In 1989, the world was introduced to a playful, adventurous and brave mermaid named Ariel, and her colorful wonderland under the sea. We watched as she followed her heart that led her on the path of being human and eventually marrying the handsome Prince Eric. While Disney brought worldwide fame to The little Mermaid, they weren’t the original creators of the much-loved character we all know and love. That honor belongs to the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
Now Disney hopes to release their version of . to reinvent The little Mermaid with a live-action movie set to hit theaters in May 2023. However, rather than keep the image of their original 1989 redhead white mermaid, Disney has decided to bring diversity by casting dark-skinned singer and actress Halle Bailey in the titular role. This decision has sparked a lot of controversy and heated conversation about the topic of whitewashing, or rather, “blackwashing” the character (a term explained and analyzed by the College of Wooster). The trailer on YouTube has even received a groundbreaking number of dislikes, 1.5 million in its first two days. What is happening?
The origin story of the little mermaid
Before we take a deep dive to further explore this fish story (pun intended), it’s important to understand the original first The little Mermaid story by Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen, a Dutch author in the 1800s, was known for many beloved children’s stories, such as: Thumbelina, the princess and the pea, the emperor’s new clothes, and The ugly Duckling.
However, when people complain that the new casting of The little Mermaid does not reflect the original story, then they have to read it again; the original is something completely different, as is the case with most Disney fairy tales. That’s because in his fish story, the little mermaid (and not Ariel, as Disney came up with that name) doesn’t win the prince’s love and as a result dies, turns into sea foam, and is then entrusted with the task of serving humanity. for 300 years before she can enter the kingdom of heaven. Like many children’s stories of the time, it was an artful way to warn children of bad behavior, with the last line: “But when we see a naughty, naughty child, we must shed tears of sorrow, and each tear adds a day. . until the time of our trial.”
Another important thing to note is the appearance of the mermaid. You can check out the illustration below to see Andersen’s drawing from Vilhelm Pedersen The little Mermaid; his original illustrations from 1849 were the very first depictions of the character:
The illustrations had no color (if anything, she would probably have been all greenish based on the description, which we’ll get into). Disney was the one who gave her red hair and pale skin. In The Story of Hans Christian Andersen, “They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the fairest of all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose petal, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but like everyone else she had no feet, and her body ended in the tail of a fish.” We know from the story that she has blue eyes, which is more common in fair-skinned people, but it’s certainly not unheard of for dark-skinned people. In addition, her skin has been compared to a rose petal, which is green, so we could assume that her skin could be a similar color.
Disney’s Reinvention of Ariel
Now we know that the image of Ariel with red hair and fair skin is actually a Disney invention. That’s why all Disney’s new live-action movie does is reinvent the image they originally created, something they’re definitely entitled to. However, instead of staying true to the branded version of their little mermaid, some say Disney has decided to go in a political direction and “wake up,” as some call it, by taking a previously white character and just make her black in a remake.
Honestly, there have been countless times when actors of all ethnic backgrounds have played characters outside of their race. Watch the popular musical Hamilton, which is about the white founding fathers of America. The original cast of this musical consisted mainly of people of color portraying characters who had discussions about slavery, liberty and liberty. If something, that of Hamilton original cast should have raised some eyes but it didn’t because people appreciated it as art that was purely for entertainment purposes with a subversive twist.
On the other hand, you have Angelina Jolie who played the role of Mariane Pearl, a French freelance journalist of Afro-Chinese-Cuban descent, in a mighty heart, and Ben Affleck as Antonio J. Mendez, a decorated American technical operations officer who was of Mexican descent, in argo. Plus, we can’t forget Johnny Depp who plays the fictional native character Tonto in the Disney movie The Lone Ranger. There have been some questionable casting decisions on both sides of the argument, but people generally get over it. Finally, a great example of the possibilities of various castings should be Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in the MCU – that was a white character in the comics for nearly four decades, but practically everyone loves Jackson’s portrayal.
Gabriella, the non-white mermaid of the 90s
Some people say that a dark-skinned mermaid isn’t accurate (which also means “accuracy” in myths and folktales), since mermaids come from European folklore and Europeans are historically white. In addition, mermaids traditionally spent most of their time underwater and would see very little sun. Therefore, it makes sense for a mermaid to be fair-skinned and pale. On the other hand, there are also the stories that say that mermaids are sirens, dangerous creatures that lure sailors to their deaths and spend most of their time above water singing to men. It is important to remember that mermaids are fictional and have different origin stories for different people.
It’s worth noting that Disney’s new mermaid isn’t their first dark-skinned mermaid. In the 1990s, we met Gabriella the Mermaid, a deaf character who appeared in The little Mermaid TV series and communicated through lip-reading and American Sign Language, which was translated into words by her octopus friend Ollie. Gabriella was loved and accepted. There was no negative reaction about her addition to the animated show, and her inclusion meant something very important to many people – Gabriella was a tribute to a real two-year-old girl who died of leukemia.
Gabriella Angelina Bommino was a huge fan of mermaids and the Make-A-Wish foundation threw her a Little Mermaidtheme party for her last birthday. After her death, the makers of The little Mermaid TV series asked her family if they could record her in adult form. Her mother told The Los Angeles Times that it was “the way the Lord shows us what she would look like”. Gabriella the Mermaid was not a political, liberal gesture; she meant something very real and very moving to many people, not just the little girl’s family, but all the little girls who were deaf or BIPOC. This is something everyone should consider before clicking the dislike button anymore.
Is Disney’s New Mermaid Accurate?
Everyone will have their own opinion about Disney’s The little Mermaid casting decision. One of the reasons for disagreement is nostalgia. People love to be nostalgic and fondly remember the past. By recreating its own creation, Disney has changed the sense of nostalgia built into their other live-action movie remakes.
Disney doesn’t duplicate the past (which probably wouldn’t be a good thing; Ariel is 16 years old in The little Mermaid, which might be a little inappropriate for a scantily clad love story). On the other hand, they don’t stray too far from the path, especially when it comes to looks: long wavy hair, traditionally beautiful, half fish (the bottom half), etc. In addition, both versions of Ariel are played by women in their feature film debut (Jodi Benson as the voice in 1989 and Halle Bailey in 2023). Really, the only major difference is race.
Whether you agree or disagree with Disney, Ariel is completely fictional, and if you have money like Disney, you can cast anyone you want. Movies are made up of subjective opinions (both financially and artistically) and the people behind them The little Mermaid simply express their opinion and creativity through their decisions. The beauty of living in certain countries is that you have freedom and options, such as deciding whether or not to watch The little Mermaid in theaters when it comes out next year or chooses to sit it out.