Why Representation Matters: “The Little Mermaid”
The trailer for the live-action remake of the 1989 animated film “The Little Mermaid” dropped on September 9th. Twenty-two-year-old singer Halle Bailey acts as the first Black Ariel in this live-action remake. There has been only one Black Disney princess, Princess Tiana, in all of Disney’s nearly 100 years. This was all the way back in 2009 with the animated feature “The Princess and the Frog.” Tiana was played by Black actress Anika Noni Rose.
Only 11% of lead film roles are played by Black actors. A lot of these roles are race-related projects. People all over the internet have been reacting to seeing Bailey as Ariel. But young children need to see this representation, to see themselves in the media, too.
While the original casting of Bailey had a bit of backlash, she has also received a lot of praise. On Tik Tok, parents of young Black children have filmed the reactions of their kids seeing themselves represented on screen. Let’s just say, it really goes to show just how much representation matters.
When she sees Bailey on the screen, the three-year-old in this video beams and says, “I think she’s brown!”
Videos like this are all over Tik Tok and Bailey is overwhelmed with the praise, posting to Twitter, “this means the world to me.”
Tik Toker and Elon alum @jordxn.simone is one of the many influencers who have commented on the new trailer and the public’s reaction.
In this video, she says, “we need representation where we can see our Black bodies and our Black skin for more than 20 minutes at a time,” making the case that films such as “The Princess and the Frog” aren’t the representation that is needed and that Bailey’s role is a long-awaited, essential change from Disney.
Not seeing yourself in the media can actually be harmful to your mental health. People need to realize how much of an impact that representation can have and how important it is to empower the minds of not just the younger generations, but also of the older generations who didn’t have this kind of representation growing up.
“The Little Mermaid” is set to release on May 26, 2023.