A history of good and bad changes for characters’ ethnic backgrounds is purposefully being forgotten so we’ll all be angry at one another over The Little Mermaid.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Auli’i Cravalho took the stage for an ABC live performance of The Little Mermaid. Auli’i Cravalho isn’t “white”. She’s Polynesian. And guess what? Civilized behavior didn’t come to an utter halt as people began hurling insults at one another. Quite the opposite: nobody cared except for being excited.
Ms. Cravalho is the voice behind Moana and she’s a tremendous talent. Based on everything I know, she also comes from a great family… she’s the full package in that she’s not only a spectacular voice actress and singer — she’s also reportedly an awesome person when it comes to character. Remember when there was an online stink raised about little girls of European descent dressing up as Polynesian Moana? Yeah, Auli’i had something to say about that.
“I think it’s absolutely appropriate! It’s done in the spirit of love and for Disney and for the little ones who just want to dress up as their favorite heroine, I’m all for it.
— Auli’i Cravalho, PEOPLE
That preface is necessary to break through the mind virus that is taking over people on both the right and left. For our viewers from the right side of politics, no, there is no problem with having someone of African ethnicity play a character that was traditionally played by a different ethnicity in most cases. To the readers identifying with the left, no, society hasn’t devolved (or stayed) mired in ridiculous racism. And all you already know this. None of you pitched a fit when the magnificent Auli’i Cravalho played Ariel, and not one of you was angry when Samuel L. Jackson took the role of the traditionally “white” Nick Fury.
How about that? None of you under normal circumstances hate this sort of thing when it is done correctly.
And we all know “race swapping” can be done poorly as well. When it happens, it ruins a movie. Remember when Avatar: The Last Airbender switched out the main characters, who are clearly supposed to be part of Asian mythology in the original series, and changed them to white kids? Remember when fans of all races, including European descent, decided that was a load of crap?
Have I broken your mind virus yet? I can keep going if not. In case you haven’t yet shaken off the latest social craze intended to divide us and make different groups hate each other, let’s review a few more examples of times when race was swapped well and poorly:
- Bane was race-swapped for The Dark Knight Rises
- Lawrence Fishburn became Perry White
- Zendaya is Mary Jane
- Jason Momoa is playing a traditionally-white Aquaman
Do you want me to keep going?
This should be shaking those of you on the left to remember all the numbers of times that a “race swap” occurred without the batting of an eye. And it should be moving those of you on the right to remember the same. We moved past this issue a long time ago for the most part.
But a couple of things happened that brought about a backlash for the remake of The Little Mermaid. And the backlash is not the fault of the wonderful people who inhabit our society. Instead, is the fault of cynical corporations and social media / corporate news playing to the lowest possible mode of being.
Let us recall that as recently a day ago, and for months before, those who have decried poorly performed “race swapping” in Rings of Power have been labeled in the worst of ways. Whereas you could correctly say Avatar: The Last Airbender was severely flawed for race swapping Asian mythology a decade ago, you can no longer do the same for Tolkien’s European mythology located in “Middle Earth”. If you do, you will be called anti-democratic and worse:
Fans who feel they are defending Tolkien’s legacy are being used as pawns to serve dangerous anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian agenda and siding, whether they mean to or not, with racist extremists.
Fascist appropriation of Tolkien’s work may seem surprising given his anti-Nazi statements, which include calling Hitler a “ruddy little ignoramus.” It is not new, however. In the 1970s, the books became a favourite of Italian fascists who even held a Camp Hobbit festival to promote their politics.
— Ben Rothstein, The Conversation
You got that? Just eight days ago, Mr. Rothstein was telling the world that if you think European mythology should look like Europeans, you’re an extremist who should be compared with a genocidal socialist regime from the 1940s. Take that!
Of course that is utter stupidity, and of course the Rings of Power show on Amazon is tanking after spending much of its marketing opportunity to focus on modern racial issues instead of, you know, the show. But after fans were called every bad name in the book by people who would agree in a heartbeat if the racial situation were reversed (you think they’re going to do a “white” Wakanda or a “white” Tiana anytime soon?), it’s no surprise that the situation was set for lift off. You don’t get to call fans all sorts of horrible pejoratives when they critique you and then think they’ll just roll over for you.
For the average fan, they don’t have time to think about any of this at great-length or in high resolution though. They don’t consider that Disney and Amazon are different… they only see the way they’re being treated by the Hollywood “elite”.
So when The Little Mermaid trailer was released with another light-skinned character replaced with a dark-skinned actor, the public was ready to let loose. It’s not Halle Bailey’s fault the trailer was crappy… that’s Disney’s fault. And it’s not Halle Bailey’s fault that Disney has made this be a part of their concerted effort to purposefully take characters that are mythologically and culturally light-skinned and change that. Do you think that Snow White being the “fairest in the land” (a cultural nod to a time when not having to be in the sun was a sign of wealth and beauty in old Europe) ever crossed the mind of Disney executives when casting Snow White?
Rachel Zegler in costume for production of Disney’s upcoming live action remake of Snow White.
You’d better believe it did. And instead of being smart enough to recognize the historical context, they instead saw it as racist and bigoted… so they cast another actress who certainly does not fit the traditional mold of the character she is playing. All of this is happening inside context — fans aren’t just reacting to The Little Mermaid, they’re reacting to a societal shift being promulgated by Hollywood elites onto all the rest of us. It is Hollywood and their corporations that are too lazy to dive into the fairytales and myths of African, Asian, Latino, and other backgrounds. That would be too hard! It’s far easier to just take European myths and retrofit them with an American minority. Except that this always goes in only one direction.
So when you see the backlash against The Little Mermaid, don’t blame fans. That’s what the mega corporations want you do do. That’s what their corporate narrative spinsters in the press and access media want you to do. It’s definitely what social media wants you to do — that way you’ll be passionate, enraged, and posting on their platforms non-stop.
Instead, consider that this is all a trick to get you angry at people that you would like otherwise. Don’t fall for it. Instead, stop clicking on their crap, stop hate watching their train wrecks, and instead go find someone different than you to treat very kindly. You’ll feel a hundred times better and you just might make a friend.
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