Live-Action The Little Mermaid

The general audience has made it known that they'd be more interested in a movie titled Superman than a movie titled Static Shock.

Ariel is 10x bigger than Tiana so one feels more comfortable with a Mermaid movie.

Majority of characters were conceived as white jsut because that was the normal thing to do, not because they needed to be white.

Let's talk about this because you're saying the GA wouldn't like a new character vs an established one.

Do we forget that the Avengers, and especially the Guardians of the Galaxy, were not A list characters? Now the Avengers are a household name and EVERYONE loves the Guardians of the Galaxy. This tells me that STRONG writing and characters trump how "known" they are.

I genuinely believe that they could've made a new Mermaid that DOESNT have to be compared to 90s Ariel, that would hold the same themes as the 90s movie, but have it's own unique flavor. It's a win win, you reimagine a Disney classic and make a brand new character that doesn't have to be compared to an established one. Even thinking cynically this is a perfect merchandising opportunity cause now you have a new character to sell.

Why are people instead ok with keeping the same character instead of simply making her an original one with her own story and arc that wouldn't create a stupid issue? This goes back to people wanting to simply cast a minority actress to piggyback of a white passing character for the hell of it instead of creating a new character with her own unique arc.
 
The argument for racebending a character is just as dumb as the one against it so the easiest solution is simply to leave things as is and create better stories suited for representation, that's how I feel about representation in general. Racebending an established character does nothing but cause a vitriol amongst fans further fanned by accusations of racism when most arguments are as simple as "X character looked like this and we want to keep it faithful."

When lesser characters are gender or racebent it usually doesn't matter as they are never as important to the iconography of a property so for the most part those I don't care about.

At the end of the day making Ariel, or Kal El, or whatever other character they want to racebend black or something does absolutely nothing but pander to people, I'd rather they lift up characters like Tiana, Static Shock, etc etc instead of pushing race on established characters.

Was Hamilton pandering? I enjoy operas, and would having a black person in the Ring Cycle, based on Norse mythology, be pandering? Hell, I've seen a few operas with black and white man in the same role in different performances. And the character was the father of a very white girl. I think, in musicals especially, that race is one of the least important factors.

I will just say this for Superman. Making him non-white in his story as a refugee can be a very, very important factor in a retelling of his story. It doesn't necessarily mean pandering. I mean, it is why I am very, very much for a **** ton of racebending in X-men.

Then make new Characters.

The "General Audience" accepted Sam as a Black Captain America because 1. His story earned him the title 2. He is NOT Steve Rogers he is Sam Wilson and 3. Marvel wrote a strong story.

The same can apply to ANY character.

We have no proof of this, as streaming numbers are very much not public info.

But RED HAIR!!!!

Can happen with black people.
The photos that prove not all redheads are white
 
Was Hamilton pandering? I enjoy operas, and would having a black person in the Ring Cycle, based on Norse mythology, be pandering? Hell, I've seen a few operas with black and white man in the same role in different performances. And the character was the father of a very white girl. I think, in musicals especially, that race is one of the least important factors.

I will just say this for Superman. Making him non-white in his story as a refugee can be a very, very important factor in a retelling of his story. It doesn't necessarily mean pandering. I mean, it is why I am very, very much for a **** ton of racebending in X-men.



We have no proof of this, as streaming numbers are very much not public info.



Can happen with black people.
The photos that prove not all redheads are white

I personally can't stand Hamilton and find it funny that so many minorities are playing slaveowners, but I'll be honest and say that in my humble opinion Broadway is WAY different. It's odd but I don't care as much for show productions as much as I do for something cinematic and it probably has to do with the fact that unlike a movie, music productions are always changing cast.

I do agree that having a minority play Kal El ties in with the immigrant angle, but you could honestly use other original Kryptonians if you want, you don't have to racebend him especially when you already have Calvin Ellis ykno?

I never said black girls can't have red hair, it's just that this Ariel doesn't and that's one of the most notable features on 90s Ariel.
 
To be frank, given the lighting and blur in the photos we saw, it is a tad early to say she isn't a red head. What we can say, is that she is not the unnatural red color from the movie.
 
To be frank, given the lighting and blur in the photos we saw, it is a tad early to say she isn't a red head. What we can say, is that she is not the unnatural red color from the movie.

