Earlier in the month, Disney released the first trailer for its live-action movie The little Mermaid. First images that made people talk, in particular because of the inclusive choice of the American firm to opt for a black actress for its main character. A controversy that caused a reaction, starting with an AI aficionado who decided to replace actress Halle Bailey with a white and red-haired woman.
when AIs get involved
Alice in Wonderland (2010), Maleficent (2014), Cinderella (2015), The jungle Book (2016), The beauty and the Beast (2017), Jean-Christophe and Winnie (2018), Dumbo (2019), Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), The Lady and the Tramp (2019), Mulan (2020), Cruella (2021), Pinocchio (2022) and soon The little Mermaid, Disney continues to offer its catalog of cartoons in live-action format.
So next year has to come out The little Mermaida live-action remake of the 1989 cartoon. In 2019, Rob Marshall, director of the film, lifted the veil on his casting. The main role, that of Ariel, a white and red-haired woman in the Disney cartoon, was entrusted to Halle Bailey, a black actress. Accused of blackwashing, the director was forced to justify himself: “After intensive research, it became abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of energy, heart, youth, innocence and depth – not to mention an extraordinary voice – which are the qualities needed to play this role. iconic“.
Several years have passed and on the occasion of the 2022 edition of its D23, Disney shared the first trailer for The little Mermaid. As expected, the critics rocketed. A controversy in the face of which the interpreter of Ariel from the animated film wished to speak. Rather than sit idly by and wait for Disney to cave in to the pressure, a netizen by the name of @TenGazillionIQ ran an AI to replace the black actress with a white woman.
“Wish I might be part of that AI” pic.twitter.com/C1V8xogBgq
According to him, he would be able to do the same thing for the entire film. Only 24 hours would be needed once the film is released. An initiative that was not to everyone’s liking, and in particular to Twitter.
What kind of racist nonsense is this? People were so upset that they regarding a non-white but talented actress and singer playing Ariel that they decided to whitewash her and try to erase/invalidate Hallie’s racial heritage with misuse of AI technology?
What is this racist nonsense? People were so upset that a non-white but talented actress and singer was playing Ariel that they decided to whitewash her and try to erase/invalidate Hallie’s racial heritage using misusing AI technology?
Don’t want the black face, but sure to keep the black singing voice. Says everything
Don’t want the black face, but keep the black voice. That says everything
I’m forreal laughing that somebody spent the time doing this it’s so petty lmao
I’m really kidding that someone took the time to do this, it’s so petty.
And for good reason, the account announcing this replacement was immediately suspended. Despite everything, the initiators of this change seem determined to go following their idea.
