The Little Mermaid | Why are We Even Talking about Race?

Disney charged film director Rob Marshall to re-imagine the classic story, The Little Mermaid. The story follows Ariel, a beautiful and ever-curious mermaid who longs to join society on land, even though mermaid-human interaction is forbidden. Upset with her father, who’s also the mermaid king, Ariel makes a deal with Ursula, her sea-witch aunt, for a pair of legs and the adventure of a lifetime. Off she goes, falling in love with Prince Eric along the way. But, what she doesn’t realize is the price she has to pay when her life and her father’s kingdom are put in danger.

Since its theatrical release in May, some have called the new live-action remake “the best adaptation of the Disney classics”, while others have deemed it a “box office flop”. And, sadly, some have also linked the film to “identity politics”.

This beloved children’s film about mermaids has been subject to anti-Black rhetoric.

The new Ariel (played by Halle Bailey, a Black actor with blonde dreads) does not quite resemble the classic Ariel (an animated white mermaid with red hair). So, for some viewers, this casting choice is another way for Disney to galvanize audiences around identity yet again. A bit extreme, to say the least.

Screen Rant states: “This is a role that has been white since Disney first made the movie and has remained so through the various sequels, prequels, stage adaptations, and theme park tie-ins made by the company.”

Okay, so some people have gotten used to seeing Ariel in that light. But that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.

 “For so many years, we have seen the depiction of princesses and queens [to] look a certain way,” says LATV’s Blacktinidad producer Eliana Reyes, “and so this was a great opportunity to show you what it could look like as something different, which opens the door for little Black girls, little Brown girls, to see themselves in the role of a princess.”

Sometimes, production teams must consider race while casting. Films like The Help, The Secret Life of Bees, King Richard, Beauty Shop, and Dreamgirls are stories contingent on race. The casting pool will be entirely Black for many of the characters written in these scripts. On the other hand, a bio-pic about England’s Elizabeth II, or a memoir about an Ashkenazi family in Nazi Germany, will likely seek white-passing actors to convey historical accuracy.

The Little Mermaid is not a story contingent on any race in particular. It’s not grounded in a historic time period that requires attention to race. It’s not located in a part of the world where society is racialized. And at no point in the script is there any race-specific dialogue or circumstance. Ariel is a make-believe character in a make-believe world. So, essentially, any racial criticism of this film is improperly placed and unabashedly racist.

“She could be purple. She could be teal. Because they’re mermaids, and we don’t even know what mermaids look like in real life,” Reyes goes on to say. “Those people pushing back: that stems from anti-Blackness that has been deeply rooted in them.”

Whether or not the casting team intentionally sought after a Black actor, the role of Ariel (and every character, really) could have been played by anyone, any shade. They felt Halle Bailey was best for the role, and she breathed new life into an age-old tale, regardless of race.

This film made the choice to advance representation on screen, and it was the perfect opportunity to do it, because the story has nothing to do with race. It’s a story about love and overcoming obstacles that stand in the way — and that is wildly relatable.

Besides, if make-believe can make us believe in these magical worlds, why not imagine a more inclusive world?