The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey is set to release on May 26th, 2023. The teaser trailer for the movie was recently released, but the movie, or rather the actress playing the role of Ariel, has been receiving a ridiculous amount of hate for her role.
Representation has been a very important focus for media of any sort in the current age, and with it, the evolution of what has been happening too should be reviewed and updated to match the times. Be it a feminist angle to Camilla Cabello’s Cinderella or diversifying Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
What the audience has been responding with, they are not to be classified as fans, but rather just people who have been adding fuel to their ignorant behavior towards an actor and their craft.
In the multimedia platforms that can give rise to more inclusivity and diversity, it is only fair for fairy tales of childhood to grow along with this progress as well. After the cast announcement of Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, the actress was thrown with a boatload of negativity and hate.
What at first seemed to be a disagreement with the casting choice soon grew into people being against how her version, the live-action version of Ariel would not be played by a white character. They stated how the casting wasn’t lore accurate. The term ‘lore accuracy’ has become a way for these “fans” to find issues with a person of color being cast in a role that was originally played by a white person.
Halle Bailey herself has been the victim of a lot of racism, however, the actions taken by the audience after the release of the teaser trailer would be beyond any limit of disrespect imaginable for the actress and a person of color in general.
