Ever since the singer Halle Bailey’s casting in Disney’s most recent live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid was revealed, criticism has surrounded the film. Disney’s mediocre remakes are frequently criticised by nostalgic fans, but this time, the backlash is blatantly racist, with all of the anger directed at the choice to hire a non-white actress as the lead mermaid.
The live-action rendition of The Little Mermaid received positive reviews from a large audience and won over ardent Disney fans. The release of the movie trailer was first much anticipated and promoted. However, the trailer has received more than 1.5 million dislikes in the two days since its debut. The Twitter trolls were mostly to blame for the decline in hype and rise in criticism. Twitter users did not view the casting favourably, which led to racial abuse directed at the media organisation and the movie online. But the trolls aren’t only there for the casting strategy. Others who disliked the trailer’s graphics tweeted about it. The protagonist, according to several critics, didn’t even seem to be submerged.
An outraged 1.5 million fans have disliked the movie’s trailer; despite YouTube disabling the dislike counter, the figures are still accessible with an extension. The purity of the original Danish narrative has been defended with ludicrous talking points that have exploded in comment sections. A terminally online Twitter user who utilised AI to replace Bailey’s visage with that of a white redhead and promised concerned “fans” that he would fix the entire movie once it was out brought the topic to a head.
Although toxic fandom has been a problem for a while, one must wonder. How did it happen that thousands of middle-aged males are outraged about a movie intended for 8-year-old girls? There are many things about nostalgia culture that may be criticised, but from Disney’s point of view, it makes perfect sense to relive their heyday since, excluding a few duds, the majority of their live-action remakes have made enormous sums of money at the box office. People will gladly bring their children to watch these movies in theatres in the hopes of capturing even a small amount of the wonder of childhood, despite the fact that they lack the lively energy, colour, and expressiveness of their animated originals.
