By David T. Valentin
D23 dropped some great news about Marvel, some new animated films, and some Star Wars news as well, but none drummed up as much attention as the trailer to the live-action The Little Mermaid.
The trailer features Halle Berry singing a few lines from arguably the most iconic song in The Little Mermaid, “Part of Your World” in which Ariel sings that she wishes to give up her life in the sea to join the humans on the surface land. Even better, a clip from D23’s reveal of The Little Mermaid in which Halle Berry sings from the infamous “what’s a fire?” line to the end of the song, and to say it brought beautiful chills down my spine is an understatement to the talent Berry shows, and will continue to show through the film, within such a limited clip.
The original clip of it has since been taken down from TikTok, probably due to copyright, but many users have dueted the original video in en mass to the point that I hope Disney decides not to continue taking down these snippets. After all, it is free marketing.
And while fans are in awe at Halle Berry’s extraordinary vocals, the true extent of her acting skills displayed in such a small clip, the reaction of Black little girls from all over the world watching the trailer to the live action The Little Mermaid is just the icing on the cake.
I mean, just look at these.
Of course, you have the naysayers bitching and complaining about how “it’s unrealistic for a mermaid to be Black” or them suddenly caring about something like “proper red-head representation” even though Halle Berry features with red hair. Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.
But in all truth, if the naysayers focusing on “proper representation” of a Danish FICTIONAL folklore after witnessing the amazing talent Halle Berry displays in just a trailer alone, I’m afraid they’re not concerned about “properly” representing the story or “wanting to see Black people tell their own folklores”; they’re just simply racist. And that’s that on that.
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