CNN digital senior entertainment writer Lisa France said Thursday on “New Day” that those objecting to black actress Halle Bailey playing Ariel in Disney’s upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid showed “racism is real.”
Co-anchor Brianna Keilar said, “Here’s the thing, and this is kind of, I think, one of the ugly sides of this, though, is, this isn’t totally well-received. Now, I don’t get this, Lisa. Why? Because we see, I mean, ‘The Little Mermaid’ isn’t real, right? The ‘Star Wars’ characters, they aren’t real. Hobbits. They aren’t real. Why are people you know why? I mean, I know why, but you have people who get so upset about these total … It’s not like they’re changing some sort of historical figure, so I just don’t even get it.
France said, “Well, you know what is real, racism is real, unfortunately. And people get so offended. I mean, and those who say we’re always trying to make things about race, people make it about race when they’re online, and they’re trying to debate the fact that, “Oh, she couldn’t have darker skin because she’s a mermaid and she’s under the water, and the sun wouldn’t be able to reach her. That’s about race. So, you know, to say, oh, we’re not making it about race. We just don’t want to see this remade. There was no reason for it. I just wish people would keep the same energy for racism as they do when they get called out about racism. That would be, I want to be a part of that world, actually.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN