RE: The era of tolerance. Why is a black actress in “The Little Mermaid” infuriating everyone?
I get where you're coming from, I really do. What you say - white actors taking the roles of non-white actors - happens all the time. But lately, it's happening in reverse. Wherever you look, there is an Asian person, a black person, most likely an LGBT person, a Latin American person. And while some of these actors are indeed talented, a lot of them are chosen just as tokens, if you get what I'm saying.
The movie producers are just following an agenda and that shouldn't happen on a movie set.
Personally, as long as the actor/actress is talented and fits the part well, they can be whatever race or nationality they want. But I've seen plenty of bad actors cast in roles just to seem more inclusive. And that ruins the entire movie.
The way I see it, it's not about being racist, it's a lot of people complaining that traditionally, the Little Mermaid is white. In the story. And honestly, we don't need a Little Mermaid adaptation, the animated movie was just fine.
The same way we don't need a lot of movies and TV series being made at the moment just for the sake of doing them with a "diverse" cast. The entertainment industry should be about entertainment, not about politics. Lately, all these so called A-listers seem far more concerned with proving their loyalty to so-and-so party and so-and-so agenda than about actually making quality movies. A shame.
Good post, though. I hope what I said makes sense. Again, I don't care about this whole debate much. I don't even know who this girl is. And as long as she does a good job as Ariel, good for her. :)
This is exactly the point. Most of the people I've seen complaining about this choice are not, nor have ever been, racist in the slightest. It's just a bit annoying how art becomes political. It shouldn't.
That's it! On the territory of art there is no place for politics, economics and interracial aggression. But everything that I see now seems little like real art. In the world of cinema, they make money on it and sometimes show people complete shit.
In the world of actors, pressure is at its maximum. It is very sad to see sometimes a black hero who is not welcome. Or feel that the Asian was invited to this role only from a sense of duty and this very "diversity." I personally do not care what nationality and race the actor will be. For me it is important that I really believe his character, his acting work.