Live-Action The Little Mermaid

[jolldan]

Would be hilarious

 

[Charzhin0]

How would this be an example of tokenism though? I've always understood tokenism to be represented by shallow characters who only exist as a shallow effort to pander to diversity expectations. But as the main character which the whole story is in service of, I don't see how it could be tokenism for a black actor to be cast as Superman. I don't think filmmakers should be of the mind to cast the actor just for the sake of casting a black actor and then revel in the controversy of it. But if a black actor auditioned for the role and he happened to best embody the character for the story they are telling, then they should absolutely cast him despite the history of Superman always being presented as white.

Superman has achieved his iconic status through decades of him portrayed as a white character. Giving it to a black actor (a significant difference to the original source) only after Superman has gone through the years of hard trial is cheap and undermining. They should be pushing for traditionally black superheroes to aspire to reach the same level that Superman has - not handing on a silver platter to a ethnic actor.

 

[Legendver2]

If someone is born into wealth, with said wealth stretching back to the early 1800's, at a time when the vast majority of the wealthiest people in America were of British/European decent, I think there's a very strong argument in favour that Bruce's European ancestry is important to who he is. Because, if we're taking things from a logical and literal perspective then I agree with you 100% regarding Mulan/BP. But, the problem is we're not. People are treating the likes of Batman as fiction, and the likes of Mulan as literal. Here's the thing. There's nothing about the Mulan story that couldn't be adapted to suit another culture. Nothing at all. And that goes for any story. Literally any story, including Little Mermaid. The same justification you can make in altering the heritage of Bruce Wayne to suit a change in ethnicity, you can do to the Mulan story, or any other story, because here's the truth - it's all fiction. We're not talking about real people who have historical significance. We're talking people who don't exist. And if they don't exist that means they are open to interpretation.

I dunno about race swapping a character that's the basis of a Chinese legend because she's fictional. That just seems to open a whole new can of worms lol.

It is physically impossible for me to disagree with this post anymore than I currently do.

You've went to the trouble of digging into your own psyche for any hidden potential racial bias or motivations when there is simply no need. Sometimes the easiest answer is right in front of you, I don't want there to be a black Superman for the same reason I don't want there to be a white Blade. I want the actors portraying them to look like they've walked straight off the page from the comic or animated features I've seen both characters feature in throughout my life.

It's not that Superman can't be black or Blade can't be white. It's quite simply I do not want it based on the fact that both of them have very iconic & definitive looks, changing anything significant, such as skin, hair, eye (in Superman's case) colour &/or costume appearance, matters quite a lot even if it may seem like it's irrelevant.

The problem with a black Superman is that there is already canonically 2 other black Superman's that can be adapted into, so why go through the trouble of a backlash by making white Superman black, when you can just do an OG black Superman story that's never been told before.

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

God. I’m a ****ing Asian and I would be really mad if an Asian ends up playing Superman in the future. Does it make me racist against my own race ?

 

[Legendver2]

God. I’m a ****ing Asian and I would be really mad if an Asian ends up playing Superman in the future.

Same, unless they're adapting Kenan Kong, the Super-Man of China.

 

[Zarex]

God. I’m a ****ing Asian and I would be really mad if an Asian ends up playing Superman in the future. Does it make me racist against my own race ?

 

[Legendver2]

Pretty sure he was supposed to pass as white in the series.

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

Who’s this ?

Not gonna lie, he looks the part

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Incredible fan art

I think this is very close to what Bailey will actually look like as Ariel

 

[Motown Marvel]

If someone is born into wealth, with said wealth stretching back to the early 1800's, at a time when the vast majority of the wealthiest people in America were of British/European decent, I think there's a very strong argument in favour that Bruce's European ancestry is important to who he is. Because, if we're taking things from a logical and literal perspective then I agree with you 100% regarding Mulan/BP. But, the problem is we're not. People are treating the likes of Batman as fiction, and the likes of Mulan as literal. Here's the thing. There's nothing about the Mulan story that couldn't be adapted to suit another culture. Nothing at all. And that goes for any story. Literally any story, including Little Mermaid. The same justification you can make in altering the heritage of Bruce Wayne to suit a change in ethnicity, you can do to the Mulan story, or any other story, because here's the truth - it's all fiction. We're not talking about real people who have historical significance. We're talking people who don't exist. And if they don't exist that means they are open to interpretation.

