BLACKWASHING: Little Mermaid and LOTR

7,381 Views | 91 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by Golem
Golem
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The trend of rewriting characters from European history (Ann Boleyn) or European stories to represent them as black instead of European is gaining steam. Why not just produce movies and TV shows about African folklore? Why try and literally culturally appropriate stories from Europe and those of European ancestry?

Here are some recent examples vs actual descriptions:

Ann Boleyn: Series completely changing the race of a real historical person. Imagine casting George Clooney as Nelson Mandela.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/15137719/why-channel-anne-boleyn-black-woman/

The Little Mermaid: Ariel is black. HC Anderson described the mermaid thusly: "Her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet and her body ended in a fish's tail."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11199025/Halle-Bailey-splashes-role-Little-Mermaid-new-teaser-based-1989-Disney-classic.html#article-11199025

LOTR: Amazon decided to make the elves multiracial. The word "Elf" actually derived from the word "White". But Tolkien only ever described Elves as white, pale, fair.

" They were tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finarfin; and their voices had more melodies than any mortal voice that now is heard."

" An Elven-maid there was of old,
[...]
Her hair was long, her limbs were white,
And fair she was and free"

"The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf-lady beside him was tall and pale."

"He was tall and black-haired; his eyes were dark, yet bright and keen as the eyes of the Noldor, and his skin was white."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10498771/Lord-Rings-Rings-Power-feature-Middle-Earths-black-elf.html
Jack Bauer
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I thought cultural appropriation was wrong?
Wangchung
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Jack Bauer said:

I thought cultural appropriation was wrong?
Only when white people do it. Cuz slavery happened and white people created slavery in 1400.
BaylorJacket
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If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?
Jack Bauer
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BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?
Rules are rules..

Kristen Bell Said Accepting The (Voice over) Role Of A Biracial Character On "Central Park" Showed A "Lack Of Awareness" Of Her Privilege
Golem
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BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?


Ann Boleyn is an example of blackwashing history. But blackwashing major culturally significant literary works are not insignificant. It's entirely appropriate to care about cultural touchstones. Those of us with real red head daughters with the associated pink/alabaster skin that goes along with it, have an additional reason to care.

Imagine the furor if Fa Mulan had been a white red head.
Jack Bauer
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Golem said:

BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?


Ann Boleyn is an example of blackwashing history. But blackwashing major culturally significant literary works are not insignificant. It's entirely appropriate to care about cultural touchstones. Those of us with real red head daughters with the associated pink/alabaster skin that goes along with it, have an additional reason to care.

Imagine the furor if Fa Mulan had been a white red head.

There is also a theater in Britain that made a play of Joan of Arc portrayed as.....non-binary.
Golem
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Jack Bauer said:

Golem said:

BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?


Ann Boleyn is an example of blackwashing history. But blackwashing major culturally significant literary works are not insignificant. It's entirely appropriate to care about cultural touchstones. Those of us with real red head daughters with the associated pink/alabaster skin that goes along with it, have an additional reason to care.

Imagine the furor if Fa Mulan had been a white red head.

There is also a theater in Britain that made a play of Joan of Arc portrayed as.....non-binary.


Weak minds with no talent for writing, simply steal from those who aren't. They want to steal the gravitas from an existing cultural icon (or real person) to try and transfer it to their favored identity group.

If you want characters and heroes, who resemble you, write your own. If they are compelling, they will take off. Stop stealing.
Harrison Bergeron
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Wokies have no principles just a desire for privilege an power. No way to make any sense of their anti-intellectual authoritarianism.
Sam Lowry
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Golem said:

But Tolkien only ever described Elves as white, pale, fair.
Incorrect.
Golem
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Sam Lowry said:

Golem said:

But Tolkien only ever described Elves as white, pale, fair.
Incorrect.


It is correct.
Porteroso
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Oh my God, you guys are upset they cast a black elf on a fantasy TV show?

I would normally agree that continually recasting a bunch of white characters as minorities is ridiculous, and they can just come up with new content with minority leads, but the studios can't come up with jack that's new. It's all reboots. If all you're going to try is rebooting old movies, you can't cast the same way you did in the 1960s.
wgeralds
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BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?
dudes passion is THE little mermaid
Fre3dombear
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Jack Bauer said:

BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?
Rules are rules..

