You make some good points though personally, I wasn’t bothered by a Black Ariel. I haven’t seen the movie as the original didn’t really please me much. It’s not the best Disney movie in the first place. But I have zero problem with the idea of this. Or a latina Ariel. Or an Asian/Pacific Islander Ariel. Or an Indigenous Ariel. These stories are going to be rebooted again and again and again. Why not showcase different perspectives and cultures. What does it hurt, really?

For the other side of argument, I have noticed one thing. I got down with a mild case of heat prostration this last week, so I’ve been chilling out, testing f and rehydrating, and watching a lot of TikTok. I have seen video after video of mothers holding their toddler daughters and filming their reactions as Black Ariel hits the screen for the first time. Gotta admit, I shed more than a few tears (just when I need to not be wasting moisture). And it’s not just little black girls. It’s all girls. They’re all happy to see Black Ariel because they haven’t learned to hate yet and they’re either seeing a version of themselves or a version of a friend/classmate. They’re thrilled and stunned into little faces of absolute raptures, like little girls do. It’s incredibly touching.

So, my unpopular opinion is that animated or live action, most Disney movies are children’s movies. So maybe we should let the kids alone to enjoy their stories. Maybe all the adults should sit down and shut up on this one and not make little preschoolers carry adult baggage. Let them be happy to see themselves or see their friend. Then maybe they’ll grow up and be the generation that finally ends racism once and for all because they’ll never have seen an enemy in someone who looks different from them. They’ll never think they’re not good enough because every girl on screen looks the same, something that they are not.

What do we lose, by trying it? And what could we gain? Maybe that lost sense of human connectedness? Hmm?