You are going to desperately embarrassing lengths to necessitate Bruce's whiteness. And even at those embarrassing lengths your logic fails considering there are examples of black men born into slavery who became millionaires. Robert Reed Church was a black man born into slavery who became the largest landowner in Tennessee. There are numerous other examples.
.

 

[Motown Marvel]

Superman has achieved his iconic status through decades of him portrayed as a white character. Giving it to a black actor (a significant difference to the original source) only after Superman has gone through the years of hard trial is cheap and undermining. They should be pushing for traditionally black superheroes to aspire to reach the same level that Superman has - not handing on a silver platter to a ethnic actor.

Superman has achieved decades of iconography due to the quality of his character. If his whiteness had anything to do with his success it is because at the time of his inception black characters weren't found in comics, so Superman could only be white. White parents wouldn't let their white kids consume black media. White media wouldn't risk black faces as part of their product. White studio execs weren't willing to risk millions on black names headlining their films. The reason decades of Superman's iconography has been wrapped around a white person is because a black person wasn't allowed the privilege despite the fact a black person is every bit as capable of embodying the qualities which makes Superman an icon.

 

[kaypain]

God. I’m a ****ing Asian and I would be really mad if an Asian ends up playing Superman in the future. Does it make me racist against my own race ?

I hope they do cast Michael B Jordan as the next Superman just to PISS...YALL.... OFF

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

I hope they do cast Michael B Jordan as the next Superman just to PISS...YALL.... OFF

Why do I have to be pissed ? If they cast MBJ, I don’t think it’s a good choice but it’s ok and I’m watching it anyway.

 

[Zarex]

Pretty sure he was supposed to pass as white in the series.

He was supposed to pass as Kryptonian.

Who’s this ?

Not gonna lie, he looks the part

Dean Cain, formerly Dean Tanaka, star of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and son of a Japanese father.

There's no question casting Supes with anyone other than a white dude is tough. He has been drawn and portrayed in live action as a caucasian male (for some reason I haven't quite figured out) since the 1930s, despite the character having not one single drop of european ancestry coursing through his veins. His look is kinda/sorta set in stone by this point.

But Ariel? C'mon. She's EASY (And not the way you are thinking, you filthy fellow posters). She had one movie, admittedly a classic, which revived Disney Animation alongside 1988's Oliver and Company. The fish lady also had a couple of direct to video movies and a TV show nobody remembers. And yeah, the cartoon version of this NOT HUMAN creature has a presence in the parks. But the Mouse makes changes to their attractions and character interactions all the time. Black Ariel (Blariel?) won't be a problem.

The character probably should have been drawn with dark skin from the get go given the Caribbean setting of the film, but the Mouse wasn't in a place to take risks at that time. And the thinking then was such that while black folks would go to see movies with white leads, the reverse wasn't true. So casting Ms. Bailey in the title role could be seen as setting the universe straight.

I feel for all the hard core Ariel fans posting on here whose respective childhoods may or may not be ruined. But from what I've seen of Ms. Bailey on Grownish and her singing performances, she is REALLY, REALLY talented. And while much too young for me, awfully easy on the eyes. I have no doubt she'll be great. And at least we can't complain that the Mouse is doing another lazy shot for shot remake of an animated classic.

 

[Legendver2]

I hope they do cast Michael B Jordan as the next Superman just to PISS...YALL.... OFF

Except MBJ himself said he don't want to play a race swap Clark Kent. He wants to play actual black Superman Calvin Ellis.

And at least we can't complain that the Mouse is doing another lazy shot for shot remake of an animated classic.

