The Little Mermaid Controversy Continues

[Gormwood]

Julia Roberts was suggested to play Harriet Tubman by studio exec, says Harriet screenwriter

[Satuga]

Julia Roberts was suggested to play Harriet Tubman by studio exec, says Harriet screenwriter

Umm what? That exec is fucking stupid, Harriet Tubman is famous for being a slave women and helping hundreds through the underground railroad. This is also incredibly stupid, like seriously.

[Cekoviu]

What's wrong with her?

I can't stand her. I don't find her funny and everything about her just irritates me.

Okay, I suppose. I haven't seen any of her stuff except for her guest sketches on SNL, so I couldn't say whether I agree or not.

[Elwher]

Julia Roberts was suggested to play Harriet Tubman by studio exec, says Harriet screenwriter

Umm what? That exec is fucking stupid, Harriet Tubman is famous for being a slave women and helping hundreds through the underground railroad. This is also incredibly stupid, like seriously.

So, having a Black historical character played by a White actress is stupid, but having White historical characters played by Blacks is edgy and wonderful? How does that work again?

[Ifreann]

Umm what? That exec is fucking stupid, Harriet Tubman is famous for being a slave women and helping hundreds through the underground railroad. This is also incredibly stupid, like seriously.

So, having a Black historical character played by a White actress is stupid, but having White historical characters played by Blacks is edgy and wonderful? How does that work again?

Uh, Ariel the mermaid isn't a historical character.

[Elwher]

So, having a Black historical character played by a White actress is stupid, but having White historical characters played by Blacks is edgy and wonderful? How does that work again?

Uh, Ariel the mermaid isn't a historical character.

No, but Harriet Tubman is, and that is who the poster was talking about.

[The Rich Port]

So, having a Black historical character played by a White actress is stupid, but having White historical characters played by Blacks is edgy and wonderful? How does that work again?

Uh, Ariel the mermaid isn't a historical character.

Nah dude com on, from the historical Atlantis?

Disney is an evil corporation, anything that sticks in their craw is good enough for me.

Them being whitewashing weirdos is the least of the concerns with their company.

[Salandriagado]

Uh, Ariel the mermaid isn't a historical character.

No, but Harriet Tubman is, and that is who the poster was talking about.

Really? So Harriet Tubman is the "White historical characters" that you were talking about?

[Salandriagado]

We're missing the real problem with the whole Little Mermaid thing, anyway: if she's living in the Baltic, how the hell does she not freeze to death without a massive layer of blubber?

[Satuga]

Umm what? That exec is fucking stupid, Harriet Tubman is famous for being a slave women and helping hundreds through the underground railroad. This is also incredibly stupid, like seriously.

So, having a Black historical character played by a White actress is stupid, but having White historical characters played by Blacks is edgy and wonderful? How does that work again?

Dude wtf are you talking about? First of the story of Ariel is exactly that a story, not a fucking historical event, and second I never said having blacks play an actual historically white character is edgy or wonderful, have you even looked at my previous posts?

[Satuga]

We're missing the real problem with the whole Little Mermaid thing, anyway: if she's living in the Baltic, how the hell does she not freeze to death without a massive layer of blubber?

MEGIC

[Autumn Wind]

No, but Harriet Tubman is, and that is who the poster was talking about.

Really? So Harriet Tubman is the "White historical characters" that you were talking about?

No, but George Washington was

[insert picture of Hamilton cast here]

[Rojava Free State]

Really? So Harriet Tubman is the "White historical characters" that you were talking about?

No, but George Washington was

[insert picture of Hamilton cast here]

Can we please portray history right? I remember when i saw 300 and the Greeks looked like a bunch of nordics and the Persians were black, and I was like "OKAY THOSE AREN'T GREEKS AND THOSE AREN'T PERSIANS AND DIDN'T THE PERSIANS AND GREEKS PRETYY MUCH LOOK THE SAME!?" Harriet tubmen was black. George Washington was white. Genghis Khan was asian. Attila the hun was...okay we don't know what he looked like

[The Rich Port]

We're missing the real problem with the whole Little Mermaid thing, anyway: if she's living in the Baltic, how the hell does she not freeze to death without a massive layer of blubber?

Clearly, she is a superior Muslim Bosnian and not a dirty inferior race like a Christian Ottoman.

... Oh dammit I confused the Balkans with the Baltics again.

[Elwher]

So, having a Black historical character played by a White actress is stupid, but having White historical characters played by Blacks is edgy and wonderful? How does that work again?

Dude wtf are you talking about? First of the story of Ariel is exactly that a story, not a fucking historical event, and second I never said having blacks play an actual historically white character is edgy or wonderful, have you even looked at my previous posts?

Have you see anything about "Hamilton"?

If Aaron Burr, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette can be played by Blacks, then why shouldn't Harriet Tubman be played by a White?

[Kowani]

Dude wtf are you talking about? First of the story of Ariel is exactly that a story, not a fucking historical event, and second I never said having blacks play an actual historically white character is edgy or wonderful, have you even looked at my previous posts?

Have you see anything about "Hamilton"?

If Aaron Burr, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette can be played by Blacks, then why shouldn't Harriet Tubman be played by a White?

I’m not quite sure how the basic idea of social context got lost here.

