Singer Halle Bailey's casting as Ariel in the planned live-action remake of Disney's The Little Mermaid has inspired some nasty Ariel backlash online. In May 2016, Disney announced the live-action Little Mermaid remake was to be directed by Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns), with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda collaborating with the original film's composer Alan Menken to write new songs. The years since have seen the film's cast built up with a steady flow of unexpected choices, from Melissa McCarthy as Ursula the banished sea witch to Awkwafina as a gender-swapped Scuttle. But the biggest news was, of course, the casting of Ariel.It was revealed that Ariel, the titular little mermaid, would be played by Halle Bailey in 2019. The 22-year-old singer is best known as half of the R&B duo Chloe X Halle, sisters who have toured with Beyoncé, been nominated for two Grammy Awards, and acted as series regulars in the Freeform sitcom Grown-ish. The casting of Bailey wasn’t one that fans had predicted, but it was one that delighted many. However, it didn’t take long for the usual arguments to be made against her casting, with the lion’s share of points being directed at her race and lack of red hair. The Little Mermaid casting backlash began in earnest on social media.RELATED: How The Little Mermaid Changed Disney (& The Remake Can Do It Again)

Why Halle Bailey's Little Mermaid Casting Has Been Controversial (For Some)

Halle Bailey as Ariel under water in The Little Mermaid poster

It is depressingly unavoidable how the vast majority of anger directed towards Halle Bailey and Disney, and The Little Mermaid is rooted in racism, plain and simple. The main excuse being used to justify the often virulent fury on this matter is her lack of red hair. That point overlooks how the vibrant scarlet locks Ariel has in The Little Mermaid are a shade completely unnatural to people with red hair. It’s a cartoon red, deliberately so to match the movie’s technicolor palate. While it is possible to dye one's hair this crimson, it’s very difficult to maintain and would never look as if it had grown from someone's own scalp. The chances are that any actress playing that role would be wearing a wig and that natural red hair would hardly be a mandatory requirement for anyone auditioning to play Ariel.

It’s tough to overlook the racism of the Halle Bailey casting backlash, although it certainly should not be overlooked. This is a role that has been white since Disney first made the movie and has remained so through the various sequels, prequels, stage adaptations, and theme park tie-ins made by the company. However, that’s not to say that the role simply had to stay white. It’s a fantasy story, after all, but even simply in terms of its brand power for Disney, there is no reason why a new generation of kids can’t have an Ariel who looks different from the cartoon. Cinderella saw plenty of success casting Brandy, a Black actress and singer, in the part.

As Hollywood has slowly embraced a more inclusive approach to making films, both on and off the camera (although overall numbers remain depressingly low), the financial benefits of diversity in these projects has been immense. For example, the live-action remake of Aladdin — a movie with a majority cast of actors of Arab and Middle Eastern descent — made over $1 billion worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).

There Are A Lot Of Trolls Upset About The Little Mermaid

Ariel peeking around a piece of a shipwreck in The Little Mermaid live-action trailer

Another key aspect of The Little Mermaid casting controversy is how much of it has been driven by bot accounts rather than real individuals. One of the most famous tweets from the Ariel casting backlash claimed to be from a white woman throwing her DVD of The Little Mermaid in the trash because of her fury at Bailey's casting. It was quickly revealed to be the work of a bot, using various images stolen from Pinterest and Instagram. By the time the tweet was exposed, and the account suspended, the damage had been done.

As is typical of social media, trolls and accounts with pre-existing political agendas latched onto Bailey’s Little Mermaid casting as a means to stir the pot and encourage further hostility. It helped to soak up so much of the excitement from the news, allowing once more for the narrative to be defined by hate and an imagined Little Mermaid casting controversy. Instead of focusing on the genuinely great news of Bailey’s inclusion in a major project that holds decades of importance to Disney, racism defined the story, and it allowed once more for nasty right-wing hate campaigns to pretend there was a real backlash at play here rather than simple bigotry.

