#NotMyAriel?!: 10 Times White Actors Portrayed Real-Life Characters of Color
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past year and a half,
you probably haven’t heard about the many reboots of original animated movies that
Disney has in the works – there are about 21 to be exact. With the astounding
success of Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, Aladdin, and others, Disney has
found a formula that works and they’re sticking with it.
The latest movie set to begin production is “The Little
Mermaid,” and Disney has revealed its casting for their leading lady, Ariel. Halle
Bailey, of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, will be Disney’s newest princess in
the upcoming live-action film. And while many fans of Halle’s vocal abilities
are praising the media-powerhouse’s choice, others are clearly upset with the
decision. Why is that? Why else? – race.
To be clear, Ariel is a mythological creature whose story was
written by a Danish author – Hans Christian Andersen – that does not make Ariel
Danish. SHE IS A MERMAID. MERMAIDS ARE NOT REAL. If mermaids are not real, how
can they be assigned a race? She is a walking, talking, SINGING fish for crying
out loud! Her nationality, according to Disney, is Atlantican – and where is
Atlantica? It’s located in what is now West Africa and eastern South
America, not Denmark.
Sure, she was a Caucasian, red-headed CARTOON character 30 years
ago, but most of the Disney princesses at that time were white. Actually, they all
were. Up until 1992, there was no representation of other races when it came to
Disney’s highly coveted princess title. Princess Jasmine emerged in 1992,
followed by Pocahontas in 1995, and Mulan in 1998. It wasn’t until 2009 that we
saw a Black Disney princess – a full 72 years from Disney’s first princess
plotline (Disney’s 1937 film, “Snow White”).
Firstly, I hate to be a Debbie downer, but it’ll be a cold
day in hell before we see a live-action version of “The Princess and the Frog.”
Secondly, Tiana’s character is heavily inspired by the events in the life of – ACTUAL
HUMAN BEING – Leah Chase. Her tale of going from a waitress to owning and
running her own restaurant in New Orleans is largely what the story is based
off – both Tiana and Prince Naveen turning into frogs in need of a lover’s kiss
to return to human form was Disney adding their magical flair, of course.
So yes, black people would be pissed if her race was changed,
and rightly so! And it’s not as if portrayals of people of color haven’t been whitewashed
for decades in the filming industry. If we’re upset about a Danish mermaid being
black, here are 10 real-life people whose portrayals that we needed to be up-in-arms about as
well.
1.
Mariane Pearl portrayed by Angelina Jolie
“A Mighty Heart” was a 2007
film based on the real-life nightmare of Mariane Pearl, a journalist for
The Wall Street Journal whose husband is kidnapped and murdered by Pakistani militants.
Pearl is of Afro-Cuban descent, Jolie is obviously not.
2. Antonio J. Mendez portrayed by Ben Affleck
The film “Argo” (2012) was based on
the real-life work of top-level CIA operative Antonio J. Mendez – he helped
orchestrate the rescue of six American hostages in Iran in 1980. Mendez was Mexican
American; Affleck is not Latino.
3.
Michael Jackson portrayed by Joseph Fiennes
“Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon” (2016) is a British
TV movie based on an alleged road trip taken by the three stars after the
September 11th attacks. Although the trip is alleged, Michael
Jackson was Black – Fiennes is White and that prosthetic nose is insulting, to say the least.
4.
Maria Segovia portrayed by Juliette Binoche
“The 33” (2015) details the true story of the 33
Chilean miners who were trapped in a mine for 69 days. Maria Segovia was the
real-life sister of one of the trapped miners. Segovia was known for her
efforts to help the family of the miners waiting for their rescue. Segovia is Chilean,
Binoche is French.
5.
Cleopatra portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor
The historical epic, “Cleopatra” (1963), details the pharaoh’s
epic affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. While Cleopatra’s ethnicity has
been debated over the ages, she was believed to be of Macedonian descent and
was the pharaoh of Egypt. Elizabeth Taylor, in no way, resembles someone of Egyptian
ancestry.
6.
Jeffrey Ma portrayed by Jim Sturgess
“21” (2008) is the story of a group of students who trained
to become expert card counters in blackjack in order to win millions in winnings
from Las Vegas casinos. The character Ben Campbell is based on real-life MIT
card counter Jeffrey Ma, who is an American of Chinese descent. Sturgess is a
British actor.
7. Alicia Nash portrayed by Jennifer Connelly
“A Beautiful Mind (2001) is a movie about the life
and career of mathematician, John Nash. Alicia Nash (born Alicia Lardé) was an
MIT student, who later became Johns wife, and was Salvadorian. Jennifer Connelly
is of mixed-European descent.
8.
Genghis Khan portrayed by John Wayne
“The Conqueror” (1956) was a film that chronicled the
life and rise of the emperor Genghis Khan. He was Mongol, born near present day
Mongolia and Siberia. John Wayne had no Asian heritage.
9.
Noah portrayed by Russell Crowe
We all know the biblical story of Noah. We also know
that Noah, like many other biblical characters, was from the Middle East –
making is skin tanner than that of Russell Crowe’s in 2014’s “Noah.”
10. Moses
portrayed by Christian Bale
"Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014)
provides the same type of whitewashing previously stated. Christian Bale is far
from Middle Eastern, but they sure tried to make him look like it, huh?
Mind you, these are interpretations of REAL-LIFE people, not
fictional characters created by novelists and screenplay writers. These people
had actual ethnicities and nationalities that were disregarded and whitened by Hollywood
and by the movie industry. And people are upset over a mermaid?
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