I mean you can make noticeably red hair look natural, my roommate does all the time and people tell her she looks like Ariel because of it lol. It CAN be done without going overboard.
 
The general audience has made it known that they'd be more interested in a movie titled Superman than a movie titled Static Shock.

Ariel is 10x bigger than Tiana so one feels more comfortable with a Mermaid movie.

Majority of characters were conceived as white jsut because that was the normal thing to do, not because they needed to be white.

huh? A static shock movie would do wonders and make bank . It has its on nostalgia factor. That’s like saying the GA wants a new cap America over black panther .

where did you get people wanted a superman movie over a static shock movie? People are tired of Superman and have been wanting a static shock movie for yrs.

the problem is that studios won’t take chances on black characters who were made black.
 

oh cool! I can’t wait to see her in costume. It’s going to be interesting to see if they keep the iconic clamshell look or modernise it. Little mermaid live had a bodysuit but they probably can’t get away with that in live action and it would probably be a bit too prudish to change it completely.

Halle is going to be a wonderful Ariel
 
Yes. Ariel being played by a black person is only "controversial" if you're a ****ing racist.

This sounds like my dad; he normally wouldn't care at all about anything to do with THE LITTLE MERMAID. But cast her with a black actor? Oh, suddenly, he's got opinions! And that's because he's an old guy with ****ed up, racist opinions on race.

I suggest none of you be like my dad.
As the #1 annoying killjoy SJW around these parts, I of course need to have my say. :o

I don't think there is anything wrong with people wanting an established character to have the established look. I don't think that makes you racist. I am sure like me, plenty of other tiny children had crushes on Ariel, A lot of us before we even knew what a crush was, and a big part of that is her look. Clark Kent will always be a white dude with dark hair in my head, even as I am all for seeing a variation.

I understand the general argument for not wanting racebent characters from POC. That said, I also think there has to be some consideration given to why it is a thing in the first place, and why it is all a part of the general evolution of things. We aren't in a good place, until something like this passes without much of anything said about it, one way or the other.

It is how these things blow up, evolve and get so aggressive to me that makes a lot of it telling. Like am I pleased with the casting? Not really and that has tempered my excitement. And that kind of sucks, because we are talking about the movie that has my favorite Disney music. But I am also the basic dude who would have just cast Hailee Steinfeld as every Disney princess, so yeah. But holy hell, I do not get how this argument is still going on so long after the casting was made. That is some deep seeded crap, that I can't even begin to process.
 
As the #1 annoying killjoy SJW around these parts, I of course need to have my say. :o

I don't think there is anything wrong with people wanting an established character to have the established look. I don't think that makes you racist. I am sure like me, plenty of other tiny children had crushes on Ariel, A lot of us before we even knew what a crush was, and a big part of that is her look. Clark Kent will always be a white dude with dark hair in my head, even as I am all for seeing a variation.

I understand the general argument for not wanting racebent characters from POC. That said, I also think there has to be some consideration given to why it is a thing in the first place, and why it is all a part of the general evolution of things. We aren't in a good place, until something like this passes without much of anything said about it, one way or the other.

It is how these things blow up, evolve and get so aggressive to me that makes a lot of it telling. Like am I pleased with the casting? Not really and that has tempered my excitement. And that kind of sucks, because we are talking about the movie that has my favorite Disney music. But I am also the basic dude who would have just cast Hailee Steinfeld as every Disney princess, so yeah. But holy hell, I do not get how this argument is still going on so long after the casting was made. That is some deep seeded crap, that I can't even begin to process.


On my end it was just refreshed cause my roommate, a die hard Little Mermaid fan, was upset that Halle doesn't look like Ariel, and it simply reaffirmed my feelings about the casting and my whole disdain for racebending characters vs creating new/building up minority characters.

It's just an issue that is getting more and more prevalent as racebending is becoming more commonplace in major properties and its throwing off the iconic looks of major characters, and like you said, Ariel is the red headed 90s version and Clark Kent is a tall, black haired white guy with glasses, its just how many people grew up seeing these characters so it gets an impassioned response.

