Old Fish Tale wrote:And yet Eric is supposed to be white too...
I don't think Eric's going to be white. I remember when The Princess and the Frog debuted, the Black community was really upset Disney didn't make Naveen Black. There were accusations of racism flying left and right. I doubt Disney's going to make the same mistake twice.
Remember these? The backlash is going to be even worse this time if the love interest to a Black princess is white.
Old Fish Tale wrote:
It still isn't mentioned in the film he's the son of Poseidon, a god or greek.
I think either Poseidon is mentioned as his father in the TV series or Neptune is mentioned as his grandfather. Either way, those names seem common enough in the undersea world that it's clear they're allusions to these mythological figures and not actually supposed to be them. After all, TLM series introduced a prince named Zeus but clearly he wasn't meant to be the Greek God Zeus.
We’re a dyad in the Force. Two that are one. "I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it." - Kylo Ren "I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." - Rey
Sotiris wrote:
I don't think Eric's going to be white. I remember when The Princess and the Frog debuted, the Black community was really upset Disney didn't make Naveen Black. There were accusations of racism flying left and right. I doubt Disney's going to make the same mistake twice.
Wasn't there a post on here that Disney is looking for Hispanic actors for Eric just like they're only looking at black actresses for Ariel? I think Eric will likely be of Hispanic origin although that doesn't account for Harry Styles being considered for the role (which I really hope is just a false rumor). I'd like Eric to be either black or Hispanic to go with the Caribbean setting.
We’re a dyad in the Force. Two that are one. "I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it." - Kylo Ren "I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." - Rey
Tiana's trending on Twitter because of all the people comparing the situation to a white actress getting cast as Tiana in a hypothetical live-action remake.
Wow, that's actually quite a considerable number of people who are upset then if she is trending.
I have to say though that I've read some hilarious posts and comments all over the Internet such as Snow White being changed to Chocolate Brown or Mary Poppins being recast as Mammy Poppins. One person stated that everyone is turning black in the live-action remakes, citing the Captain in Cinderella, the Wardrobe and Featherduster in BATB, Genie in Aladdin, Ariel in TLM, and ironically enough, Scar in TLK. This was prompted by a response that Disney hates white people because the only film without a black person is Mulan since Mushu has been cut out.
We’re a dyad in the Force. Two that are one. "I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it." - Kylo Ren "I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." - Rey
JeanGreyForever wrote:Wow, that's actually quite a considerable number of people who are upset then if she is trending.
I have to say though that I've read some hilarious posts and comments all over the Internet such as Snow White being changed to Chocolate Brown or Mary Poppins being recast as Mammy Poppins. One person stated that everyone is turning black in the live-action remakes, citing the Captain in Cinderella, the Wardrobe and Featherduster in BATB, Genie in Aladdin, Ariel in TLM, and ironically enough, Scar in TLK. This was prompted by a response that Disney hates white people because the only film without a black person is Mulan since Mushu has been cut out.
That is true! hahaha I hope Mulan gets played by Zandaya or Miley Cyrus.
JeanGreyForever wrote:Wasn't there a post on here that Disney is looking for Hispanic actors for Eric just like they're only looking at black actresses for Ariel? I think Eric will likely be of Hispanic origin although that doesn't account for Harry Styles being considered for the role (which I really hope is just a false rumor).
No, I don't believe there was. The original DisInsider report said they were looking at actors of color for Triton, Ariel, and Eric. No other specifics were given. As for the Harry Styles rumor, that was started by Harry Styles fan accounts on Twitter and Instagram. His fans do that all the time. They're constantly spreading rumors of him being cast in various roles.
Our source close to the production has informed us that Disney is looking at people of color for various roles including Ariel, Eric, and Triton.
Sotiris wrote:
No, I don't believe there was. The original DisInsider report said they were looking at actors of color for Triton, Ariel, and Eric. No other specifics were given. As for the Harry Styles rumor, that was started by Harry Styles fan accounts on Twitter and Instagram. His fans do that all the time. They're constantly spreading rumors of him being cast in various roles.
