David Draiman doesn’t have the time for any “bigot” taking issue with the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
The remake stars singer/actress Halle Bailey as Ariel, Javier Bardem as King Triton and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. Despite this talented cast, some are accusing Disney of “wokeness” for casting a Black woman as Ariel since the original 1989 animated film depicted the titular mermaid as white.
“If you have a problem with someone dark skinned playing the role of a fantasy creature like Ariel the mermaid, you’re not really worried about ‘keeping true to the original story’, you’re just being a bigot,” wrote the Disturbed singer on Twitter.
If you have a problem with someone dark skinned playing the role of a fantasy creature like Ariel the mermaid, you’re not really worried about “keeping true to the original story”, you’re just being a bigot. #TheLittleMermaid #TheLittleMermaid2023
— David Draiman (@davidmdraiman) September 16, 2022
The replies on Draiman’s tweet are not surprising. A Twitter user suggested casting Ryan Gosling as Black Panther “if keeping true to the original story doesn’t matter.” This led to another user’s response kind of hit the nail on the head.
“That doesn’t make sense,” the user wrote. “Nothing about Ariel’s character or backstory requires she be black – black panther on the other hand just might…Tbh it’s a weird thing to caught hung up about: whether a mermaid should be black or not. A bloody mermaid. [laughing emoji].”
That doesn’t make sense. Nothing about Ariel’s character or backstory requires she be black – black panther on the other hand just might…
Tbh it’s a weird thing to caught hung up about: whether a mermaid should be black or not. A bloody mermaid
— Josh Campbell (@jspc1989) September 16, 2022
If you’re interested in seeing positive reactions to the sneak peak of the remake of The Little Mermaid, scroll below.