As the news of a Black princess spread through the nation, we saw a mixture of emotions and opinions surface. Last year rumors broke that singer and actress Halle Bailey‘s Little Mermaid role was secured. The talented beauty won the role on the first audition, which is no surprise if you know the power behind Halle and her sister Chloe Bailey. As production took place, with pictures of a red-haired Halle floating online, negativity surfaced like never before.
The Consistent White Depiction
Hollywood is historically known for white washing depictions within media. Constantly casting Caucasian faces in well known Black roles or simply leaving the Black culture out altogether. A prominent example of this is the classic film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor with a 90 percent white cast. Even though Cleopatra has a setting in Egypt, no Black or brown faces were featured in the film.
As if being forgotten wasn’t bad enough, Black roles are limited. A 1-2 scene deal or a tiny speaking part has become a norm for the Black and brown community. Animal roles like crows in the film Dumbo, specifically target Black stereotypes. The lead bird was even named Jim Crow, directly referencing the historic segregation laws of the south.
Black face is another common issue we see within Hollywood productions. The 1986 film Soul Man starring C. Thomas Howell, reminded the world just how comfortable portraying the Black culture felt to the majority. The basis of the movie involves a white student pretending to be Black to qualify for a scholarship. The movie ended up being a blockbuster success.
The black face didn’t start or stop with this film, as more releases with the same premise hit screens everywhere. Robert Downy Jr, rocked a Black face in the movie Tropic Thunder, aside Black actor Brandon T. Jackson. Although the film was a major flop, it brings up the pattern of Black face and why Hollywood feels it’s so necessary to do. Despite negative backlash from viewers everywhere, Hollywood continues leaving out a very large contribution to most if not all of media.
2009, Tiana: The First Black Disney Princess
In 1937 the first Disney princess Snow White was born, starting a trend of white-only princesses. For nearly 80 years no Black princess existed until the 2009 release of The Princess and The Frog. The character Tiana voiced by actress Anika Noni Rose (For Colored Girls, Dream Girls), helped bring the first Black princess to life. With a story rooted in New Orleans and hoodoo culture, it was a first major attempt at expanding the horizons.
Before Tiana’s story graced our screens, Disney rebooted another princess through the multi-cultural lens. In 1997 Brandy Norwood took on the role of Cinderella in the Rodgers & Hammersteins’ Cinderella remake. The iconic movie has a star studded cast, including Whitney Houston and Whoopi Goldberg which shed light on the importance of Black representation. It also further glorified the importance of all cultures being embraced in fairy tales. Contrary to the success of this film, we are faced with negativity as another Black remake is born.
Little Mermaid: Halle Bailey Gives Her New Meaning
Halle Bailey has faced ridicule and borderline harassment while taking on the role of Ariel. What was initially a moment of happiness, support and admiration began to turn into boycotting. Viewers everywhere witnessed the trailer of the new film, as Halle re-enacted the famous intro.
Within a week of the trailer’s release, the video gained over 3 million dislikes, in addition to nasty comments via YouTube. The Internet became swarmed with hate memes, with racial phrases aimed at the star. Nonetheless, the Black community voiced their support and why representation continues to be an issue. To combat the outrageous behavior, Disney deleted all negative comments from their YouTube page. Below are few of the outrages memes created online.
Although images like these remain in circulation, there is still an entire generation of brown skinned girls who are inspired. Reaction videos of little girls watching the trailer started an emotional trend of gratitude and imagination. Bailey recently did a Q&A on her YouTube channel giving her thoughts on the criticism behind the movie. She stated how “grateful I am for the opportunity, Ariel became apart of me “.
During the Q&A she spoke on how emotional seeing the reaction videos made her. She saw as many as possibly, crying with each reaching. Bailey continued to share how she would’ve loved to see more Black princesses as a child. In addition to touching on the film, she went into detail about being away from family and new music expected to drop.
Halle Bailey is Black Royalty
The Little Mermaid is set to release in theaters in May 2023. Calendars are marked everywhere setting a reminder to not only support but celebrate this moment. The film also stars Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric. Following the classic tale, we see the story retold with Halle as our Ariel breathing new life into the character. Halle who has an extensive acting career starting at the age of 3, is a natural performer.
Her acting credits include Disney’s Let It Shine, Joyful Noise and the ABC sitcom Grownish, earning a nomination at the NAACP Awards. Although Halle’s resume speaks for itself, we must acknowledge how overly deserving the world is of another Black princess. In a time where representation continues to be a battle we must glorify the moments when it matters the most.
Halle Bailey’s Little Mermaid role must be celebrated.
