Young black women have reacted enthusiastically to the new trailer for The Little Mermaid, which shows the importance of diversity and representation in film. The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey has said that she is "astonished" by the reaction to the trailer for the film, which was released to the public on September 10.
Bailey, who plays Ariel in a live-action remake of Disney's hit 1989 animation, was responding to a Brazilian tweet titled: "Compilation of black kids' reaction to seeing Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid ". Bailey posted a message in response saying, "People have been sending me these reactions all weekend and I'm really in awe... this means a lot to me."
On Monday, Variety reported that the trailer had recorded 104 million views worldwide, without specifying the time period; this compares to 355m in 24 hours for Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021 and 127m in 24 hours for live-action Beauty and the Beast in 2016.
Director: Rob Marshall
Writers: Jane Goldman, David Magee, Rob Marshall
Stars: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy
Bailey was cast in the role in 2019, sparking a backlash against her suitability for the role, which was largely characterized as racist. The trailer itself appears to have become a target for internet trolls: After collecting 1.5 million dislikes in two days, YouTube disabled the thumbs-down dislike button, while that dozens of comments below parody a positive response by quoting dialogue from other movies.
Halle Bailey faced a toxic backlash from a small but vocal section of The Little Mermaid fans when she was cast as Ariel, with many shows like The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power currently facing similar issues with racist comments about the characters. However, the public has pushed back, arguing that it is ridiculous to criticize a black actress playing a mythical creature in an unrealistic fantasy world originally written by a Danish author. While Bailey's critics argue that they want a faithful adaptation of The Little Mermaid, a mermaid's career won't affect the plot or character interactions, and the fantasy genre lends itself to diversity because it's imaginative.
Representation was a big part of Bailey joining The Little Mermaid in the first place, and Bailey said such representation would have changed her confidence and belief in herself as she grew up. It's also vital that Bailey's portrayal of Ariel is in a story where the princess's race isn't divisive to the story, as the previous portrayal in The Princess and the Frog was. Bailey will be supported by Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
The prevalence of toxic audiences is angering most of the fans who support him. Still, the thread of black girls loving her portrayal is a reminder of Bailey's importance in the new Little Mermaid. While The Little Mermaid may face a blitz of reviews like other recent shows with diverse fantasy actors, Twitter user normanination4 guides viewers in the right way by focusing on all the good things The Little Mermaid is doing. The positive majority of audiences should find solace in the young girl's enthusiasm for The Little Mermaid, who is also the film's target audience and thus had a great start in reaching them.