Well it looks like she will be soon.
The Little Mermaid is a film released in 1989 by Walt Disney pictures and loosely based on the Danish tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Ariel is a red haired mermaid cutie that is curious about the human world. Recently it was announced that Disney is remaking the film into a live action version. Halle Bailey has been named dropped as the new Ariel along with other cast characters.
Halle Bailey is the other half of singing duo Chloe x Halle. The sisters opened up for Beyonce on the North American portion of the On The Run II tour. They also star alongside Yara Shahidi in the Freeform spinoff show Grown-ish as twin sisters Sky and Jazz Forster. Bailey confirmed her role as Ariel via twitter. She posted a picture of an african american Ariel with the caption "Dreams come true."
Social media has been in an uproar ever since Halle Bailey has been casted in the live action adaptation of Disney's The Little Mermaid. When word broke that the singer would be portraying Ariel earlier this month-the racism literally jumped out of some people.
For the argument that states Ariel was 'cauasian' in the film: Although she does have fair skin in the cartoon Ariel is a fictional character. Mermaids are not real. And Ariel is a fictional mermaid character, who is not real. There are several adaptations of how mermaids look and each of them showcase different skin colors. For example in the 2003 Peter Pan film, the mermaids that were featured were blue with pointy teeth. The mermaids of Hogwarts Black Lake in Harry Potter appear to be odd creatures with sea horse like features. There is no correct or incorrect way to portray a mermaid.
For the arguments that state that Ariel has red hair: Yes this is true and because Halle Bailey has dreads, it can be concerning. In the beautiful world of Hollywood, there are skilled professionals who work in the beauty department that specialize in making actors appear more like their character. For example Ariana Grande as Cat in the Nickelodeon show 'Victorious . Grande has naturally darker brown hair but committed to dying her hair bright red to bring Cat more to life. And Debbie Ryan as Jessie in Disney show titled 'Jessie'. She too has brown hair but went ginger for the show. I think Halle going red will work out just fine whether she dies her dreads or just gets a wig.
Many racist and stereotypical memes were created imitating Bailey and Disney for their decision in casting her. An entire Facebook group was created in protest titled 'Christian's Against the Little Mermaid (Boycott Halle Bailey)'. The group has 14, 678 members and 23 admins. From extensive research the Facebook group shares members with the 'Straight Pride Parade Connections' group. Many posts from their group have been shared via social media by others who joined the group with intentions to expose the racism within. Images of an african american mermaid sitting on a slice of watermelon wearing a fried chicken necklace with large lips and nose were posted as well as Bailey's picture photoshopped on a sea-monkey container.
In 2019, it is very upsetting that racism is still so prevalent. It's embarrassing that Halle Bailey has to withtake so much hate from the world prior to even shooting the movie. Representation is important in the minority community as well within the youth. All young girls should be able to see themselves in a Disney princess. Minorities shouldn't just have to settle with having one princess that looks like them.