Kristen Bell Said Accepting The (Voice over) Role Of A Biracial Character On "Central Park" Showed A "Lack Of Awareness" Of Her Privilege



Lmao. That's some funny ****

Maybe she was in the byu stands that day vs Duke
Golem
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Fre3dombear said:

Jack Bauer said:

BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?
Rules are rules..

Kristen Bell Said Accepting The (Voice over) Role Of A Biracial Character On "Central Park" Showed A "Lack Of Awareness" Of Her Privilege



Lmao. That's some funny ****

Maybe she was in the byu stands that day vs Duke


"The Insidious Racism of White Actors Voicing Black Animated Characters"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-insidious-racism-of-white-actors-like-kristen-bell-and-jenny-slate-voicing-black-animated-characters

But that's not all. Here's a list.

https://www.thewrap.com/white-voice-actors-recast-characters-of-color-simpsons-family-guy-photos/
Jack Bauer
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Golem said:

Fre3dombear said:

Jack Bauer said:

BaylorJacket said:

If a movie/show is trying to depict historical accuracy (documentary or something like that) then sure, I get your point

But stuff like the Little Mermaid or the Lord of the Rings? They are fantasies, who gives a **** about the actor/actresses race?
Rules are rules..

Kristen Bell Said Accepting The (Voice over) Role Of A Biracial Character On "Central Park" Showed A "Lack Of Awareness" Of Her Privilege



Lmao. That's some funny ****

Maybe she was in the byu stands that day vs Duke


"The Insidious Racism of White Actors Voicing Black Animated Characters"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-insidious-racism-of-white-actors-like-kristen-bell-and-jenny-slate-voicing-black-animated-characters

But that's not all. Here's a list.

https://www.thewrap.com/white-voice-actors-recast-characters-of-color-simpsons-family-guy-photos/


I saw black comedian Jay Pharoah doing impressions of white people. I was literally shaking!!!
Golem
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A non-exhaustive list of other examples.

Annie
Hamilton (every real person)
Mary Queen of Scots (multiple real people)
Karate Kid
Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)
Nick Fury (Avengers)
Johnny Blaze - Human Torch (Fantastic Four)
John Clark (Without Remorse)
Red (Shawshank Redemption)
Hercules (played by The Rock)
Achilles (Troy: Fall of a city)
The Equalizer (happened twice, ending with a fat black lesbian)
Bridgerton (Regency England…uh huh)
James Bond (TBD?)
Starfire (Netflix Titans)
Jimmy Olson (CW Supergirl)
Wally West (CW Flash)
Electro (Spider-Man 2)
Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man)
Barbara Gordon (Batgirl, unreleased because it was unwatchable)
Commissioner Gordon (The Batman)
Josie from Josie and the *****cats (CW Riverdale)
The Kingpin (Daredevil)
Valkyrie (Thor Ragnarok)


Kenneth Brenagh does this all the time…

Heimdall (Thor)
Murder on the Orient Express
Death on the Nile
Much Ado About Nothing
C. Jordan
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Golem said:

The trend of rewriting characters from European history (Ann Boleyn) or European stories to represent them as black instead of European is gaining steam. Why not just produce movies and TV shows about African folklore? Why try and literally culturally appropriate stories from Europe and those of European ancestry?

Here are some recent examples vs actual descriptions:

Ann Boleyn: Series completely changing the race of a real historical person. Imagine casting George Clooney as Nelson Mandela.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/15137719/why-channel-anne-boleyn-black-woman/

The Little Mermaid: Ariel is black. HC Anderson described the mermaid thusly: "Her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet and her body ended in a fish's tail."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11199025/Halle-Bailey-splashes-role-Little-Mermaid-new-teaser-based-1989-Disney-classic.html#article-11199025

LOTR: Amazon decided to make the elves multiracial. The word "Elf" actually derived from the word "White". But Tolkien only ever described Elves as white, pale, fair.

" They were tall, fair of skin and grey-eyed, though their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finarfin; and their voices had more melodies than any mortal voice that now is heard."

