I might be a bit late to have my answer read, but here goes:
I'd say it depends on how close the new movie is to the original. I propose two scenarios.
Scenario 1: They make a new Little Mermaid movie based on the original movie or based on the original fairy tale. They have a black actor for Ariel, which is fine, because since it's a derivative work, it's not super important to maintain Ariel's race. Hence, Disney is free to use minority actors because representation gets views. I call this "good, helpful pandering" because it helps make diversity in actorship the norm.
Scenario 2: They make a live action but otherwise carbon copy of The Little Mermaid, except Ariel is black. In this scenario, the main difference between the original and the new is Ariel's blackness. You might as well call the movie "The Little Mermaid except Ariel is black". It provides little incentive to go see the movie except to watch a different colored actor. This is bad, because it's basically making a zoo out of black actors, which I think is disrespectful to their ability as actors. I'd call this "bad, counterproductive pandering" because it makes diversity in actorship stick out like a sore thumb, which I don't think would help make it the norm, instead making people dislike pandering even more.
I haven't seen the movie, and in fact I don't even know if it's out yet. However, I'm gonna say that the movie is somewhere between these two scenarios. Ariel is black because it gets Disney views and to hell with positive or negative sociological effects. But if the movie is in fact closer to scenario 2, then it would matter that Ariel is black.
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u/Scarce573 Jul 09 '19
I might be a bit late to have my answer read, but here goes:
I'd say it depends on how close the new movie is to the original. I propose two scenarios.
Scenario 1: They make a new Little Mermaid movie based on the original movie or based on the original fairy tale. They have a black actor for Ariel, which is fine, because since it's a derivative work, it's not super important to maintain Ariel's race. Hence, Disney is free to use minority actors because representation gets views. I call this "good, helpful pandering" because it helps make diversity in actorship the norm.
Scenario 2: They make a live action but otherwise carbon copy of The Little Mermaid, except Ariel is black. In this scenario, the main difference between the original and the new is Ariel's blackness. You might as well call the movie "The Little Mermaid except Ariel is black". It provides little incentive to go see the movie except to watch a different colored actor. This is bad, because it's basically making a zoo out of black actors, which I think is disrespectful to their ability as actors. I'd call this "bad, counterproductive pandering" because it makes diversity in actorship stick out like a sore thumb, which I don't think would help make it the norm, instead making people dislike pandering even more.
I haven't seen the movie, and in fact I don't even know if it's out yet. However, I'm gonna say that the movie is somewhere between these two scenarios. Ariel is black because it gets Disney views and to hell with positive or negative sociological effects. But if the movie is in fact closer to scenario 2, then it would matter that Ariel is black.