Halle Bailey: Black actress receives racist review for starring in ‘The Little Mermaid’
Human Rights Reporters
2 min read
The California-based Halle Bailey has been a subject of online racist reviews for starring in Disney’s live-action movie, ‘The Little Mermaid’, a remake of the 1989 Little Mermaid animation by Hans Christian Anderson.
We are in the 21st century when there has been advancement in knowledge on all fronts globally as well as the fight against human rights violations including racism but racist reviews and comments continue to dominate in several places globally with the developed world being a fertile ground where such racist activities thrive.
Upon the release of the trailer of ‘The Little Mermaid’ with Halle Bailey, 22, the young African-American actress plays the lead role of Ariel, social media was awash with varying reactions as Disney is being heavily criticized for casting the black actress for a lead role in which the main character has been a white skin girl with long red hair, blue-eyed, as expectations of fans are the remake to be a carbon copy of the cartoon film, leaving some disappointed.
It is particularly noted that fans of the production house were enraged by changing the skin tone of Ariel. Halle Bailey has been a victim of racism following the release of this live-action trailer.
The trailer goes on to receive a whooping 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube for casting a black actress for a white character in a fictional movie.
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A feature that has since been disabled by the streaming giant.
Another negative reaction to the movie is the depiction in a flyer, where a black mermaid is rather chained and captioned ‘The Little Slave.’
Nonetheless, The Little Mermaid gained positive reviews as well for acknowledging representation in an ever-evolving world and has been inspirational to many black girls across the world.
The movie is scheduled to be released on the 26th of May 2023, where Halle Bailey will be the most famous mermaid in the world of cinema.