We don't know that yet

 

[Mani-Man]

Okay let me see if i get that right.
Now people argue about how a black superman would be bad because it would be against what the character stood?

You mean the character that always felt like an outsider, like he didnt belong under humans?
The guy who more than any other character, was defined by what he did, what he stood for...and never once for the fact that he is white?
The guy that is not even human, who literally is a different race?
The guy that teaches the people that it doesnt matter where you come from, who you are...but what you do that matters?

This is like telling people a mermaid has to be white...do people even think before opening their mouths?

I understand if you go "Oh the character had this specific design and i would like this to remain"...but trying to argue on a higher level then this...and then bring in Superman...just sounds incredible tone deaf and dumb.

 

[Chesterfield]

Never realized how common Hollywood tends to default casting a redhead/ginger character to an African American till now.

Anna Shaffer (the last chick isn't black).

 

[kaypain]

Except MBJ himself said he don't want to play a race swap Clark Kent. He wants to play actual black Superman Calvin Ellis.

We don't know that yet

Like that's gonna matter to the racist outcriers
These are the same people that thought Black Panther was about the civil rights movement and Chadwick was playing Huey Newton

 

[Chesterfield]

Making Bruce Wayne black wouldn't realistically fit very well with his canonical family history, just like there's things about James Bond that are inherent to him being a white old money Brit of a certain age, generation, and background.

We don't need a black Bond or Bruce Wayne. We have King T'Challa who has his own rich history, and is a much wealthier character than both and with only one movie is more critically acclaimed and made more money at the BO than any Bond or batman film.

 

[Closerframe]

Okay let me see if i get that right.
Now people argue about how a black superman would be bad because it would be against what the character stood?

You mean the character that always felt like an outsider, like he didnt belong under humans?
The guy who more than any other character, was defined by what he did, what he stood for...and never once for the fact that he is white?
The guy that is not even human, who literally is a different race?
The guy that teaches the people that it doesnt matter where you come from, who you are...but what you do that matters?

This is like telling people a mermaid has to be white...do people even think before opening their mouths?

I understand if you go "Oh the character had this specific design and i would like this to remain"...but trying to argue on a higher level then this...and then bring in Superman...just sounds incredible tone deaf and dumb.

You're bringing logical arguments/points to responses based purely on emotion. The issues people have with this is it's something that hasn't been done before so why go against the grain now. The same people are upset if movies don't fully capture a character off the page of a comic book but equally want to do something so different to avoid comparisons of the source material. They feel like they own these characters and they don't take into consideration when most of these characters were written and what audience they were written for.

 

[Schlosser85]

We don't need a black Bond or Bruce Wayne. We have King T'Challa who has his own rich history, and is a much wealthier character than both and with only one movie is more critically acclaimed and made more money at the BO than any Bond or batman film.

Ok? I don’t disagree with any of that.

 

[THORin]

Well, I’m done with the incessant arguing about Black Ariel, so I’m moving on to another issue which I feel this remake probably will address:

 

[Chesterfield]

Superman has achieved decades of iconography due to the quality of his character. If his whiteness had anything to do with his success it is because at the time of his inception black characters weren't found in comics, so Superman could only be white. White parents wouldn't let their white kids consume black media. White media wouldn't risk black faces as part of their product. White studio execs weren't willing to risk millions on black names headlining their films. The reason decades of Superman's iconography has been wrapped around a white person is because a black person wasn't allowed the privilege despite the fact a black person is every bit as capable of embodying the qualities which makes Superman an icon.

Which makes what Stan and Jack did with Black Panther all the more heroic!

 

[superion]

Because it is set in nondescript Africa.

The Little Mermaid is set in Europe but we are getting a Black Ariel. So Mermaids in Europe can be any color but talking Lions in Africa need to be Black. OK.

 

[Chesterfield]

The Little Mermaid is set in Europe but we are getting a Black Ariel. So Mermaids in Europe can be any color but talking Lions in Africa need to be Black. OK.

Since when was Disney's TLM set in Europe? Evidence please