Moviegoers of color laud casting of lead Black actor in 'The Little Mermaid'

Oct 02, 2023

The Herald Bulletin

This image shows Halle Bailey as Ariel and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric in "The Little Mermaid."

MUNCIE — Representation matters, and for moviegoers of color, Halle Bailey provided that with her performance as the lead actor in Disney's "The Little Mermaid."

"When I was younger, there were ... very limited Black and brown lead actors or lead movies being depicted on the big screen," said Dorica Watson, co-chair for Juneteenth Muncie.

"(In third grade) I told one of my classmates that I wanted to be Wonder Woman for Halloween and he said, ‘You can't be Wonder Woman, ‘cause Wonder Woman's not Black.’ I didn't realize how my ability to dream had been stagnated."

Watson wants to remove such barriers for other children. She and others took a group of children to see "The Little Mermaid" on Tuesday afternoon at AMC Muncie 12.

Their outing was part of a five-phase initiative to help children become the best versions of themselves — the Juneteenth Muncie Representation Matters Initiative.

Other moviegoers echoed Watson's sentiments.

Jaleigh Moore, a student at Muncie Central High School, said representation shows people of color that they can lead the way and can set trends.

Before "The Little Mermaid," people of color had little representation in Disney films, Moore said.

Rose Landis, another moviegoer, said use of a Black actor to play the lead role in "The Little Mermaid" was part of the excellent representation of different races in the film.

Black children and others have expressed appreciation via TikTok and other platforms about Ariel being played by a Black actor.

"I wasn't anticipating that (response) because, in a way, I felt like we’ve moved so far past that kind of thing," Director Rob Marshall said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"But then you realize, in a way we haven't. It was very moving to me to see how important this kind of casting is for the world."

This image shows Halle Bailey as Ariel, left, and Javier Bardem as King Triton in "The Little Mermaid."

Follow Caleb Amick on Twitter @AmickCaleb. Contact him at [email protected] or 765-648-4254.

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