Thank goodness that's a false rumor then. I thought Ariana Grande being cast as a lead in one of these films was the worst possible scenario until I heard about Harry Styles being considered. Ariel and Triton make sense now that we know that they were only considering black actresses for Ariel, which would likewise make Triton black as well (lots of people are thinking that Idris Elba will be cast now).
As for Eric, I think it's safe to say that he'll likely be black or Hispanic now. Asian would have been nice too but that's unlikely going by the Caribbean setting.
We’re a dyad in the Force. Two that are one. "I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it." - Kylo Ren "I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." - Rey
I said that I read that "Disney had no other choice" regarding the casting since the movie takes place in the Caribbean. I´m Puerto Rican and I´m white. There are many people in the Caribbean that are white or have fair skin: Marc Anthony, Benicio del Toro, Raúl Julia... I´m so tired of people thinking Caribbean (or Latin America for that matter) and just believing people here are black or mixed.
DC Fan wrote:I made a reply and can´t find it anywhere.
I said that I read that "Disney had no other choice" regarding the casting since the movie takes place in the Caribbean. I´m Puerto Rican and I´m white. There are many people in the Caribbean that are white or have fair skin: Marc Anthony, Benicio del Toro, Raúl Julia... I´m so tired of people thinking Caribbean (or Latin America for that matter) and just believing people here are black or mixed.
Wouldn't those names you listed count as Hispanic though? That would still work in portraying Eric as a POC with Hispanic heritage. I still think that's most likely what Eric will be in this film, although being black may not be out of the question either.
We’re a dyad in the Force. Two that are one. "I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it." - Kylo Ren "I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." - Rey
DC Fan wrote:I said that I read that "Disney had no other choice" regarding the casting since the movie takes place in the Caribbean.
It has not been confirmed where the live-action remake takes place. That's speculation entirely. It was only reported that Disney has been searching for shooting locations in Spain, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and the Cayman Islands. That doesn't mean anything in terms of setting.
As for the people I mentioned they're all Puerto Ricans.
What I wanted to say is that they could have chosen a white Caribbean actress for Ariel and if they still wanted to diversify they could have done so with the other characters.
Kyle wrote:eh, I'm not a fan of this. I dont think its racist to prefer that adaptations look somewhat like the source material.
I mean, are you or have you ever complained about Ariel being called Ariel and getting together with the Price (who shouldn't be called Eric) instead of dancing like no human ever could while her feet bleed and she feels like a thousands of knifes are cutting her legs but even with all that sacrifice he marries another woman and the little mermaid is gonna die then she considers killing him to get back to the ocean but decides against it and then turns into sea foam? Because all of these are described in the source material, while "she is white" is not.
I'm somewhat conflicted. From the re-imagining point, this is how you actually add something new and different to an old story and I welcome the casting. Halle Bailey seems to be talented and is very beautiful. Plus, it's a huge thing for diversity and representation, and if people can't see that then they should check their privilege. There's a story going around Twitter about this little black girl whose favorite princess is Ariel and who had other kids tell her she can only be Tiana when playing dress-up. That is heartbreaking.
On the other hand, I still like my fairy tales to retain some sense of logic (i.e. like Disney's Divinity said, merpeople living in the depths of the ocean would not be anything but pale and white) and historical accuracy. I don't like forced diversity which often comes off as tokenism, and this is especially true of Disney's recent fairy tales where they seem to include (token) people of color in settings and roles where they would not be present historically. However, if the story is actually set in the Caribbean, that would be amazing and the casting would make perfect sense. Then again, it is a story about magical beings, and, as Old Fish Tale said, The Little Mermaid story is not firmly tied to any geographical region (unlike Mulan, Moana, Frozen/Snow Queen), so any realism goes out of the window anyway.