What do you think of Disney casting a black actress for Little Mermaid?

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Yah it is interesting stuff. Many of them are ancient, like Aesops Fables, which being a Catholic site it is worth pointing out the fable The Two Pots is referenced at Sirach 13:2–3
 
Some versions say they were drowned others say they were sold into slavery.
 
Let me elaborate on this.

Spirits of air, like mermaids did not possess an immortal soul but unlike mermaids, were granted the opportunity to gain an immortal soul through good works.
 
Thomasbradley312 said:
Part of me doesn’t really think it matters but another part of me feels like, what if the rolls were reversed and one of the minority Disney Princesses were going to be portrayed by a white actress?
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I think there only 4 minority Disney princesses. One of which was voice by a white woman.
Thomasbradley312 said:
Hans Christian Andersen was from Denmark, I doubt he pictured an African American Mermaid.
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The original stories are usually the inspiration for the Disney story. There is no requirement to stay true to the author’s vision. Have you ever read “The Fox and the Hound”? The book may as well have been titled “Everyone Dies.” While in the Disney version the extent of injury is to a man’s foot. Looking at the original stories I would say it is a good thing Disney does not try to bring the author’s vision to life.

In the little mermaid the character’s ability to speak is taken by cutting out her tongue and her transformation to a land Walker is a lot more graphic. The prince is to be married to another woman but Ariel is trying to change his mind. She doesn’t. At the end of the book she essentially dies by changing to sea foam.

In the jungle book Mowgli gets the help of an elephant to destroy a village for ejecting him. The village killed the family that was open to receive him.

There are a number of other stories with different endings, usually graphic in my opinion. I think it better to not try to follow the real story.
 
Personally, I find Moana to be one of the best Disney movies and because I have a daughter it makes me a bit emotional. Whenever my daughter wants me to change the channel because she doesn’t want to watch what I’m watching, she says, “Daddy, want to watch Moana?”
 
If casting a black actress changes things up enough to give the movie a reason for existing beyond being just a cash grab, then I’d consider that to be a good thing.
 
Also, in the older editions of Grimm’s, it’s not unusual to have a Jew qua Jew as the default villain, just as any step-mother that pops up in the story will be there to torment the main characters.
 
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The sad part is that even today, children sometimes suffer at the hands of step-parents who favor their own bio-offspring. I seem to recall there are some nice adoptive parents in the fairy tales here and there.
 
Thomasbradley312 said:
Hans Christian Andersen was from Denmark, I doubt he pictured an African American Mermaid.
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I don’t care much about Ariel’s skin color. How about we focus on the real injustice that happened in the 1989 version… Flounder Not being a Flounder! He was not even a related species of flat fish. Outrageous!!!
 
If they were going for diversity, it should have been a Black, transgender female from Brazil, who illegally slipped across the border and got the role because she’s had an abortion.
 
Thomasbradley312 said:
I was just curious what people thought regarding Disney casting a black actress to play Ariel in the upcoming live action Little Mermaid film?
I have mixed feelings. Part of me doesn’t really think it matters but another part of me feels like, what if the rolls were reversed and one of the minority Disney Princesses were going to be portrayed by a white actress?
Hans Christian Andersen was from Denmark, I doubt he pictured an African American Mermaid.
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Don’t care. It’s a kids story, and I’m not aware of any skin color limited on mermaids.
 
Well, Marlin isn’t a marlin either.

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When I first saw the article, I, like many other people, thought Disney had cast Halle Berry as Ariel. My thought was not “why are they casting a black actress as Ariel?”, but “why are they casting a 52 year old actress to play an obviously teenaged Ariel?”. Now that I realize it’s young Halle Bailey, I can go back to not caring.
 
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Guinness said:
Now that I realize it’s young Halle Bailey, I can go back to not caring.
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Thanks for clearing that up. I had that same misunderstanding. I need to see my eye doctor soon. I still think that Halle Berry looks good for 52, even with my old glasses.
 
I remember when they cast 5’5" Tom Cruise for “Jack Reacher”, who in the books is described as 6’4" and 250lb. I was skeptical, but I thought Cruise pulled it off pretty well (the 1st movie, the 2nd was kind of meh). Its amazing what a good actor can do with a role.
 
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