" An Elven-maid there was of old,
[...]
Her hair was long, her limbs were white,
And fair she was and free"

"The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf-lady beside him was tall and pale."

"He was tall and black-haired; his eyes were dark, yet bright and keen as the eyes of the Noldor, and his skin was white."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10498771/Lord-Rings-Rings-Power-feature-Middle-Earths-black-elf.html
Alert: Ariel and elves are not real.

(Just in case you didn't know.)
Jack Bauer
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And gay actors have to play gay roles and trans actors have to play trans roles because we can't just have actors...I'm outraged they didn't have a literal baseball player portray Jackie Robinson in "42"

-----
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C. Jordan
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Golem said:

A non-exhaustive list of other examples.

Annie
Hamilton (every real person)
Mary Queen of Scots (multiple real people)
Karate Kid
Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)
Nick Fury (Avengers)
Johnny Blaze - Human Torch (Fantastic Four)
John Clark (Without Remorse)
Red (Shawshank Redemption)
Hercules (played by The Rock)
Achilles (Troy: Fall of a city)
The Equalizer (happened twice, ending with a fat black lesbian)
Bridgerton (Regency England…uh huh)
James Bond (TBD?)
Starfire (Netflix Titans)
Jimmy Olson (CW Supergirl)
Wally West (CW Flash)
Electro (Spider-Man 2)
Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man)
Barbara Gordon (Batgirl, unreleased because it was unwatchable)
Commissioner Gordon (The Batman)
Josie from Josie and the *****cats (CW Riverdale)
The Kingpin (Daredevil)
Valkyrie (Thor Ragnarok)


Kenneth Brenagh does this all the time…

Heimdall (Thor)
Murder on the Orient Express
Death on the Nile
Much Ado About Nothing

Hardly any of these people are real either.

And then there's this:



Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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Sam Lowry said:

Golem said:

But Tolkien only ever described Elves as white, pale, fair.
Incorrect.
Silly Sam. Have you ever seen a real elf that wasnt white? Dragons can be any color but elves are white.
I have found theres only two ways to go:
Living fast or dying slow.
I dont want to live forever.
But I will live while I'm here.
Wangchung
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"Waaaah! White people can't play roles or voices of fictional characters that aren't white! Waaah!"
"Hey look, non-white people are playing roles of white characters. No Waaah? Why no "waaah?"
"Derrr, dose characters aren't real peoples! Why you care about who plays what roles? You are weird!"
Fre3dombear
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Golem said:

A non-exhaustive list of other examples.

Annie
Hamilton (every real person)
Mary Queen of Scots (multiple real people)
Karate Kid
Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)
Nick Fury (Avengers)
Johnny Blaze - Human Torch (Fantastic Four)
John Clark (Without Remorse)
Red (Shawshank Redemption)
Hercules (played by The Rock)
Achilles (Troy: Fall of a city)
The Equalizer (happened twice, ending with a fat black lesbian)
Bridgerton (Regency England…uh huh)
James Bond (TBD?)
Starfire (Netflix Titans)
Jimmy Olson (CW Supergirl)
Wally West (CW Flash)
Electro (Spider-Man 2)
Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man)
Barbara Gordon (Batgirl, unreleased because it was unwatchable)
Commissioner Gordon (The Batman)
Josie from Josie and the *****cats (CW Riverdale)
The Kingpin (Daredevil)
Valkyrie (Thor Ragnarok)


Kenneth Brenagh does this all the time…

Heimdall (Thor)
Murder on the Orient Express
Death on the Nile
Much Ado About Nothing



Same with Without Remorse? (That was a terrible adaptation of Tom clancys amazing book btw regardless of who acted in it)
Fre3dombear
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C. Jordan said:

Golem said:

A non-exhaustive list of other examples.

