#I used to say floober doober instead of cursing when we played Mario kart

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Ok I’m probably not the best person to say this, but I’ve been seeing a lot of (as of right now) accurate insults on how the CGI approach for the Live Action Little Mermaid movie, but please be mindful that you don’t take things too far, and *especially* don’t start going after Halle Bailey (Ariel’s actress) and to a lesser extent, Ariel the character.

Antiblackness is still an issue in a lot of fandom spaces, and it doesn’t just come out as using nasty slurs or stereotypes. It manifests as drawing Black characters lighter and/or with more white features, it comes out as removing Black partners from ships, and it starts out as plausibly deniable insults that get the door open to microaggressions and outright nasty comments.

I’m not saying that all discussion of the movie should be stalled, or even if it turns out to be an artistic failure, that it doesn’t merit discussion. I’m saying that you shouldn’t extend your vitriol to the characters and actors.

If you really feel the need to insult her, it might be worth a little introspection. Ask yourself, “Do I resent that they changed Ariel, or that they changed Ariel in this way?”. You’re not irredeemable if your personal answer isn’t kind. Just be more careful, try and observe how that sort of world view affects your behavior to others, and then course correct.

A lot of little kids would love to see another Black Princess. A lot of little kids would love to have a Black mermaid as a main character. Hell, a lot of adults would love those too. Black fantasy characters have long been excluded, transformed, killed, merely in the background, relegated to stereotypes, villainized and have hardly ever in the spotlight, especially in major productions.

Don’t make it harder for kids (and adults!) to see themselves on screen. Don’t ruin their wonder. So don’t make unkind comments. Keep it to yourself. Frankly, Halle looks beautiful, and I can’t wait to see the sparkles in her fans’ eyes as she swims across the screen.

#live action little mermaid #the little mermaid 2023 #Halle Bailey #I’m a white girl but the concept of a Black Ariel is near and dear to my heart #my best friend in elementary loved H20:Just add water and introduced it to me #and she dreamed (at least half then #we haven’t kept in touch) of ordering herself a mermaid tail to swim around in #and I really hope that she has. if she didn’t fuck up a year of college like I did (she was damn smart so I doubt it) #then she’s likely just about to graduate #M I hope you get a great paying job and can order yourself a beautiful quality tail and live out that little girl dream #you deserve it. I don’t think you had near enough #black girl Magic growing up. miss you #i doubt you’re on tumblr but just in case you’re wondering #‘is that me?’ I’ll give you a hint: #I used to say floober doober instead of cursing when we played Mario kart #I mean I did start cursing heavily later. but at first I said that #in any case idk if you’re still into mermaids but we both know you would’ve loved to watch this movie when you were little #this was both spurred on by all the flounder posts I’ve been seeing and ‘A Song Below Water’ by Bethany C. Morrow #one of the main characters Effie works as a Renaissance Faire mermaid and she talks a lot about #how people write fiction about her character but whitewash her or body swap her or would rather do self inserts #or the only comments made about her beauty are just about her tail and never about her Black skin or features #and how she (and her Mom before her death) were usually the only Black characters at the fair #and how she feels so beautiful and incredible being her mermaid self #also again I’m white so I don’t have personal experience but my younger brother is mixed #and he’s always been really lowkey about his feelings but #I took him to see Into the Spiderverse when it first came out #and he’s loved it since #here was this (adorable - don’t tell my brother I said that lol) lanky smart awkward hurting courageous Black boy on screen #and I can see in his heart how he’s been affected by it. he’s not a super fan or anything but I can just tell (big sister thing.) Anyways I #really hope that joy will happen more and more for everyone.