It's also a point of contention because Disney, for better or worse, has stuck to the looks of their princesses in live action. Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, and Mulan all look like their cartoon versions, why the hell change Ariel? If they really wanted a black princess they have one in TIANA who has a story that more strongly rings the representation bell, that's what's the most annoying thing about it.

Also throwing out baseless claims of racism doesn't help with wanting to have a legit conversation about representation and racebending.
 
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The reason for the (not really) race bending is money. If the Mouse thought they could make a buck more at the box office by employing a peaked skinned Ariel they would have cast the 2020 version of Lindsay Lohan.

But the company has seen films with diverse casts bringing in beaucoup bucks, led in large part by Universal's TF&TF series. As Disney Animation doesn't have a black princess among its classic animated characters - sorry Tiana! - Ariel was the easiest one to have an open casting. The fish lady is non human and not tied to a particular nation or geographical area.

I can understand wanting live action characters to resemble their cartoon counterparts. I didn't care for MBJ Johnny Storm or (at first) Tessa Thompson Valkyrie. And I am still a bit miffed at Hispanic Namor when he is CLEARLY Asian. But I think Ms. Bailey will look enough like the cartoon that her winning personality and killer voice will eventually win most folks over.
 
To be fair, if the actor ends up nailing the part, it all becomes history. It's just the lead-up that can get nasty. But this has always happened. And I'm not even talking about the race of a character.

When they cast a blonde James Bond, people lost their minds and said some pretty horrible things towards Daniel Craig. Does it even matter now?
 
The reason for the (not really) race bending is money. If the Mouse thought they could make a buck more at the box office by employing a peaked skinned Ariel they would have cast the 2020 version of Lindsay Lohan.

But the company has seen films with diverse casts bringing in beaucoup bucks, led in large part by Universal's TF&TF series. As Disney Animation doesn't have a black princess among its classic animated characters - sorry Tiana! - Ariel was the easiest one to have an open casting. The fish lady is non human and not tied to a particular nation or geographical area.

I can understand wanting live action characters to resemble their cartoon counterparts. I didn't care for MBJ Johnny Storm or (at first) Tessa Thompson Valkyrie. And I am still a bit miffed at Hispanic Namor when he is CLEARLY Asian. But I think Ms. Bailey will look enough like the cartoon that her winning personality and killer voice will eventually win most folks over.

Disney could make more money by having a new original Black Mermaid alongside OG Ariel so the money angle makes even less sense to propose the change.

Tiana IS a Black Princess and saying otherwise is offensive. She is part of the Princess Meet and Greets at the parks and you see TONS of little black girls dressed as her.
 
To be fair, if the actor ends up nailing the part, it all becomes history. It's just the lead-up that can get nasty. But this has always happened. And I'm not even talking about the race of a character.

When they cast a blonde James Bond, people lost their minds and said some pretty horrible things towards Daniel Craig. Does it even matter now?

Getting pissed over a blonde James Bond is dumb, completely casting a different race that looks nothing like the original character is another story.

But since 007 is the agent name there can absolutely be a Black 007.
 
The general audience has made it known that they'd be more interested in a movie titled Superman than a movie titled Static Shock.

Ariel is 10x bigger than Tiana so one feels more comfortable with a Mermaid movie.

Majority of characters were conceived as white jsut because that was the normal thing to do, not because they needed to be white.

Ehhhh...the general audience probably doesn't know Static. Just like they didn't know Blade, but when the Blade movie was made, it did well and spawned sequels.. A Static movie is in the works, btw.

I'm not saying it's wrong or bad that Halle is playing Ariel. Just don't agree with your reasoning here. We'd never get movies with original black characters if it all came down to "only the most popular characters should get movies".
 
Yeah, I mean, it's the job of the studio to get us interested in new original characters. Marvel made a blockbuster out of Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. I would've thought they were nuts hedging their bets on c-lister character a decade ago.

Hell, Hancock was a bigger blockbuster than Superman Returns and pretty close to what Man of Steel ended up grossing. Sure, Will Smith went a long way in casting, but that's how you can compete against mainstream characters. Just takes a little imagination.
 
She’s a mermaid… I don’t get the issues. She can also sing too, amazingly. I feel like this is a non issue. We have the old version already so why do we need to repeat it again? This is a new version and it could be very good with her amazing skills the role. I cannot wait to watch it once it’s out.
 
