I don't like using a lot of profanity. When you unexpectedly stub your toe or injure yourself, they've proved that using profanity lessens pain. Good. But indiscriminate use of it - I just don't like it and I try to avoid it.
I'd never heard of this actress before, but apparently the rest of the world had judging by the amount of squee emitted.
But this deserves venting.
Thank you, Bored Panda, for providing this, and my rant is under the cut.
OMFG.
These fucking idiots think that SCIENCE PROVES that a FICTIONAL CHARACTER MUST BE PLAYED BY A WHITE WOMAN!
Because "it's dark underwater" and "you can't have melanin production without sunlight", never mind that melanin production is genetic.
Have you seen black fish? I have.
Fish come in quite a variety of colors!
And then there's the whole SHE'S A FUCKING FICTIONAL CHARACTER BIT!
WITH A SINGING CRAB!
I don't recall people complaining about different underwater races being different colors in Aquaman. Maybe they did and I just didn't hear about it.
I did not want to see this movie. I do not like Disney simply taking an animated movie, remaking it as a live movie, and saying "Look! Give us money!" It's no better than taking an '80s TV show and making it in to a lousy movie. And yet, because of these FUCKING MORONS, I'm going to have to go to the theater and shell out $30 (including concessions, or $65+, including dinner) to see this movie to help it to succeed wildly just to rub it IN THE FACE OF THESE FUCKING IDIOTS.
https://www.boredpanda.com/people-using-science-mermaid-cant-be-black-explanation-shut-down/
(Don't hold back, Wayne, tell us what you really think!)
I'd never heard of this actress before, but apparently the rest of the world had judging by the amount of squee emitted.
But this deserves venting.
Thank you, Bored Panda, for providing this, and my rant is under the cut.
OMFG.
These fucking idiots think that SCIENCE PROVES that a FICTIONAL CHARACTER MUST BE PLAYED BY A WHITE WOMAN!
Because "it's dark underwater" and "you can't have melanin production without sunlight", never mind that melanin production is genetic.
Have you seen black fish? I have.
Fish come in quite a variety of colors!
And then there's the whole SHE'S A FUCKING FICTIONAL CHARACTER BIT!
WITH A SINGING CRAB!
I don't recall people complaining about different underwater races being different colors in Aquaman. Maybe they did and I just didn't hear about it.
I did not want to see this movie. I do not like Disney simply taking an animated movie, remaking it as a live movie, and saying "Look! Give us money!" It's no better than taking an '80s TV show and making it in to a lousy movie. And yet, because of these FUCKING MORONS, I'm going to have to go to the theater and shell out $30 (including concessions, or $65+, including dinner) to see this movie to help it to succeed wildly just to rub it IN THE FACE OF THESE FUCKING IDIOTS.
https://www.boredpanda.com/people-using-science-mermaid-cant-be-black-explanation-shut-down/
(Don't hold back, Wayne, tell us what you really think!)
no subject
Date: 2019-07-06 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 12:32 am (UTC)It just hurts my brain that people will simultaneously say “Ariel can’t be black” and “I’m not a racist but…” and “I have black friends!” I freely admit that I am a recovering racist: I said some pretty stupid things as a kid out of sheer ignorance. I try to be better. But if you don’t recognize what you are, there’s just no excuse.
There was another Bored Panda post about people crying that ‘Disney ruined their childhood’ by making Ariel black. GIVE ME A BREAK! Makes me wonder if they also whined when Obama was elected.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 01:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 02:04 am (UTC)Good one!
no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 03:19 am (UTC)(Optimal aquatic mammal size for thermal efficiency is apparently around half a ton. Sea-lion mermaids to that scale would be entertaining. And look, most of them are very dark indeed; being reflective at depth is bad.)
no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 06:57 am (UTC)And now my brain is flashing/slashing on a new category for AO3….
Excellent point about being reflective at depth!
no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 09:47 am (UTC)And what would (Hans Christian) Andersen think of Disney’s reworking of so many of his stories?
no subject
Date: 2019-07-07 09:58 am (UTC)ROFL! I hadn’t considered that - trans-species heroine! A true genetic chimera if ever there was one! I’ll bet Hans would be very off-put at Disney making so much money off of him and he not seeing a dime from it, but that’s how The Big Mouse works: the money flows up to them.
♦
Date: 2019-07-08 02:25 pm (UTC)Halle is actually primarily known for being a singer but she does act (and she's quite good at it to) and her voice is amazing. I think it's good Disney casted her since with Beauty and the Beast having Emma Watson who isn't exactly known for her singing ability.
I think the difference between Jason Mamoa as Aquaman and Halle as Ariel is 1) People don't have strong childhood feelings attached to Aquaman. He was always kind of lame and 2) Halle is visibly black. Jason Mamoa could probably pass as a white person if he needed to and 3) People tend to bash black women more than they bash on men of color.
It's wild how most of the people objecting to the casting are the same "I don't see color" crowd. Really makes you think.
Re: ♦
Date: 2019-07-08 04:10 pm (UTC)Your "I don't see color" comment made me think of the PBS showing of Lathe of Heaven when the therapist has him wish for no racial problems, and everyone becomes a universal shade of grey. Loved that movie, they did such a great job of that story!
no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 02:09 pm (UTC)This BS makes me so angry -- whether it's the Ghostbusters remake, or Little Mermaid...
If you don't like it, then just shut up and DON'T WATCH IT. NO ONE WILL FORCE YOU TO WATCH IT.
But when misogyny or racism creeps in, then I've got to strap on my Social Justice Warrior armor, buy tickets -- hell, buy extra tickets -- go see it (I actually have low standards for movies...if there's popcorn and I'm mildly entertained for 2 hours in a comfortable chair, that's good enough for me!) and then write positive reviews, rate it positively, do whatever I can to stuff it down the throats of these ignorant drama queens.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 02:56 pm (UTC)I never considered buying tickets online and not going, that just seems.... wrong. But you're right, that's one way of supporting it and not having to see it. We saw the live action Beauty and the Beast from a few years back and I was just so whelmed. I'd much rather see the old B&W French version than ANY Disney version of that film!
Personally, I thought the all-women Ghostbusters was a lot of fun, I (mostly) love me some Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones. Feige is a great filmmaker. I also have fairly low standards when it comes to being entertained at movies, but I am discriminating to some degree: I won't see just anything.