People are freaking out at the actress Disney has cast as Ariel in the upcoming live action production of the Little Mermaid. They do not seem to like the fact that Halle Bailey (not to be confused with Halle BERRY) has been picked for the lead. Ms. Bailey is black and in the minds of many, Ariel is a white, ginger mermaid.
I was surprised at the choice myself, but unlike Disney’s other princess tales, this one takes place in a world under the sea (let’s all sing now!!!). There are no boundaries under the sea (okay, war exists and there is evil (Ursula, anyone?)), but this is ONE princess movie where colour-blind casting SHOULDN’T matter. Yes, the Little Mermaid has Danish roots, but UNLIKE, say, Cinderella (which, by the way, has versions in MANY countries. It’s just that the Disney version is mostly inspired by Charles Perrault, who was French) or Mulan, “proper representation” by ethnicity shouldn’t matter. I don’t think borders exist under the sea in our sense (even though there is evil). And why the outrage now? If one was all for “traditional casting,” then why weren’t people upset at Brandy’s Cinderella (Rodgers and Hammerstein version)? Or did we just NOT hear that much because it was the 1990s and social media didn’t exist?
In addition, colour-blind, Hamilton-style casting seems to be a “thing” these days (note: Lin-Manuel Miranda is involved with the Little Mermaid). For example, I saw My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center last year. While at the time, Eliza was played by a white actress, Freddy Eynsford-Hill was black. The “replacement” actor is also black. The Freddy character is a privileged, upper-middle to upper class young man, coming from a background where he’d unlikely be black 100 years ago (not that it wasn’t possible, but just much less likely than in 2019. Or even 1989). And I’ve seen many productions of other musicals (including Les Miserables and Beauty and the Beast) which had multicultural casts. The only time I heard ANY sort of controversy was when Margaret Ann Gates took over the role of Ellen in Miss Saigon. Ms. Gates is of Korean descent and people wondered why SHE was playing the “American wife.” Ummm, because Asians can ALSO be American?
Of course, stage is very different from screen. Perhaps casting multiethnic casting for Broadway is more acceptable BECAUSE it feels less realistic. It isn’t as important, for example, that Sandy is white in Grease! (does she even HAVE to be blonde?) or that even the entire cast of Fiddler on the Roof be Ashkenazi Jews (it seems to be one of the only culturally-specific musicals/plays where it DOES NOT matter. Probably because the theme is so universal). I have even heard of one or two productions of The Sound of Music with multi-ethnic von Trapp kids. There ARE some plays/musicals where it IS important, such as The Color Purple or Flower Drum Song.
In any case, people really need to get over it. Ms. Bailey is Ariel, end of story. The only important thing is this: She needs to sing as well as Jodi Benson. Oh, and they better keep her ginger.
Image by: By Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
