“Internet racist” are outraged by Disney’s decision to cast a black woman as Ariel in the 2023 movie, The Little Mermaid.
Singer and actress, Halle Bailey, has been cast to play Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid which is set to release in May next year.
Some fans of the Disney animation are arguing that the projects’ increased diversity has weakened their faithfulness to the original story.
Disney’s animated Little Mermaid is rejecting the new live-action version for swapping out the titular mermaid’s famous blue eyes and red hair for the features of Black actress Halle Bailey.
Little Mermaid, featuring Bailey singing “Part of Your World.” Thousands of YouTube users brigaded, leaving more than 2 million dislikes and countless derogatory comments on the trailer, and creating memes ridiculing the film for casting Bailey and mocking all of its supporters.
On an episode of the Daily Show, Trevor Noah expressed his dismay at the criticism the film has received, prior to its release.
‘Once again, a bunch of internet racists are upset that a fictional character is being played by a black person,’ Noah continued. ‘And honestly, I don’t know what the big deal is. You guys realize that Nemo was black, too, right? The whole movie was about a fish that can’t find his dad. I can say that ’cause my dad left, and he’s white, who’s racist now?’
Trevor then quipped that the Little Mermaid is black because everyone whose first name is “Lil” is black: Lil Wayne, Lil Nas X, Lil Kim, etc. ‘If you heard there’s a woman named Lil Mermaid, you’d just assume she’s on a track with Cardi B,’ he added.
‘Stop being ridiculous. It’s imaginary,’ Trevor added. ‘I hope this scandal doesn’t overshadow the rest of the movie. The Little Mermaid is a beautiful story about a young woman changing her core identity to please a man. Let’s not forget about that, people.’
Once again, a bunch of internet racists are upset that a fictional character is being played by a Black person. pic.twitter.com/WY09MVyApP
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 16, 2022