Thank god the internet was not as developed in the 90s cause gosh I could only imagine the “uproar” over a black Cinderella with an Asian prince in a movie produced by Disney…Pretty sure it broke viewing records though…

Also if this casting is “pandering” then pander away Disney/Hollywood. Since the same stories are being told over and over, go ahead and give some actors and actresses of color a chance at the leading role. It’s even better she wont be a dang frog for 90% of the film.

I think about how many great actors and actresses of color didn’t really get many chances like these in the past. And I think about how wide the pool is for white actors vs actors of other races and I think it’s great that Hollywood is race bending characters more frequently. Original characters are great yet Hollywood ain’t really in the “risk taking” mood right now, not even for white characters, they want bankable success. You can name Ant Man and GotG all day long and those movies still came after marvel had made itself the brand name. Look how long it took to get something in marvel not led by a white male.
 
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Look how long it took to get something in marvel not led by a white male.

White human male.

iu
 
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Disney could make more money by having a new original Black Mermaid alongside OG Ariel so the money angle makes even less sense to propose the change.

I don't believe Ms. Bailey is playing a black mermaid. She's just playing a mermaid, a fantasy creature, named Ariel. And her papa is being portrayed by a relatively fair skinned fella.

Tiana IS a Black Princess and saying otherwise is offensive. She is part of the Princess Meet and Greets at the parks and you see TONS of little black girls dressed as her.

My point was that, unlike Ariel, Tiana is not a classic Disney character. The Little Mermaid started the Disney Renaissance while The Frog Princess closed the door on classic animation at Disney. Tiana may have her fans, but she is not at the same level of popularity as the fish lady.
 
Ehhhh...the general audience probably doesn't know Static. Just like they didn't know Blade, but when the Blade movie was made, it did well and spawned sequels.. A Static movie is in the works, btw.

I'm not saying it's wrong or bad that Halle is playing Ariel. Just don't agree with your reasoning here. We'd never get movies with original black characters if it all came down to "only the most popular characters should get movies".

Of course not every original property is going to fail but it's been proven that established IPs are likely to do better, get more buzz, etc. It's why we keep rebooting tv shows. Of course Hollywood should try more original ideas.

The Little Mermaid was going to made regardless. The only difference is that they had an open casting and didn't limit it to just white actresses. There's nothing wrong with that.
 
Thank god the internet was not as developed in the 90s cause gosh I could only imagine the “uproar” over a black Cinderella with an Asian prince in a movie produced by Disney…Pretty sure it broke viewing records though…

Also if this casting is “pandering” then pander away Disney/Hollywood. Since the same stories are being told over and over, go ahead and give some actors and actresses of color a chance at the leading role. It’s even better she wont be a dang frog for 90% of the film.

I think about how many great actors and actresses of color didn’t really get many chances like these in the past. And I think about how wide the pool is for white actors vs actors of other races and I think it’s great that Hollywood is race bending characters more frequently. Original characters are great yet Hollywood ain’t really in the “risk taking” mood right now, not even for white characters, they want bankable success. You can name Ant Man and GotG all day long and those movies still came after marvel had made itself the brand name. Look how long it took to get something in marvel not led by a white male.
If the internet was around when Michael Keaton was cast as Batman......OMG!
 
She’s a mermaid… I don’t get the issues. She can also sing too, amazingly. I feel like this is a non issue. We have the old version already so why do we need to repeat it again? This is a new version and it could be very good with her amazing skills the role. I cannot wait to watch it once it’s out.

The smartest person in this thread.

I would respect people in here more if they just flat out said a black woman playing a Disney mermaid makes me uncomfortable and mad, instead of writing books.
 
Getting pissed over a blonde James Bond is dumb, completely casting a different race that looks nothing like the original character is another story.

But since 007 is the agent name there can absolutely be a Black 007.

Oh man, a black James Bond gets ugly. You get into the racism and classism of British society.
 
You know that Mermaid is blue? Where's the representation for all the blue people in Hollywood? heh
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Oh man, a black James Bond gets ugly. You get into the racism and classism of British society.

You recast any white character with a Black actor and you’ll see the racism and classism of any society. It never fails.

It’s entertaining to see how people truly feel though.
 

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