Why did Disney go with the little clip they used for the official teaser trailer? This new leaked footage from the same song is far superior.
Before jumping into the meat of this article, let me just remind you all that this is a giant waste of anger. This whole thing is manufactured strictly to make people mad at each other. How do I know? Auli’i Cravalho is not white and she literally just played Ariel for Disney on ABC. Nobody cared. But all of a sudden, American society has to wage war against each other over this issue… meanwhile, the real culprit (Disney) and their mishandling of all of this gets to sneak off into the background.
Yuck.
This whole deal with The Little Mermaid and Disney’s remake is just unpleasant. As predicted, the movie’s prerelease has turned into mudslinging from both sides: one side saying the race-swap is a cynical ploy that offends European fairy tale authenticity, the other side says disliking the idea is racist. So that’s led to all sorts of low-resolution hatred going back and forth. I’m not saying that either side is wrong or right… I’m simply saying that the worst of us from both sides are leading a discussion better handled by cooler heads and more thoughtful conversations.
So how are things going?
One account on Twitter used deep fake technology to race-swap the teaser back to a red-headed, light-skinned mermaid. It was deleted and the two accounts that originated the video were banned.
They actually suspended BOTH accounts that posted the AI "fixed" version of that little mermaid trailer. I was told that mermaids are not real so race doesn't matter?
Does anyone have a copy of that video for "research" purposes?
— TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) September 13, 2022
Meanwhile, celebrities are weighing in with the sort of deep, pithy commentary you would expect…
People are mad that The Little Mermaid is Black? The lady who is also a fish? Who lives under the sea? Whose best friend is a talking crab?
— Lynda Carter (@RealLyndaCarter) September 13, 2022
I can’t believe there are people upset about the color of a mermaid’s skin. 😂
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 10, 2022
And of course the political thinkers are dropping by with their hot takes:
The rule we are supposed to accept: “Having a white actor play Black Panther is horribly racist but it’s also horribly racist to complain about a black actor playing the Little Mermaid.” This is absolutely indefensible and hypocritical, and we all know it.
— The Honorable Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 12, 2022
All respect given to the posters included in this article — I’m featuring them from both sides because I refuse to feature the morons who are just being mean and hateful.
Meanwhile, I’m looking at this leaked clip that features far more of the song “Part of Your World,” and I’m just amazed at how badly Disney bungled all of this. Though it still doesn’t look like it is underwater, at least here we get a better feel for the vocals and they’re pretty darn good. If this had been released from the get-go, it’s unlikely we’d be where we are. And where we are is an artificially created racial issue given to us by a global corporation that needs an out in case this thing is bad.
Take a look at the leaked material and let me know if you’re thinking the same thing.
All of this is ugly and contentious, so be polite in the comments. But I am very interested in hearing your thoughts. Did The Little Mermaid get roasted for two-million downvotes because of Disney’s incompetence with the trailer? Or is this more than gaslighting and we’re all angry about racial issues again? Finally, do you think race-swapping is only okay in one direction, or do you believe “black characters” can be switched to “white characters” without any sort of backlash?
Who knows, maybe a “white” Miles Morales is on the horizon?
Whatever you think, keep in civil in the comments. And, as always, keep reading That Park Place for all the latest news that should be fun!
