Why are racists and anti-wokeists now offended over a black woman playing "Ariel" in the little mermaid movie?

@bijouxbroussard if the actor's good, I'm good. The only time I really have a problem is when they start changing backgrounds to match racial stereotypes. Gives off the message that the different skin tone was incapable of fitting into the existing role so they had to change it. I haven't seen the movie, but I don't really picture Disney doing that for this movie.

@ViciDraco [b]That[/b] I can understand. I think that’s why the 2020 reboot of the 1994 tv show Party of Five failed. The story, about five siblings who struggle to take care of themselves after losing their parents in a car accident wasn’t ethnic or race specific. And there was no reason a Mexican-American cast couldn’t portray the siblings in [b]that[/b] storyline. But someone decided that the parents were undocumented immigrants who were [b]deported[/b], leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Possibly a story worth telling, but it [b]wasn’t [/b] the original premise of the show. 🙁

@bijouxbroussard that doesn't seem to change the premise too much, but yeah it kind of makes me cringe to have the storyline change to reflect that.

As if a Mexican-American family couldn't go through the same thing a white American family would.

That is what bothers me about it at the heart. Just changing the cast adds some relatability for Mexican-Americans. But the car accident was relatable for a lot of people. A ton of people have lost loved ones that way. By removing that common point of relatability is what i think makes it feel like something else. Like another story. As you said, perhaps a story that should be told, but it is different.

Overall, I tend to be big on bringing things together. I've met several friends of different ethnicities through my own geeky hobbies, and they often tend to hide their hobbies from their peers. Especially my black friends. They don't want to get accused of acting white. I guess I view casting black actors into traditionally white roles without changing the background gives those people who don't fit in neatly with what their peers expect of them a small touch of representation that says this is okay. Be yourself. And hopefully it'll get some of the more insular communities to broaden their view of identities. Maybe it's a selfish way to view it? I don't really know.

@ViciDraco One difficult thing in my "community” is that some don’t themselves realize just how broad it is. The Cosby Show (like [b]him[/b] or not) reflects a middle and upper middle class black community that [b]exists[/b] and has, for longer than people think. And I’m not talking about the various “Real Housewives”.

Organizations like the Links, Jack & Jill, The Knights of Peter Claver, and the HBCUs have been an active part of that world. I remember hearing some black people complaining that the Cosby Show didn’t represent “real" black people, or it was "too white". I was embarrassed for them, because that was [b]their[/b] ignorance about the diversity of our community in the U.S.

@bijouxbroussard Cosby Show is a good example. I think Family Matters and Fresh Prince had similar issues.

At the end of the day, I think i just want people to be who they want to be and not feel like they have to walk between two worlds. And more importantly I don't have a template for what I want them to be. I've always been a supporter of individual expression. I do a lot of things white people traditionally don't. But nobody accuses me if being less white. I think everyone should have that freedom. Whether they live the "community expectations" or break them, so long as it's by their own choice.

@ViciDraco That’s a very good point, too. Nobody white is less so for enjoying jazz, Motown, R&B, even hip-hop (has anyone accused Eminem of "trying to be black” ?) One of the great ironies is, after a history of seeking freedoms including from stereotypes, some people are embracing them.

@bijouxbroussard you are right.