Have you heard? We have a new Ariel!
That’s right, Disney has finally found its Ariel for the live action version of The Little Mermaid . Halle Bailey was selected to done Ariel’s fins, and wow did the Internet have some opinions on this one.
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Firstly: No, Zendaya isn’t Ariel.
I know. Before I found out who they cast, I heard that it wasn’t Zendaya, and I was so bummed.
But, you know what? Zendaya already proved she’s the ultimate Cinderella, so I guess I’ll survive.
Secondly: Halle Bailey is Ariel!
Take a shot every time you misread that as “Halle Berry.” Actually, don’t. That sounds super dangerous, and I’m not trying to give anyone alcohol poisoning today.
Halle is one half of Chloe x Halle, a sister duo of musicians who specialize in R&B. Also, she looks like an IRL Disney princess already.
She and her sister started on YouTube.
They launched their YouTube channel, Chloe x Halle, and found actual viral success in 2013.
Their cover of Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts” has over 15 million views, and was so good that Bey herself signed the sisters to her music label, Parkwood Entertainment.
So, as she’s proven, Halle has the pipes to take on Ariel.
I mean, she’s a Grammy-nominated singer.
Twitter pulled out receipt after receipt to celebrate how crazy talented she is, and how incredible her voice is.
Seriously, I have goosebumps after watching that video. Her voice is so old Hollywood.
However, some people felt that she wasn’t qualified to be fictional sea creature.
Not because she can’t sing (she can), or that she can’t act (she can).
No, it’s because she’s black.
It’s really that simple, and that gross. The internet simply cannot fathom a black mermaid.
By the way, that “science” makes no sense.
By that logic, literally all marine life would be pale and white.
Twitter jumped on that really fast, and the best replies were just pictures of really colorful fish, or dark fish, or whales.
As you can imagine, the replies were incredible.
HER BEST FRIEND IS A TALKING CRAB, ZACH.
Sorry, I wanted to join in.
She’s a sea creature who can breathe underwater but has the features of a human, talks to a crab, and her dad weirdly has like ripped abs.
Bu yeah, it’s her skin tone that’s the issue.
Debunking more nonsense: This person is an expert on color theory!
The absolute nonsense contained in this tweet…
Anyone who knows anything about color theory, art, or even makeup knows that colors pop on different skin tones depending on the undertone of the specific color.
Thank you, next.
Thankfully, the logical side of Twitter came to the rescue.
This person made an amazing point that perfectly demonstrates why
that argument is false, and
whitewashing is a huge problem.
Adding representation for underrepresented groups is never a bad thing!
And then the jokes came rolling in.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Ariel isn’t a real person.
And mermaid’s aren’t real, either.
Fairytales are made up. All of this is made up. Disney can change whatever rules it once, because they made up the rules, too .
Damn, wish I’d known that was a valid career path.
Imagine graduating from University with this degree.
You walk across the state, grinning at the crowd, your parents applauding that you’ve finally achieved your goal of becoming a mermaidologist.
That’s so beautiful.
This tweet! Deserves! More attention!
I mean, mermaids aren’t even supposed to be beautiful, right? They’re actually “supposed” to be pretty scary.
Ugh, I’m really looking forward to Ariel having visible gills and super sharp teeth.
Who’s gonna tell them 🙁
Okay, so who do you want to play Ursula?
My pick is iconic drag queen Latrice Royale, but I am open to other options that are also drag queens. What? I’m a simple person with simple needs.
I mean, this is it.
She’s a fish.
A fish .
Anyway, back to the hard-hitting King Triton question: what’s up with that dude being so ripped? And don’t say it’s from swimming, because Ariel would have abs, too.
Wait. Should Ariel have abs? Let me know.
Halle IS Ariel.
Both literally, because Disney says so, but also because wow? The similarities really jumped out.
She doesn’t even need red hair to evoke the whole idea of Ariel. Though, it’s Disney— of course she’s going to have red hair!
You go, Queen Halle.
