5th Highest Opening $117.5 million “The Little Mermaid” and POC (People of Colour)

Racists have Review-Bombed it So Hard just because of a Black Mermaid. Adults & kids alike, from all backgrounds, will love this film. Fall in love w/ The Little Mermaid

For first, my skin arguably same tanned like football/soccer player Jamal Musiala (German National Team and FC Bayern Munich, he was create “crucial goal” then bring Bayern win Bundesliga 5 days ago)

Disney’s live-action movie “The Little Mermaid” brought in $117.5 million at the US box office in the fifth-best opening for Memorial Day weekend in history, according to Box Office Mojo.

The remake of the 1989 Disney animated classic stars Halle Bailey (March 27th, 2000) as Ariel. Bailey’s adaptation of the titular character was widely praised by critics, although the movie as a whole got a decidedly mixed reaction. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, just 67% of critics gave the movie a favorable review.

Audiences were far more pleased with the film, with 95% giving it a thumbs up on Rotten Tomatoes. But IMDB, which also tracks audience reviews, said it had to adjust some of its ratings overseas after it found the movie was a victim of review-bombing.

“The Little Mermaid” remake has been the subject of controversy in right-wing media and on some social platforms — with users posting racist tropes — because Disney cast Ariel with a black actress. The trailer for the film made its debut earlier this year, setting off a debate about whether Ariel should be Black or White.

Harold Perrineau (August 7th, 1963) has spoken up about how he was fired from ‘LOST’ after he asked that POC (people of color / person of color) characters receive more storytelling.

“You said you don’t have enough work here, so we’re letting you go,” Carlton Cuse told him.

Then, Gary LeRoi Gray (Feb 12nd, 1987) also spoke up via twitter to respond to viral-news about Harold Perrineau.

Gray:

“I have been an actor for a long time. Practically all my life. And as a Black performer I have been exposed to the many nuances and obstacles of being Black in this industry. One of the "no no's" that I hate with ALL MY BEING is the "you can't question the authority" trope. Harold Perrineau had done nothing wrong by asking the creators of Lost to consider changing a hurtful stereotype. In fact he did it maybe a lot nicer than I would have. Their first problem is that that's how they reacted when he asked for EQUAL STORYTELLING. He asked them to understand the responsibility you have when you put diverse characters in your projects. And they responded by writing him out the show. To say that this is acceptable would immediately put you on my shit list. They told that man "you said you wanted more to do, so we're letting you go". Right, because getting fired equates to more work. 

The bigger problem I have is that these minority performers like Harold (John Boyega comes to mind) then get reprimanded for speaking out against these practices or creators. It's also the reason my friends are afraid to tweet what they want for fear of messing with future work. After 30 years in this business. Working with everyone from Oscar Winners to Disney and Nick. But I still have to be a "good boy" and tweet nicely and interview politically correct so that someone thinks I'm docile enough to out in a recurring role? No thanks. Where so you go from there? You were on a number one show and you get smacked down to reality because you wanted more representation for the character you portray. Where do you from interviews we here you simply express yourself & end up having to do a TWO month long retraction. You get told by most Black performers coming up that you have to be a certain person to society in order to work. In order to make it in the spaces that get you what you want you have to be severely apologetic. And I dunno...it's so depressing to think about. And I guess the reason I'm ranting is because I'm entering a new stage in my career where I feel like I have more say in what I do and I also know what I deserve. And if this man who is infinitely a better actor than me can't go through without this happening to him then. What are we skewing optics for? Why am I being this robot of delusional representation when I can't even call you out for faking it. It's such a horrible hamster wheel and only a few have been able to do they own thing with success and without a major campaign against them. I hope that we are seeing real change. I really do. But it's hard to believe it really is. Our only saving grace is ourselves usually and when the weight is put all on you you get another group that just says "well make what you wanna see yourself" 

As if that's the answer

We all don't have the resources or the time or the personnel to pull it off most of the time. It's not easy. And the success of the few is not the automatic blueprint for all. And again it forces Black creators to just "repeat the process" and mentally that can be EXHAUSTING. I hope to exist in an industry where we aren't "watching what we say" or "just doing our job". We are tired of acting even when I step off set. The best role and challenge we have is to be ourselves and you telling me that isn't good enough. In time I know it will be different. But man, I'd be lying if I said that stuff like this doesn't bother me to my bones. My goal is to make sure that as a creator I don't pander to anyone but myself. Because at the end of the day it's the role imma die wit. 

Unfortunately, I don't think that's the answer. Though the more the merrier. But in the end, you can't add oranges in the bushel to get rid of rotten apples that are already there. It’s wild that one of your other tweets today focuses on a Black actor that simply asked for more inclusion and got fired. Meanwhile this tweet features an actor that went on a rampage of literal crime (*Gray’s response for another news that “Andy Muschietti says they will not recast Ezra Miller for a potential sequel to ‘THE FLASH’”) while their film was being filmed and in post production and gets an embrace. The fact that you feel like that is a dangerous term is exactly what my thread is about.

Love y'all,

GLG

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