By: Natasha Archary
Trevor Noah has responded to racist backlash over the Little Mermaid trailer release.
In revealing that the actress who will be playing the much-loved Disney character, Ariel in the live-action film, will be Halle Bailey, there has been mass outrage online.
The teaser trailer on YouTube have received over 2.4 million dislikes as Disney fans from across the world expressed their disappointment that a black actress was cast in the lead role.
While there have been some positive responses to Bailey’s casting, many questioned why Disney would take such a popular children’s character and “turn her black.”
“Ariel has always been white, why would Disney change her look to be a black mermaid with red hair. It doesn’t make sense.”
One of the racist responses to the Little Mermaid actress being black
The trailer which was released on 10 September has since caused massive online debate with millions saying they will boycott the franchise entirely for ruining The Little Mermaid.
In response, The Daily Show host called out racist trolls for being hypocritical, joking, “ya’ll know Nemo was black too right?”
Trevor was referring to the popular little clown fish, Nemo who went missing in another Disney/Pixar movie.
“Once again a bunch of internet racists are upset that a fictional character is being played by a black person. Honestly I don’t know what the big deal is, ya’ll realise that Nemo was black too right? Yeah, that whole movie was about a fish who can’t find his dad!”
Joking about the racial stereotype around absent fathers in the black community, Trevor said that he couldn’t be called racist because his own father left him and that his dad was white.
Trevor also called out the racist trolls by telling them that the character remains the same, “a mystical creature who can sing, breathe and live under water who then changes her entire core identity to please a man.”
“The story remains the same, it’s just that the Little Mermaid is now represented as a black woman, so stop being ridiculous, it’s imaginary.”
Once again, a bunch of internet racists are upset that a fictional character is being played by a Black person. pic.twitter.com/WY09MVyApP
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 16, 2022
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