[Deacarsia]

No, but George Washington was

[insert picture of Hamilton cast here]

Can we please portray history right? I remember when i saw 300 and the Greeks looked like a bunch of nordics and the Persians were black, and I was like "OKAY THOSE AREN'T GREEKS AND THOSE AREN'T PERSIANS AND DIDN'T THE PERSIANS AND GREEKS PRETYY MUCH LOOK THE SAME!?" Harriet tubmen was black. George Washington was white. Genghis Khan was asian. Attila the hun was...okay we don't know what he looked like

I agree, and extend it to fictional characters with a given ethnicity. I do not understand the need to shuffle stuff around for no reason.

[Deacarsia]

Dude wtf are you talking about? First of the story of Ariel is exactly that a story, not a fucking historical event, and second I never said having blacks play an actual historically white character is edgy or wonderful, have you even looked at my previous posts?

Have you see anything about "Hamilton"?

If Aaron Burr, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette can be played by Blacks, then why shouldn't Harriet Tubman be played by a White?

Good point.

[Cannot think of a name]

No, but George Washington was

[insert picture of Hamilton cast here]

Can we please portray history right? I remember when i saw 300 and the Greeks looked like a bunch of nordics and the Persians were black, and I was like "OKAY THOSE AREN'T GREEKS AND THOSE AREN'T PERSIANS AND DIDN'T THE PERSIANS AND GREEKS PRETYY MUCH LOOK THE SAME!?"

Wow...wait until you get to the giant guy with knife hands and the megarhino.

[Cannot think of a name]

Dude wtf are you talking about? First of the story of Ariel is exactly that a story, not a fucking historical event, and second I never said having blacks play an actual historically white character is edgy or wonderful, have you even looked at my previous posts?

Have you see anything about "Hamilton"?

If Aaron Burr, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette can be played by Blacks, then why shouldn't Harriet Tubman be played by a White?

What are you saying when you do it? Hamilton makes race not a factor in casting because the entire thesis of the musical is to recontextualize a story at the core of American mythology and relate it to a modern landscape, the idea of an immigrant like Hamilton finding a place in his adopted home and coming together with differing people of differing backgrounds and creating a new identity with all of its pitfalls and triumphs. So much like Hamilton's hip hop musical roots and other anachronisms baked into the production, the colorblind casting contributes to that underlying intent of the play. You can agree or not whether that worked for you or you liked it, but regardless, it was part of a statement.

You can also be as dismissive as you want about Disney's motivations, but when they cast a black actor as Ariel or make other changes to bring stories from their past they're saying something even if in the end it's financially motivated. They are making an effort to create a more diverse palate in their movies that reflects the wide nature of their audience. Again you can agree or not agree if they accomplished that or not. There are a wide variety of opinions on the subject.

So what are you saying when you cast a white actor to play Harriet Tubman? Given the context of blackface and erasure of minorities even in their own history, what are you saying when you take one of the most enduring and defiant heroes of the black experience in America and you cast a former 'America's sweetheart' white actor? How do you plan to deal with that kind of baggage? Because people are kind of getting the mistaken impression that there is some cabal somewhere stopping people from doing things, but there isn't. No council disapproves your applications for appropriation or representation. You have to sell your idea and if you don't...well. All the politicking didn't matter. You can have a woman play Bob Dylan. If no one understands why, then it's just a weird thing you did.

[SD_Film Artists]

We're missing the real problem with the whole Little Mermaid thing, anyway: if she's living in the Baltic, how the hell does she not freeze to death without a massive layer of blubber?

She's Russian, evidently.

[SD_Film Artists]

Not this crap again. The Little Mermaid was written by Hans Christian Anderson. Hans Christian Anderson was Scandinavian. Scandinavians are white. Mermaids come from Greek/Roman mythology. Greeks and Romans are whitish. Therefore, TLM should be white OR whitish END OF STUPID MORONIC DISCUSSION.

But that makes no sense. The ethnicity of characters in fiction doesn't have to be based on the most common ethnicity where the author lived, nor does it have to be based on the most common ethnicity where some featured legend originated.

It doesn't *have to* be but it often makes sense to do so. Otherwise you get things like Dr Who where they keep bumping into the 5 black people who live in Victorian London; and that was before they hired incompetent writers with little or no sci-fi experience.

[Espenia]

Are we really fretting about this? It's a movie about a mermaid, talking crabs and singing seagulls lol I like everyone else in the world, does not care, that a young woman, who happens to be of African heritage is playing a mermaid...

It's a movie.

A fairytale.

Just get over it.

We're all grown here and not angry, little toddlers.

[SD_Film Artists]

Are we really fretting about this? It's a movie about a mermaid, talking crabs and singing seagulls lol I like everyone else in the world, does not care, that a young women, who happens to be of African heritage is playing a mermaid...

It's a movie.

A fairytale.

Just get over it.

We're all grown here and not angry, little toddlers.

The new twist is that a white guy is playing as the boyfriend *gasp!*

[Satuga]

Dude wtf are you talking about? First of the story of Ariel is exactly that a story, not a fucking historical event, and second I never said having blacks play an actual historically white character is edgy or wonderful, have you even looked at my previous posts?

Have you see anything about "Hamilton"?

If Aaron Burr, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette can be played by Blacks, then why shouldn't Harriet Tubman be played by a White?

No I actually haven't and having the founding fathers be played by any other race than a white person is incredibly disingenuous and stupid, it's a historical event and the people in that historical event looked a certain way and we know how they looked. So what was your point in trying to point out a hypocrisy that had nothing to do with me in the first place?