Opinion: Why all the fuss about Ariel being black shows people's true colours Eve Tawfick
The new live action Disney remake of The Little Mermaid had a sellout first weekend in cinema - smashing the box office with a cool 211.3 million dollars.
Despite rampant success the ocean motion picture has caused some controversy- namely over the casting of Ariel herself.
Halle Bailey is a black actress, and one of the first black Disney Princesses to be featured in the live action version of the original Disney flick.
"But that’s not what I grew up with", droned a reminiscent Neanderthal, dragging their knuckles along the ground.
"It's just box ticking," drawled another.
If anyone claims to share these sentiments and NOT be racist, they may want to examine why they're so affronted by such a change.
If the actress were white - society wouldn't have had this discussion at all. Disliking a cast change based solely on skin colour is rooted in the definition of racism.
There's no argument, with a fictional story- that the colour of the lead actress is historically inaccurate, or misrepresentation. It’s like complaining about King Trident's tail colour.
The beauty of fantasy is that it can be interpreted in any way and unlike historically specific films such as Mulan, Pocahontas or Brave - The Little Mermaid is open to poetic licence.
Let's consider why the Little Mermaid was depicted as white in the first place.
The original story, written by Danish Author Hans Christian Anderson in 1855 saw a young mermaid(who's hair colour was never specified) yearn to live on land with the handsome Prince.
The cunning sea witch (now known as Ursula) takes the maid's beautiful singing voice and transforms into an attractive woman herself- using her adversary's voice as a lure. The sadness of the very non Disney tale sees the lovestruck mermaid take her own life, melting into sea foam after refusing to sacrifice the Prince with a dagger in order to live, after gambling her soul in a bid to win his affection as a mute human being.
In the end the sea-witch catches the Prince hook,line and sinker and it is indeed her who ultimatley wins his heart.
Now Disney didn't want a gaggle of children, nor a reputable franchise, to dissolve into foam when the beloved protagonist was faced with an eternity of sea-purgatory via suicide so they switched up the plot to allow for a happy ending.
Characters like Flounder and Sebastian were added to guide the young princess through perilous waters.
Not only that but Ariel was endowed with her "signature" bright red locks in the 1989 film.
Examining the text at the time it was made, Ariel was fashioned by artists to reflect the beauty standard of the era. Like most Disney Princesses she was fair skinned, slight and blue-eyed.
Halle Bailey is a reflection of a more diverse, and much needed beauty standard.
One that allows little girls and young women of colour to be able to watch a film and say "That Princess looks like me!"
In short - that's what diversity and representation are about- the ability to include all in beauty standards.
More than merely "ticking a box"(a reductionist phrase that rather patronises the hundreds of industry experts that execute casting) Disney managed to capture a talented, beautiful singer who also happens to be of colour for the live action remake of The Little Mermaid.
Anyone who's "crabby" over it should perhaps stick to watching films made in '89. Or better, pick up a book and imagine Ariel however they please - yet they might want to skip the conclusion *spoiler alert* as the original interpretation is quite different.
