I Hear You and I Disagree….Mostly
In light of all the recent controversy surrounding Disney's live action trailer of The Little Mermaid, I decided to dive head first into the rabbit hole of criticism and see what all the fuss is about.
After reading the Hand Christian Anderson version and watching at 1989 adaptation I was intrigued when I saw the trailer for the live action remake…and even more intrigued at all the controversy surrounding it. After hopping on a Quora forum, I found that many people had taken offense to its dismissal of the European tradition and the “original” storyline (I would say that authorship is difficult with fairy tales) and not necessarily because the actress is black but rather because of Disney “black-washing” for money.
Halle Bailey is cast as the Ariel in the upcoming 2023 reboot and many people have things to say….
(Photograph of Halle Bailey at Walt Disney World/ October 2,2021/ ABC news)
But, if the 2023 soon to be out version is offensive in its dismissal, then I would argue that the 1989 version is also offensive for those very same reasons.
I’m not sure if I just missed it while going to the bathroom or something, but I don’t recall Ariel’s feet ever bleeding or her finding God. And I would think that the addition of singing animals would be more disrespectful than the changing of skin color? It’s also not like the 1989 version is going away, people can still have their nostalgia, but if what they’re really looking is nostalgia then they should return to the “original” text instead. Because that’s what this nostalgia is coming from, not the storyline but a specific version of it. And at this point all we get to see is the trailer; we don’t know how much the story itself will change.
What is the best way to introduce diversity into Disney films?
I personally do agree that Disney is just doing this for a cash grab, like all their other live action remakes, but if they are doing it i’m at least glad they are adding some new diversity. Representation in films is important, especially children’s films. However, I would honestly rather see them do an original storyline or show off stories from different cultural traditions than try to inject diversity into what is clearly another cash-grab remake. So my question is this; what is the best way to introduce diversity into remakes?
First off, I wanted to say I love the tone of voice in your writing! Subsequently, I enjoyed that you pose the question of what is the proper way to introduce diversity into Disney films. Do we bring in stories from other cultures or make the original famous characters represent people of color? It would have been interesting to hear you elaborate more on this point because, on one end, Disney has a history of butchering the tales from other cultures: such as Mulan, which deviates from the Ballad of Mulan. On the other end, is it a cash grab to make Ariel Halle Bailey when it has seemingly upset thousands?
The structure of your post makes great use of the various features that the website allows. The usage of boxes to offset the most important questions and statements in particular works to clearly lay out the structure of the piece. In addition to form though, your post has substance. Short paragraphs that efficiently tackle the problems at hand. The last paragraph was the one that brought up the most questions. How does one best add representation?
Of course, original content and storylines is the best. But under the circumstances, Disney greenlit the Little Mermaid remake. If you were in charge of casting for an already greenlit project, knowing that Disney likely wouldn’t greenlight an original, inclusive movie, should you not attempt to convince the higher-ups to at least add a non-white actress to the Little Mermaid? At that point it’s less black-washing a cash grab, but an attempt to at least add some representation to a cash grab fill that’ll be made regardless. Of course, it might also just be black-washing and pandering, I wouldn’t dream of saying for sure one way or the other.
The one thing about your post I’d note. You say that “authorship is difficult with fairy tales,” and put “original” in quotes. In most cases related to fairy tales, you’d be right. Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty for instance. But with The Little Mermaid, though it drew on popular conceptions of mermaids and on Undine (A novella written a few years prior), the story itself is original, written and invented entirely by Hans Christian Andersen, and was never an oral story passed down through generations like other fairy tales.
This is a really great read and I agree with many of the points you made. Your approach to this topic was refreshing, and your humor added a lot of personality to the post. I think it’s really telling that this is the Disney remake that people have an issue with. All of the remakes are blatant, frankly disgusting cash grabs without two molecules of creativity to rub together, but when Disney changes the race of a main character people suddenly has a problem with them. “Accuracy to the source material” went out the window when they turned this beautifully animated piece of art into another dull live action waste of time that will still make a billion dollars. Other than that, I do wish that the formatting of the post was a little clearer, as the text boxes with the topics in them are a bit too small.