Skipping over the painful truth that Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" is an absolutely dreadful story typical of the oeuvre of an extremely troubled guy, the absurdities of the current passion for inclusive casting include making Prince Eric the white adopted son of a black queen in some tropical setting where we may imagine his name might be somewhat of an anomaly.
What strikes me as profound cultural racism is such an apparent dearth, in the minds of "creatives" these days, of compelling-enough archetypes drawn from African and African-diaspora folklore that Northern European culture must be, you should excuse the word, cannibalized.
It's like all those black American women wearing Nefertiti pendants. Are there truly no West African cultural signifiers proud descendants of that region's people might choose to identify with?
This is a much, much bigger topic to explore than who plays Ariel, and I'd say it would be more useful to talk about, say, why Jodie Turner-Smith playing Anne Boleyn was ridiculous and not inspiring.
The Little Mermaid and the question of racially-conscious casting
Skipping over the painful truth that Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" is an absolutely dreadful story typical of the oeuvre of an extremely troubled guy, the absurdities of the current passion for inclusive casting include making Prince Eric the white adopted son of a black queen in some tropical setting where we may imagine his name might be somewhat of an anomaly.
What strikes me as profound cultural racism is such an apparent dearth, in the minds of "creatives" these days, of compelling-enough archetypes drawn from African and African-diaspora folklore that Northern European culture must be, you should excuse the word, cannibalized.
It's like all those black American women wearing Nefertiti pendants. Are there truly no West African cultural signifiers proud descendants of that region's people might choose to identify with?
This is a much, much bigger topic to explore than who plays Ariel, and I'd say it would be more useful to talk about, say, why Jodie Turner-Smith playing Anne Boleyn was ridiculous and not inspiring.