Disney Sucks at Diversity, and Why You Should Be Mad Too

A few weeks ago, Disney caused an uproar for casting Halle Bailey as Ariel for their live adaption of “The Little Mermaid.” On one side, people applauded the decision believing Disney took a supportive stance towards diversity while others say a black Ariel will lose the authenticity of the Danish folktale by Hans Christian Anderson.

But will no one understand the real issue behind this problem? The live adaption remakes of these movies are just lame attempts for Disney to rake in money.

Halle Bailey as Princess Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Shouldn’t we be happy Disney want’s to include black actresses?

Yes, we should! Black people are getting the representation they deserve in Hollywood. But, we shouldn’t be content with these reasons. According to director Rob Marshall, “After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance—plus a glorious singing voice—all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role.”

Black women are finally getting the chance to represent themselves based on the skills they bring to the table and are not followed by their harmful stereotypes. Youth and femininity do not equal white and Halle Bailey will get to embody this stance as black woman and as an innocent and youthful Ariel.

But, that doesn’t mean we should hire people of color to fulfill white roles. Instead of slapping an ethnicity on a character, we need to start creating characters that reflect their cultural background. That’s where the diversity question pops up...

We don’t need fifty remakes of the same stories we grew up watching. What excitement goes towards that? Watching the same plot line with the same characters I was introduced to with the same ending? I could watch the cartoon version on Netflix for free! Disney is lazy with their storytelling and won’t explore folktales or different cultural backgrounds other than white European folktales.

Yes, we should be happy people of color, especially black women, who are getting roles based on their skills as incredible actresses. No, we shouldn’t be happy that Disney refuses to create new stories from cultural backgrounds and will focus on the success of their old movies by recreating them.

Disney Princesses from "Ralph Breaks the Internet"

Diversity = Black and White

My biggest pet peeve is when a company introduces people of color in their storyline or change a characters race to be exclusive. Not only are you erasing a character's identity, but you're only instilling this to earn sympathy points from the public.

If Disney wants to be diverse, they should focus on different groups compared to a race. I find it shameful Disney writers can create nine European white princess from different nationalities and ethnic groups. But struggle with writing different princesses of color almost every decade.

For example, Mulan is the only "princess" to represent East Asians. Princess Tiana represents black people and Princess Jasmine represents Arab people. Moana represents pacific islanders and Pocahontas represents native people.

These characters have been the role models to countless girls of color. They're limited to liking them based on the fact that they know another princess like them will never be created apposed to white princess popping up every few years.

No offense Disney, but you have ALL those writers and the only thing you can come up with is another live adaption?

Daughter of the village chief, Moana of Montanui

The Latino Problem

As a Latina, I grew up with NO representation in the Disney Princess line-up. Sure I had a favorite princess, but you don’t like a princess just to like her. Girls around me loved their Disney princess because they looked just like them, and I never got that satisfaction.

But what about Princess Elena from Avalor?

Princess Elena is based on Hispanic culture which is in no way shape or form related to Latino culture. It was Disney’s sad attempt to create a solution to a growing problem they could easily fix. Not only is she not apart of the Disney Princess line-up but she’s also the main character of a preschool show with not enough coverage. If they wanted Elena to have a real impact, they need to develop an actual movie in theaters.

Princess Elena from Elena of Avalor

But Central and South America had no real monarchies!

There aren’t real mermaids in the ocean, kissing frogs won’t turn you into one, and rubbing a magic lamp with a genie inside won’t make you royal. Disney has a way of creating their own twist to these classics despite their horrible backgrounds. Not having monarchies is not a reason Disney can’t develop a story in the Americas. For example, the Princess and the Frog is a Brothers Grimm fairytale from Germany, a far cry from the Louisiana bayou in 1920s America.

If historically speaking, the Americas have a few defunct royal lines including the Brazilian royal line, Mexico’s short-lived line, and Inca and Aztec royal lines. There is so much cultural depth in the Americas and just to whitewash it with Princess Elena is a slap in the face to how rich our history is.

I’m not asking for much but Disney if you're reading this, cut out the live adaptions, put pen on paper and start researching new storylines and including diversity! I’m so tired of the same remake that I could watch on Netflix played by actresses you only use as clickbait.