Actress Halle Bailey, who was recently cast as Ariel in Disney’s live action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” said she was expecting to receive backlash about playing the character, who was previously white in the animated film, because she’s black, according to an interview she did with the Face. Because, apparently, there’s even racism is under the sea. Gee, guess there’s just no escape from devastating oppression, is there? I guess we entered a time loop and are somehow stuck back in pre-Civil Rights era America. How come nobody told me?
According to a report from TheBlaze, Bailey stated that she began to receive negative responses as soon as her casting was announced by Disney, as the hashtag “#NotMyAriel” trended on Twitter. Well, to be fair, most people are just sick and tired of seeing classic characters they grew up with race swapped. Not because there’s anything necessarily wrong with someone of a different color playing the part, but due to the fact it’s often done simply as a means of meeting a diversity quota. You’d think that even minority actors would be displeased about being treated as just a number, but guess not.
“As a black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock any more,” she went on to say about the negative response.
“I know people are like: ‘It’s not about race.’ But now that I’m her,” she added, “people don’t understand that when you’re black there’s this whole other community. It’s so important for us to see ourselves.”
“However, Bailey says she generally did not read social media comments, thanks to some friendly advice, and that when the teaser trailer was released at a Disney event, she was very happy with the response,” the report said.
“‘I never read my comments. Don’t ever read the comments,'” Bailey went on to reveal a friend told her, before going on to add that “when the teaser came out, I was at the [Disney event] and I was so happy. I didn’t see any of the negativity.”
Again, this has nothing to do with Bailey or her acting or singing ability. I’m sure she’s going to nail the part. The point is that folks are just sick and tired of woke Hollywood in general. Many times studios will race swap just for the quota, as mentioned above, cheating someone else who might have been better suited for the part simply because of their skin color. That’s messed up. If Bailey was truly the best actor for the part according to the director and producers, then, well, awesome! But if not, doesn’t that stain her performance and the film as a whole?
The report then said, “Bailey says she was inundated with videos of black children excited about her role, with one video allegedly showing a girl saying ‘she’s black like me!'”
“I was crying all night for two days, just staring at them in disbelief,” she stated talking of the videos. “It makes me feel more grateful for where I am,” she revealed.
When it came to the hair being dreadlocked, Bailey thanked the filmmakers because allowing the character to sport that style was very “spiritual.” Not sure how hair can be spiritual, but okay then.
“As a black woman, hair is spiritual, especially locs [sic]. It was really cool for them to make Ariel a version of me with my locs [sic]. I feel like that’s what mermaid hair would be anyway,” Bailey said in the interview.
She referred once again to a racial “community” concerning her role in the upcoming remake of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 movie, “The Color Purple.”
“The movie tied the record for most Oscar nominations without a win at 11, despite actress Whoopi Goldberg winning a series of awards for her role,” TheBlaze said.
“That movie has meant so much to us in our community for so long. It was Whoopi Goldberg’s first big thing,” the 22-year-old actress stated.
“I hope people like my versions [of the characters in The Color Purple and The Little Mermaid]. But at the same time, I’ll respect it if they don’t,” she concluded.
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