The Little Mermaid.
My boyfriend asked me if I thought I would cry when we watched The Little Mermaid.
I said probably.
I figured it was likely because I’d cried when I’d watched the trailer.
And I’d cried when I watched Black kids watch the trailer, realizing that Ariel would look like them.
And I’d cried when Melissa McCarthy said that Halle Bailey’s singing made her cry.
And I’d cried when a little girl at Disney World ran into Halle and wouldn’t let her go.
Okay fine, I’m a crier, but it’s also true that this casting choice, the direction this film has decided to go, is pretty moving.
I know that representation isn’t going to fix everything, and I know that Disney has like a lot of problems, but when I tell you that I cried within the first five minutes of watching this film and kept crying throughout, it’s because it does something to see a film center someone like you, to make you beautiful and magical and important enough that the whole story cruxes on your existence and your desires and your needs.
At one point, my boyfriend pointed out a little girl dancing in front of us to “Under the Sea,” and I cried at that too.
I remembered the many times me and my sisters watched The Little Mermaid growing up, probably also dancing to this very same song, and not thinking—not consciously—about how the princess was White. It was the ‘90s and pretty much all princesses did not look like us, save Brandy in what we called the Black Cinderella, a movie we watched over and over again.
I know it’s not a new take to tell you that this Little Mermaid movie has and will mean a lot to me. And it’s also probably not news to tell you that I was struck, especially, by the care they took in this film—the quality of the music, the intention of the graphics, the long and beautiful shots of the sea. (We can talk about Ursula’s makeup later lol)
It’s a story we already know, yes, but what I loved about it, and why I think it’s still worth seeing, is the feeling of watching someone Black swimming and dancing and singing underwater—centered and free to make mistakes, to learn from them, to care and be cared for. It does something, to see yourself. I hope as we move into the future, more and more people get that chance.
Image: Disney
