Racist Disney fans mocked for claiming 'science proves mermaids can't be black'

[WelshBloke]

Take a fictional character then, say Othello. Or Marvel’s Black Panther. I don’t particularly care of the race or ethnicity of the actor I just want the best actor, and heaven knows Disney can use a lot more color in its casting. But it’s a bit disingenuous to criticize stupid white peoples for criticizing “black Ariel” then try to reserve “black” roles for black actors. Or trans rolls for exclusively trans people.

Othello is referred to in the play as variously being black and of moorish ancestry. Plus as noted plenty of white people have played his part.
Black Panther is an African prince. Him being black is an intrinsic part of the character.

Ariel is a mermaid. The colour of her skin has absolutely nothing at all to do with the character or story.

 

[nisryus]

Wait a second, per wiki.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid

"Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria, in which the goddess Atargatis transformed herself into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her human lover. "

So mermaid would actually have middle eastern features and not totally white.

 

[nisryus]

Plus there are ancient stories of Chinese mermaids. So Disney might be able to make a Chinese mermaid film starting Mulan's half sister!!!!! =P

 

[Commodus]

It's funny to watch people try to rationalize their dislike of this move when it really boils down to "I don't like that white people aren't the center of the cultural universe anymore."

 

[pmv]

Isn't the little mermaid an undocumented migrant?

 

[Greenman]

A beautiful woman that swims around topless showing her boobs to sailors and won't put out. Sure sounds like a white chick to me.

 

[sao123]

Ariel, as far as I know, wasn't originally "white", was she? I mean, the cartoon has her being white, but nothing about her identity as a MERMAID makes her white.

It has nothing to do with being a black mermaid, the problem is being a black mermaid replacing the original
Ariel's original identity IS the cartoon, because the cartoon IS the original Ariel.
Ask any 3 year old to point to Ariel, they will point to this pale colored red headed figure:

Ask any 3 year old if this is Ariel:

Any they will look at you dumbfounded. She is a mermaid, she can be a Disney character. But she is not the established character Ariel and she does not share the Characters story, history, and identity.

If disney wants to write a story about a black mermaid and cast Halle Berry to play her, by all means. But write a new original story about this new original character.
How this not blackwashing AND cultural appropriation is beyond me.

 

[dawp]

It has nothing to do with being a black mermaid, the problem is being a black mermaid replacing the original
Ariel's original identity IS the cartoon, because the cartoon IS the original Ariel.
Ask any 3 year old to point to Ariel, they will point to this pale colored red headed figure:

Ask any 3 year old if this is Ariel:

Any they will look at you dumbfounded. She is a mermaid, she can be a Disney character. But she is not the established character Ariel and she does not share the Characters story, history, and identity.

If disney wants to write a story about a black mermaid and cast Halle Berry to play her, by all means. But write a new original story about this new original character.
How this not blackwashing AND cultural appropriation is beyond me.

disney can make her whatever they want her to be, she is their property, rant and rave all you want but it all boils down to GET A LIFE!

 

[WelshBloke]

It has nothing to do with being a black mermaid, the problem is being a black mermaid replacing the original
Ariel's original identity IS the cartoon, because the cartoon IS the original Ariel.
Ask any 3 year old to point to Ariel, they will point to this pale colored red headed figure:

Ask any 3 year old if this is Ariel:

Any they will look at you dumbfounded. She is a mermaid, she can be a Disney character. But she is not the established character Ariel and she does not share the Characters story, history, and identity.

Ask any 3 year old in 6 years time and you might get a different answer.

And how does the shocking development of having someone with a slightly darker skin tone that you are happy with mean that she "does not share the Characters story, history, and identity." I'll admit to not being up on my Disney "lore" but I dont remember it being a massive (or minimal) part of the story concerning the racial background of a mermaid!

If disney wants to write a story about a black mermaid and cast Halle Berry to play her, by all means. But write a new original story about this new original character.
How this not blackwashing AND cultural appropriation is beyond me.

If this is really beyond you then you have problems.

 

[Ichinisan]

Isn't the little mermaid an undocumented migrant?

Well, in a monarchy, when royalty takes a bride from another kingdom they probably get to skip all the immigration stuff.

 

[Ichinisan]

It has nothing to do with being a black mermaid, the problem is being a black mermaid replacing the original
Ariel's original identity IS the cartoon, because the cartoon IS the original Ariel.
...