Annie
Hamilton (every real person)
Mary Queen of Scots (multiple real people)
Karate Kid
Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)
Nick Fury (Avengers)
Johnny Blaze - Human Torch (Fantastic Four)
John Clark (Without Remorse)
Red (Shawshank Redemption)
Hercules (played by The Rock)
Achilles (Troy: Fall of a city)
The Equalizer (happened twice, ending with a fat black lesbian)
Bridgerton (Regency England…uh huh)
James Bond (TBD?)
Starfire (Netflix Titans)
Jimmy Olson (CW Supergirl)
Wally West (CW Flash)
Electro (Spider-Man 2)
Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man)
Barbara Gordon (Batgirl, unreleased because it was unwatchable)
Commissioner Gordon (The Batman)
Josie from Josie and the *****cats (CW Riverdale)
The Kingpin (Daredevil)
Valkyrie (Thor Ragnarok)


Kenneth Brenagh does this all the time…

Heimdall (Thor)
Murder on the Orient Express
Death on the Nile
Much Ado About Nothing

Hardly any of these people are real either.

And then there's this:






What about Stepenfetchit? Some people are clueless about history
Golem
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FLU3htyWQAMzvOX?format=jpg&name=small
https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a43RQ3w_460swp.webp
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Wangchung
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Steven King's The Dark Tower. Idris Alba was chosen instead of a white man when an entire book in the series was dedicated to Roland Deschain's being white causing problems with Detta, a black main protagonist in almost every book. Predictably the movie bombed.
OsoCoreyell
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Art has been called the relentless depiction of the truth. As I've reflected on that over the years, I've come to believe that IS the best definition. Real art reveals something true, something you can resonate with. Truly great art is something that has this undeniable quality.

The thing that makes PC moviemaking so irksome is that it subverts truth-telling to preaching. It has the stink of untruth and insincerity. So it's bad art.
Jack Bauer
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How about recast Huck Finn with Bradley Cooper playing n-word Jim?
Golem
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So there is a blackwashing of Tinkerbell coming up....



Yara Shahidi Opens Up About Prepping to Play Tinker Bell in Disney's Live-Action 'Peter Pan'

https://people.com/movies/yara-shahidi-on-prepping-to-play-tinker-bell-in-live-action-peter-pan-remake/


But that only happened after the black washing of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland in the same movie...



Which was released almost simultaneously with another film where Peter Pan had been black washed separately in the film Wendy (2020)...


Golem
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Jack Bauer said:

How about recast Huck Finn with Bradley Cooper playing n-word Jim?
Jack Bauer
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OsoCoreyell
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Golem said:

So there is a backwashing of Tinkerbell coming up....



Yara Shahidi Opens Up About Prepping to Play Tinker Bell in Disney's Live-Action 'Peter Pan'

https://people.com/movies/yara-shahidi-on-prepping-to-play-tinker-bell-in-live-action-peter-pan-remake/


But that only happened after the black washing of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland in the same movie...



Which was released almost simultaneously with another film where Peter Pan had been black washed separately in the film Wendy (2020)...



Is this cultural appropriation?
Jack Bauer
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OsoCoreyell said:

Golem said:

So there is a backwashing of Tinkerbell coming up....



Yara Shahidi Opens Up About Prepping to Play Tinker Bell in Disney's Live-Action 'Peter Pan'

https://people.com/movies/yara-shahidi-on-prepping-to-play-tinker-bell-in-live-action-peter-pan-remake/


But that only happened after the black washing of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland in the same movie...



Which was released almost simultaneously with another film where Peter Pan had been black washed separately in the film Wendy (2020)...



Is this cultural appropriation?
Rules are rules...

Portland Burrito Cart Closes After (White) Owners Are Accused Of Cultural Appropriation
Mothra
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Sam Lowry said:

Golem said:

But Tolkien only ever described Elves as white, pale, fair.
Incorrect.
Half way through the Two Towers with my youngest son. Began the year with The Hobbit and then The Fellowship. Haven't yet encountered a black elf. And of course having read the books years ago, I don't remember any of them in my past readings. My impression of LOTR is that Tolkien envisioned them as fair and angelic like in their look. That's the way they have been described up until now.

Not that I care whether there are black elves. We've watched the first two episodes of The Rings of Power. Don't have an issue with the characters looks. My main issue is that the characters aren't written very well.
Doc Holliday
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Golem said:








https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FLU3htyWQAMzvOX?format=jpg&name=small
https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a43RQ3w_460swp.webp
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