All hell broke loose recently after Disney announced that it will be casting 19-year-old Halley Bailey, one part of the Disney's musical duo Chloe x Halle. Many sections of Twitter exploded with outrage agsint the 'Black Barbie", whom many claimed was historically written too be fair-skinned with blue eyes. Many pointed out the alleged irony of the fact that white people would not be considered for roles like Alladin whereas a black girl could just swoop in and play a white girl character.
Though the makers have stood firm, the reactions to Halle's mermaid ha have been racist and colorist to say the least. The hashtag #NotMyAriel trended specifically due to these disgruntled netizens.
Ariel is a white redhead. I would be a better choice #NotMyAriel pic.twitter.com/kMuttqqOD6
— Holly Mackenzie (@MackenzieJacsyn) July 5, 2019
It's not a movie about mermaids ... it's about the 1989 Disney movie based on the story "The Little Mermaid" Written by Hans Christian Andersen where he describes white skin as blue eyes.
— Paola Flores (@PaolaFl55150463) July 5, 2019
Ariel is from DENMARK ... Nordic ... #NotMyAriel #Itisnotinclusive pic.twitter.com/7fMNy2xhGI
In fact, some people even tried to use SCIENCE to prove how mermaids could not be black. Again, this is about fictional fish-women who do not exist beyond mythology or fairy tales.
One such troll tried to justify his tirade against black mermaid by comparing it to the travesty it would be to have an Indian Cinderalla. The point was that a mermaid was as white as Cinderella and that there was no chance for these characters to be acceptable as otherwise.
This comment did not go down very well with Indians and one Indian Tweeple decided to teach the troll a lesson. Responding to the Cinderella jibe, Twitter user Arshad Wahid wrote that there was no story more apt for Desi adaptation as Cinderella.
"Cinderella is the story of a girl who lives with judgy relatives, has a curfew and sneaks out at night, falls in love with a dude during a song and dance sequence and has to return home and pretend like nothing ever happened," Wahid wrote. "If this isn’t a desi story, I don’t know what is."
The tweet has over 25,000 likes and over six thousand retweets.
Cinderella is the story of a girl who lives with judgy relatives, has a curfew and sneaks out at night, falls in love with a dude during a song and dance sequence and has to return home and pretend like nothing ever happened.
— Arshad Wahid (@vettichennaiguy) July 5, 2019
If this isn’t a desi story, I don’t know what is. https://t.co/pETetKUDDa
While the racist outrage against black mermaid has entered Day 3, many on Twitter have also tried to make sense.
We’re on day 3 of idiot white women losing their minds over the casting of a Black woman as a mermaid.
— Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (@ECMcLaughlin) July 5, 2019
Hate is a drug.
Imagine being upset about a mermaid being Black. Racism is truly a disease.
— Draya Michele Stan Account (@SouljaBigDraco) July 5, 2019
I rlly can’t believe y’all’s racism is coming out over a fictional MERMAID. I am beyond disgusted. And ppl still have the audacity to say they aren’t racist because they don’t want a black Ariel. You can eat my entire ASS on a platter n thats that. #thelittlemermaid #notmyariel pic.twitter.com/mLskvHcNWX
— Loren Gray 💫 (@oddlysapphic) July 6, 2019
Ok wypipo, if we concede that Ariel had to white because she lives under water out of the sun and had a lack of melanin, will y’all admit that Jesus, who lived in the hot African sun and came from people with melanin, was Black?
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) July 5, 2019
Y’all don’t get both, so, keep the mermaid.
Meanwhile, Bailey is still on to play the live-action mermaid and will be joining actor Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina. Melissa McCarthy is also in talks to play the character of Ursula.
