A Black Ariel? What About A White Storm?

Should race ever matter when it comes to art?

Photo by reza hoque on Unsplash

In the original Disney cartoon, The Little Mermaid, Arial is white with red hair. In the latest version, a black actress plays the character. Since this is art and fantasy — I don’t see the controversy?

It’s no different than creating a female Captain Marvel, having black dwarves or having a white Storm.

I personally prefer accurate representations in certain cases. For example, when it comes to actual history — Harriet Tubman was a historic black woman. George Washington was a historic white man. When it comes to portraying actual historical figures I think we need to be accurate. That being said… who am I to tell a director to compromise his or her artistic vision?

I personally found it jarring that Mickey Rooney played a Japanese character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and I also find black Norse gods to be jarring. I think Anasazi and Bantu folk heroes should be Native American and black. But… that’s just me. My preference. It’s not my desire to force my opinions on anyone else. I respect that other people have other visions and they have the right to follow those.

When it comes to fantasy?

I’ve played role-playing games, and sometimes I’ve played an avatar that was a black…