RELATED: All The Live-Action Disney Remakes In Development

Why Halle Bailey Is a Great Choice for Ariel

A blended image features the animated Ariel in The Little Mermaid and Halle Bailey appearing in the TV series Grownish

Bailey is an immensely popular figure with Disney’s key demographic, who has proven herself to be a great vocal talent, and also has acting experience. Casting her is just good business. She has the perfect youthful warmth that Ariel needs, as well as that spark of inquisitiveness. As evidenced by her work under Chloe x Halle, she certainly has the vocal range required to sing those Alan Menken songs (something that other actresses in these live-action remakes, such as Emma Watson, sorely lacked). Bailey has an enthusiastic and young fanbase, and such things are most certainly taken into consideration in casting projects of this size. In many ways, she’s the full package.

It’s also encouraging to see Disney diversifying one of its biggest brands and doing something new with a property that’s such an indelible part of its brand. It will mean a lot to so many young black girls to see one of the most iconic Disney princesses be played by a black actress, and that’s not something that should be dismissed or written off as no big deal. Opportunities like this for black actresses, even in 2023, are dishearteningly rare, and it should be the responsibility of studios like Disney to lead the way in diverse storytelling. Films like Aladdin, Black Panther, and Crazy Rich Asians, which all made massive amounts of money and garnered dedicated fan bases, should not be the exception in Hollywood: They should be the rule.

It’s highly unlikely a project of The Little Mermaid's scale with its built-in fan base will be anything other than a major hit (it’s rarely a good idea to bet against Disney). This should be a moment to focus on the positives, but it’s also important to understand how advancements in pop culture and the entertainment industry are so easily weaponized by concerted hate movements, and what people can do to call that out when it occurs.

Halle Bailey Has Spoken Out About The Trolls

Halle Bailey as the live-action Ariel underwater in The Little Mermaid

Unfortunately, even after the trailer for The Little Mermaid dropped, the Ariel backlash opened up like a fresh wound. The more hateful corners of the internet were still up in arms over Halle Bailey's casting, but the star spoke out regarding their predictable reaction. Reportedly, the initial criticisms surrounding her landing the part deeply hurt the actress. However, the Bailey family was able to band together to support her role.

In an interview (via Variety), Halle's sister and bandmate Chloe Bailey said, "It’s important to have a strong support system around you. It’s hard to carry the weight of the world on your own." So while the Halle Bailey casting backlash was taxing on the poor young actress, she at least was able to find support from her family and friends to get her through. Halle Bailey clearly took the backlash in stride, as she got further advice from her grandparents, who spoke about the effects of the racism and discrimination they've experienced throughout their life.

The live-action Little Mermaid actress pondered the importance of her casting, what it meant for young Black women, and how she wished that there was more representation for her growing up. With regard to the conversation with her grandparents, Bailey had this to say, "It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you." So, while The Little Mermaid casting backlash hasn't gone away, it isn't going to affect Halle Bailey or mar the importance of such a decision on Disney's part.

Disney Had The Best Response To The Ariel Casting Backlash

Halle Bailey as Ariel emerging from the water in The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid casting backlash began as soon as Disney announced the role of Ariel went to Halle Bailey in 2019. While Disney didn’t issue a response to the bigoted comments about Bailey’s casting at the time, another Disney-owned company did. Freeform, a television network owned by Disney, and the host of Grown-ish, the series in which Bailey and her sister Chloe appeared alongside Yara Shahidi (who recently starred as Tinkerbell in Peter Pan & Wendy), issued a statement on Instagram.

The post pointed out that while the original author of The Little Mermaid might have been a Danish man, “Ariel… is a mermaid,” and that as a fictional creature in an underwater kingdom, she could be any color or ethnicity. The post even went on to point out that Black Danish people exist, and thus, if Disney made the movie closer to its Danish roots, “Danish mermaids can be Black because Danish people can be Black.” The post further reflected that those who had a problem with the “inspired” casting of Halle Bailey had a larger problem with themselves and that there shouldn't have been any The Little Mermaid casting controversy in the first place.

Disney has elected not to respond to the trolls that dominate social media or to those who might have a problem with Halle Bailey not looking like a cartoon character. Ignoring the Halle Bailey casting backlash has likely been the easiest option for the company since the cast, producers, and other creatives involved in the movie have done nothing but sing Bailey’s praises in interviews. The finished The Little Mermaid live-action movie speaks for itself.