The original voice of Ariel has defended Halle Baileys casting as the lead role in The Little Mermaids live action remake, amid cruel racist backlash.
Black singer Halle, 19, became the target of online trolls when it was announced last week that she has been chosen to take on Aerial in the new movie.
But Aerial OG Jodi Benson, who voiced the mermaid in the 1989 classic, has insisted she is all for Halles casting and argued the role is not about the outside package.
In fact, she thinks Halle perfectly captures the spirit Aerial, according to Comic Book.
I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters, Jodi said at Florida Supercon at the weekend.
And the outside package – cause lets face it, Im really, really old – and so when Im singing Part of Your World, if you were to judge me on the way that I look on the outside, it might change the way that you interpret the song.
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But if you close your eyes, you can still hear the spirit of Ariel, she said. We need to be storytellers.
And no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the colour of our skin, our dialect, whether Im tall or thin, whether Im overweight or underweight, or my hair is whatever colour, we really need to tell the story.
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Bailey is one half of singing duo Chloe x Halle – Beyonces protégés signed to her label.
And following in Queen Beys footsteps (Beyonce is playing Nala in the Lion King remake), Halle was confirmed to play Ariel on Wednesday in the film which will feature new songs from Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda.
The progressive casting has been celebrated by many – including stars like Halle Berry – but some users took issue with a POC actress portraying a character originally depicted as white.
It sparked the #NotMyAriel hRead More – Source
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