People Are Mad About Halle Bailey Playing The First Black "Little Mermaid"

Just yesterday, official news came out at the decision to cast Halle Bailey, of the Beyonce-approved Chloe X Halle, in the upcoming live-action remake of Disney's classic "The Little Mermaid." We previously reported that the internet was in a debate over whether the strong consideration to cast Melissa McCarthy as the villainous Ursula, should be replaced with Lizzo, with many arguing she would fit the role perfectly. It seems, however, that the melanin makeover has not been met with praise by many, who are arguing that it's disrespectful to change the way the character looks, and that Disney should stay true to Hans Christian Andersen's original, even going so far as to accuse the animation giant of "tokenism."

With the rise of the #blacklivesmatter movement, as well as the globally growing prominence (and quite frankly, the takeover) of hip-hop culture within society, it's been great to see more representation in the mainstream media. The release of Marvel's first black dominated movie "Black Panther" was met with overwhelming support and much-deserved success, as young black children all over the world were finally able to have superheroes which they could look up to, who looked like them. For many, the decision to cast a black actress as the role of Ariel, was met with joy and excitement, with hundreds of social media users praising the diversity. 

However, some users expressed their strong disapproval over the fact that Ariel's appearance will change in the live-action remake of the movie, slamming Disney for its decision to stray from the original portrayal, which sees Ariel as pale-skinned and blue-eyed, with her iconic fiery red hair. A user by the name of carljtweets wrote: "A black Ariel....nice bit of positive discrimination....let's also make Ursula thin and the Prince gay to tick some more boxes.....world has gone bat s***...shes an iconic character...white with red hair!" With another user saying: "hmm. Could this be classified as blackwashing? Halle is an amazing actress, but the whole Ariel mythology (book, movies, lore) is european based. This looks more like tokenism to me."

Everyone seems to have an opinion, so what's yours? Do you think they made the right decision to cast a black Ariel?