Pretty sure Hans Christian Andersen wrote "The Little Mermaid" in the 1800s.

 

[Ichinisan]

...

If disney wants to write a story about a black mermaid and cast Halle Berry to play her, by all means. But write a new original story about this new original character.
How this not blackwashing AND cultural appropriation is beyond me.

"Halle Berry?"

[edit]

Halle Bailey

[edit]

LOL! Caption below picture is still wrong:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/pagesi...lle-bailey-amid-little-mermaid-confusion/amp/

https://pagesix.com/2019/07/06/halle-berry-tweets-to-halle-bailey-amid-little-mermaid-confusion/

 

[sao123]

Pretty sure Hans Christian Andersen wrote "The Little Mermaid" in the 1800s.

Quite correct, and the girl pictured on the book was still a white girl with reddish blond hair. So why are we again changing 200 years of established history just to be politically correct?

 

[Commodus]

It has nothing to do with being a black mermaid, the problem is being a black mermaid replacing the original
Ariel's original identity IS the cartoon, because the cartoon IS the original Ariel.
Ask any 3 year old to point to Ariel, they will point to this pale colored red headed figure:

Ask any 3 year old if this is Ariel:

Any they will look at you dumbfounded. She is a mermaid, she can be a Disney character. But she is not the established character Ariel and she does not share the Characters story, history, and identity.

If disney wants to write a story about a black mermaid and cast Halle Berry to play her, by all means. But write a new original story about this new original character.
How this not blackwashing AND cultural appropriation is beyond me.

Ariel is not a timeless character that can never be touched. She's a cartoon from a 1989 movie based loosely on a Hans Christian Andersen story. As WelshBloke alluded to, asking a kid what Ariel looks like depends entirely on what movies they've seen. There will likely be kids who'll only ever see the live action version and will only ever know Ariel as black.

And it's not cultural appropriation, because Ariel was never inherently white. Andersen may have had a white mermaid in his head, but the mermaid isn't defined by her skin color... because, you know, she's a mythological character.

What's hilarious is just how indignant you are over this. You need this fantasy character to be white, her whiteness is her defining feature for you, and all other considerations are inconsequential. And you're only confirming suspicions when you can't even use the proper name for the black actress for the live action movie.

 

[Ichinisan]

disney can make her whatever they want her to be, she is their property, rant and rave all you want but it all boils down to GET A LIFE!

Well, it's not really Disney's creation but they are free to take creative liberties as they've done with practically every other fairy tale -- and even some historical tales like Pocahontas. These stories are not bound by copyright / trademark and many of the older fairy tales have already drastically evolved as they spread through different cultures over time.

 

[Ichinisan]

Quite correct, and the girl pictured on the book was still a white girl with reddish blond hair. So why are we again changing 200 years of established history just to be politically correct?

In this case it really doesn't matter at all. Not even a little bit.

 

[brycejones]

It has nothing to do with being a black mermaid, the problem is being a black mermaid replacing the original
Ariel's original identity IS the cartoon, because the cartoon IS the original Ariel.
Ask any 3 year old to point to Ariel, they will point to this pale colored red headed figure:

Ask any 3 year old if this is Ariel:

Any they will look at you dumbfounded. She is a mermaid, she can be a Disney character. But she is not the established character Ariel and she does not share the Characters story, history, and identity.

If disney wants to write a story about a black mermaid and cast Halle Berry to play her, by all means. But write a new original story about this new original character.
How this not blackwashing AND cultural appropriation is beyond me.

Many many many things are beyond you.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Ariel is not a timeless character that can never be touched. She's a cartoon from a 1989 movie based loosely on a Hans Christian Andersen story. As WelshBloke alluded to, asking a kid what Ariel looks like depends entirely on what movies they've seen. There will likely be kids who'll only ever see the live action version and will only ever know Ariel as black.

And it's not cultural appropriation, because Ariel was never inherently white. Andersen may have had a white mermaid in his head, but the mermaid isn't defined by her skin color... because, you know, she's a mythological character.

What's hilarious is just how indignant you are over this. You need this fantasy character to be white, her whiteness is her defining feature for you, and all other considerations are inconsequential. And you're only confirming suspicions when you can't even use the proper name for the black actress for the live action movie.

