When Disney released the long awaited trailer of their new live action “The Little Mermaid” on Sept. 9th starring Halle Bailey as Ariel controversy immediately struck. With the teaser trailer on YouTube having around 3 million dislikes, it earned the most dislikes for any Hollywood film. Many people are bothered by Bailey playing the role because in the animated film Ariel is white.

Over social media people are vocalizing their opinion on why they think Ariel should be white. Their reasons being mermaids live underwater, far from the sun or that they’re european mythological creatures. But this is absurd because mermaids aren’t real, so there is no reason they can’t be black. 

They have no valid argument. They’re just trying to justify their racism. On Twitter hashtag “#notmyariel” is going around. And on FaceBook people were creating and joining groups with names such as “Christians Against the Little Mermaid” which consisted of mostly white Christian men posting memes ridiculing Bailey. 

“We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period. The end,” said Marshall, director of the film. Bailey was chosen for her skill, which needs to be more acknowledged and appreciated. She is a singer-songwriter and actress who’s worthy of this role. 

Similar to this, Amazon’s premiere for the Lord of the Rings prequel series “The Rings of Power” has actors of color receiving hate, harassment and even death threats. People complaining saying Amazon ruined their favorite thing after they were so excited to see it. How people can just just hate on these TV shows and movies just because of an actor’s skin color is outrageous.

On May 26th instead of hating Bailey’s success because of her skin color, try to enjoy the film.  Bailey being in this movie is inspiring the next generation of black children. There are videos going viral of parents recording their daughters ecstatic reaction to the trailer.

If you’re criticizing any film just because of the color of an actor’s skin color, you should consider giving credit and appreciation for the time and effort being put into this film.