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The Little Mermaid Is Whatever You Want It To Be
Is my favorite childhood movie just a representation of body hate and sexism?
Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has been all over the internet since the company published the first teaser trailer for it.
I’ve seen some beautiful videos of kids’ reactions to seeing a beloved fairytale princess be a person of color.
And of course, there’s been some absurd backlash to the movie from racists. They just can’t accept that this mermaid from a completely fictional story, which was already massively altered for the movie from the original fairytale, has now been cast with an African American actor.
In my opinion, the one thing the casting required to be true to the character is the voice. And they nailed it.
From what I’ve seen in the trailer, Halle Bailey is magnificent. Her beauty is that of a Disney princess, but it’s her voice that gave me chills.
She is perfect for the part, and while I haven’t seen a single live-action remake of these Disney classics, I might actually watch this one. See, it was my favorite movie growing up, and I knew every song by heart.
It was only when I’d grown up that I began reconsidering the message behind it.
