Ten days ago, Disney published its first trailer for the highly anticipated remake of The Little Mermaid. The reimagining of this classic 2D cartoon has angered several fans of the original 80s depiction largely because the main protagonist, Ariel, was drawn as a Caucasian character, but the actress playing the lead role in the live-action version is an African American named Halle Bailey. This is an impression that has ignited several debates online about race, re-introducing classic films, and whether or not it is fair to change the race of a character that people grew up with. As a result, Halle Bailey has been faced with an insurmountable level of backlash since Dinsey released the promotional trailer for The Little Mermaid, which has inadvertently jumpstarted an anti-Halle (and anti-Black) campaign online called #notmyariel.
Numerous anti-Halle videos, memes, and GIFs have emerged on social media, and they've garnered lots of support. The TikTok user who has been identified as Jossi Marcheli Risaputra recently added fuel to the flames when he uploaded a video clip of himself mocking the trailer for the new The Little Mermaid film while he's dressed in 'blackface' make-up, pretending to be a young African American girl who just found out that the new Ariel is Black.
"Mommy, she looks just like me," Risaputra joked before putting on a red wig. "She’s so pretty, mommy!”
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