Well duh, they can make her black as long as she's a servant for the true pearl white Ariel! Kinda like how they'll gladly accept black Disney centaurs for the same reason.

The funniest thing, I think if you asked anyone what Ariel's defining characteristics were, they'd say she's a mermaid, then probably her red hair (which as we know, these "we must preserve our white identity" persons have considered gingers to not be the right kinda white through history). Then they'd probably describe her singing crab friend and evil Ursula (see look they super accept non-white creatures, they just you know have to be evil and stuff!). I doubt hardly anyone would remark about her white skin as its about the least noteworthy aspect about her.

 

[darkswordsman17]

It's funny to watch people try to rationalize their dislike of this move when it really boils down to "I don't like that white people aren't the center of the cultural universe anymore."

The best part is how they argue using "history" which shows they often have an incredibly poor knowledge and understanding of history. When they do some cultural appropriation its ok since all cultures have these general themes or some such, but then when others do it to them they rage "they're not white, how dare they!" about literally cartoon characters based on mythological beings.

This just goes back to their fundamental logic issues, where the logic part of their brains is not functioning correctly, so it enrages them when other people can discern the differences in situations (think of it kinda like those seeing eye puzzles). They can recognize some similar aspects, which to them makes the situations equal, when its the nuances that make all the difference. You see this consistently in behavior from them on a wide variety of topics. The good news is that its possible for them to actually improve, the bad news is that they have to want to and they're actively trying to go the opposite route, so until they have something to jar them out of this mindset, things won't improve (and will likely get worse, as when its societal, it tends to take some catastrophic event to wake them from their stupor).

 

[slackerinabox]

Quite correct, and the girl pictured on the book was still a white girl with reddish blond hair. So why are we again changing 200 years of established history just to be politically correct?

Does it hurt being this much of a nerd? DISNEY is a savvy company whose goal is to make money - their decisions have absolutely zero to do with political correctness and EVERYTHING to do with making money. Diversity means a whole bunch of new people will be buying into the toys and cultural ecosystem. Ariel in the late 80s was built on the culture of the 90s, and the music was very reflective of the time (sounds a lot like broadway of that era, attempting to mix orchestral and pop music). I'm just betting we'll have a more modern sound now (more r&b, pop, and hip hop) in the update, and casting makes sense from that perspective. Pop culture especially in music in the current era is NOT white, we just have to face it (seriously i can count charting white pop stars on one hand, hip hop and black culture reigns supreme in 2019 folks) . We don't even have white american stars like we used to, most Caucasian leading men and women younger than 30 are frankly brits or Australians - i blame american millenniums and their inability to be on time for auditions . Box office is also a global game now and Hollywood cares less and less about white christian midwesterners and their sensibilities (they'll placate them with a Cars sequel or a movie about dogs and Jesus every year or so).

If we post pictures of drawing from fictional stories written two hundred years ago saying "THIS is what the little mermaid looks like!" we risk not letting our stories evolve, which means these story's relevance will fade in time. Disney updating the lore to modern sensibilities does a service to the original by allowing a new audience to embrace the tale as their own. Now I'll be a little annoyed if she doesn't have red hair though. But it wouldn't keep me up at night because. you know.. i have a life. I suggest you get one too! Hey, I was a little annoyed by Zendaya's casting in spider-man because as a comicbook nerd the red hair mattered to me but, you know what - she's a far more interesting of a character as presented and a thoroughly modern one and fit the spirit of the feisty original far better than the mopey and victim of her circumstances kirsten dunst interpretation. Yes, you can be MORE loyal to the origin even with a brown person - who would have thought! .. Get over it! I'm personally looking forward to a black captain america, and I named my car "Steve Rogers"

 

[Victorian Gray]

Why doesn't she look like this?



or this?

 

[brycejones]

Why doesn't she look like this?

View attachment 8121

or this?

View attachment 8122

I blame liberal PC culture.

 

[Victorian Gray]

I blame liberal PC culture.

Bloody SJWs made her all pretty and shit.

 

[sao123]

My full of shit meter is pegged at Max.
If Disney had done the opposite and cast a white girl as Tiana the world (you all included) would be full of piss and vinegar.

 

[WelshBloke]

My full of shit meter is pegged at Max.

Maybe try to be less full of shit then?