potential. There is no proof that Disney casted her primarily due to her ethnicity, but it is yet to be seen if her acting skills live up to the hype the film is now currently receiving. But the fact she is being subjected to such speculation is woefully wrong, and sad to see such incredible talent potentially go amiss through the mentality of racialised identity politics and Disney’s intention to market racial diversity.

Even so, I understand why such backlashes to these reboots exist. The mainstream movie industry knows this as well. Since the negative reaction to the trailer, the film has been getting huge support from fans who are celebrating the fact Disney are casting a more diverse cast. The negative publicity has no doubt made Disney and the makers of the reboot appear on the moral high ground by appearing virtuous and has given them an opportunity to spout woke opinions. After all, the Little Mermaid is deeply symbolic to Disney’s image and franchise, so a combination of woke politics and a distinctive casting of such a recognisable Disney character was going to cause a stir.

Leonydus Johnson makes some important points in his Substack piece on why many fans are frustrated with the casting, beyond just mere accusations that they’re racist.

But, the idea that movies are pure imagination is true. Films are open to interpretation and creativity. So, this idea that Ariel is doomed to be irrevocably white is a nonsense idea. Such reboots such as Brandy playing Cinderella and the 1978 film The Wiz (which is based on The Wizard of Oz) are examples that films are open to interpretation and shouldn’t be limited to white actors to peruse those roles. When I saw the 2018 stage adaptation of King Lear, Antia-Joy- Uwajeh’s performance as Cordelia was powerfully delivered and her acting was exceptional. The fact that she was a black actor fulfilling a famously played white-female role didn’t ruin the entire production. It is a matter of suspending our disbelief in what a character looks like and appreciating the acting abilities of the character that they are portraying that should be up for critique. 

The Irony of this whole woke battle is it contradicts the entire plot message of the film. Ariel is a mermaid who dreams of becoming a human and leaving the dissatisfied undersea world. The whole movie takes on the question of what true identity and belonging is, and that individuals should not be shackled to what is subsequently given to them. It’s a common human feeling we all experience, and a movie which has meant a lot to Halle Bailey since she was a child.

Let’s give Bailey and the Little Mermaid a chance. We can only judge the appropriately if we drop the fixation on racial identity, wherever it comes from. We should critique the film based on the quality of the acting, production, and creativity instead.