The Little Mermaid: Why Is This Backlash Even A Thing?

Everyone and their brother has been chiming in on the controversy that is The Little Mermaid. Between the racist remarks, the purists that want factual depictions, and everyone else jumping on the bandwagon to let their opinion be known, it’s got plenty of coverage. It may be doomed before it even debuts, but don’t let a few sour grapes spoil your wine.

First, let’s get the race thing out of the way. Sorry “Go Woke, Go Broke” crowd, I am not on your side. Let’s be honest here, the whole reason you’re mad is you think inclusion means exclusion. You’re not mad there’s a person of color playing The Little Mermaid. You’re trying to force-feed us the hypocrisy of casting a black mermaid into a previous white role as the same as being mad when a diverse role goes to a white actor. You can stand on that high horse all you want. Die on that hill if you must, but the thing about the fantasy world is they’re not depicting real people as a separate race. They’re showing fantasy characters, in a fantasy world, different from what you’re used to.

That’s the thing about fantasy, it’s made up. The whole point is imagination and while they have real-life lessons and morals sprinkled throughout these movies and shows, it’s still made up. Your fantasy world might be different from someone else’s. Your stories might differ from someone else’s telling. This isn’t a matter of diversity inclusion that excludes one race or another. It’s a matter of storytelling with different ideas. Are we really made at studios for trying to appeal to a wider audience? Enough is enough with the theatrics.

More Entertainment: Has Disney Abandoned The Magic?

Now from a movie standpoint, creative freedom is much bigger than what the talking points have been. Can we fast forward to a time, if we ever get there, when we have characters on screen who are just great acting combined with great storytelling? From an audience standpoint, the most important thing to me is making a character believable and feeling the rollercoaster of emotion as intended.

I hope we get to the point where we no longer have to portray an actor as a stereotype to include their story. We’re slowly drifting away from the caricature nature that exploits a culture as means of telling a story. True art comes from the ability to connect with people from every walk of life. When you have characters that can leave a lasting impression on the audience, you don’t need the gimmicks of pandering to one group or another.

That’s what The Little Mermaid live-action should bring. If you strip away all the prerelease noise by groups of hateful people, it has the opportunity for a young actress with an amazing voice to connect with a younger audience. The joy on their faces and their connection to this new movie could connect parents to their love for the movie as well.

At the end of the day, most of the people complaining about this movie it wasn’t made for, to begin with. Sit down, shut up, or go complain about something else.