Disney’s latest teaser trailer receives mixed reviews
A small portion of the long-awaited live-action remake of ‘The Little Mermaid’ was premiered exclusively at Disney’s D23 expo. R&B singer Halle Berry sang her rendition of “Part of Your World” in the teaser as well as debuting herself as Ariel. Director Rob Marshall wanted to honor the original film from 1989 as well as bringing some depth into this new adaptation. [Variety / Wilson Chapman]
As the trailer was released to the public, many black parents took to social media and shared their children’s initial reactions. A video made by TikTok user Candace showed her daughter’s gratified response to seeing a Black princess on the big screen. Actress Halle Berry responded to this video on Twitter and shared that she sobbed after seeing it. [CBC / Jenna Ben]
Not everyone was happy when this trailer was released. #NotMyAriel was used by social media users who did not approve of the casting choice by Disney. Some users went on to say that Ariel should have been white since the story is based on a Danish fairytale. They also claimed that this casting choice was due to white erasure.
In just two days after being uploaded on YouTube, the teaser for The Little Mermaid received a total of 1.5 million dislikes which resulted in them disabling the like dislike counter feature. People, however, took to the comment section to find their way around this. Despite the backlash, the film is now gaining a substantial amount of support. Defenders are claiming that racism is the cause for all the negative reactions and that due to their uproar, many people will support the film to make them upset. (Newsweek / Jon Jackson)
Walt Disney’s granddaughter went online and responded to the backlash that the film was receiving. She made it very clear that she backs this casting choice and how she did not understand why it was controversial. She made another statement on Twitter telling those who were upset that mermaids are fictional creatures, so the character’s race is irrelevant. In recent years Walt Disney Studios, along with Pixar and Marvel, have made a visible effort to promote inclusive casting. We have seen so with Marvel’s release of Ms. Marvel, which features a Pakistani-American family and Pixar’s Turning Red, which stars a predominately Asian cast. (Cinema Blend / Riley Utley)
Students Express Their Views on Systemic Racism
Racism can take many forms. It can be highly detectable, such as acts of hate crimes or it can manifest in hidden ways, like microaggressions. Nonetheless, racism is a rampant problem and does not only exist on an interpersonal level as some may believe. Systemic racism is a form of racial discrimination that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or organization (Institutional racism). This type of racial discrimination is not as apparent as folks burning crosses or yelling out obscenities at people of color, it is more focused on institutions which disproportionately impact minorities. It can manifest in employment, healthcare, education, housing, banking and in the criminal justice system. No matter what your socioeconomic class may be, if you are Black or a person of color, systemic racism affects you.
During fall of 2021, Pew Research Center conducted a survey concluding that Black Americans are more likely to say systemic racism is a larger issue than interpersonal racism. Many students agreed with this finding. Irving Montes De Oca is a student at the College of Lake County and proudly identifies as Latine. When asked about how he felt about the issues of systemic racism and interpersonal racism he said, “While both forms are awful, I believe that given the historic roots and intentions behind systemic racism, that it is much worse. Systemic racism also tends to affect a lot more people compared to interpersonal racism.” The rest of the surveyed U.S population, though, has differing beliefs. Around 65% of overall Americans, said that interpersonal racism is more harmful to Black Americans than systemic racism. Rachel Long, a student at the University of Iowa was asked about this survey result. She mentioned that many people do not understand the breadth of systemic racism and how much it impacts Black people and people of color. She, too, stated the importance of acknowledging racism between individuals, “Our country is polarized because of the prior administration. Before [Trump’s] administration, it was taboo to say harmful and bigoted things, but people became emboldened to say these things out loud.”
In another poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 63% of Americans say that racism is an extremely big problem for Black people living in the U.S. A majority also stated that institutional changes must be implemented for Black Americans to be treated fairly, with 90% noting the criminal justice system needs the most reform. When asked about reform in this system, Long said, “It's all by design how black men get taken into incarceration. When black men commit crimes, they’re imprisoned, but when their white counterparts commit the same type of crime, they serve no time or simply get a slap on the wrist.”
Systemic racism was very apparent in recent years during the pandemic. Black and Brown Americans accounted for a high number of COVID-19 cases throughout the country and were disproportionately affected by the disease. This was due to many infrastructural reasons, such as Black and Latinx people being more likely to be essential workers. In New York City, for example, 75% of the essential workers are made up of people of color. (It’s Not Unhealthy Behavior. It’s Systemic Racism)
Sources:
Pew Research Center
Irving Montes De Oca (student at College of Lake County, friend) imontesdeoca2@stu.clcillinois.edu
Rachel Long (student at Iowa State University) rsl27@iastate.edu
