The remake of the Disney classic “The Little Mermaid” starring Halle Bailey (22) will be released in cinemas in May 2023. The recently published trailer already delights young viewers. Parents are currently sharing the videos with their kids’ reactions to Tiktok. “She’s black,” they say enthusiastically, and for understandable reasons. Heroes in fairy tales and children’s films are rarely portrayed as they look.
The videos with the astonished faces are currently going viral. “She looks like me” and “Wow, look, she has tan skin.”
When it was announced in 2019 that the role of Arielle would be played by a black woman, some very negative comments followed on social media. After all, Ariel was invented by Hans Christian Andersen. She is Danish like him and can only be pale and red-haired.
Director Rob Marshall spoke out after the burgeoning criticism of his choice of Ariel in US magazine «Variety». For the “iconic role” it took someone who “brings heart, youth and innocence and has a great singing voice”. The fact that Bailey is black wouldn’t matter.