Oh! I want to scream about this. Mostly because it’s stupid. It was the first live action remake of the cartoon. It shouldn’t have f’n mattered.

Every time this happens it makes me want to vomit. It’s Hollywood, she’s a mermaid. End of story! Freaking make believe people. It’s supposed to have entertainment value, not racial or political motivations.

That said, yes, there needs to be original stories and more people of color given the roles. Interchanging white actors in place of black actors or vice versa does come with problems. Idris Elba would’ve been a great 007. He would not have been James Bond. After a 60 year stint as a white dude it would have been a visual change that could’ve killed the franchise. So it won’t work every time. But in firsts or in non human looking mermaids it’s doable.

Sadly, stupid people will bitch about it again. Look at what they did to the actress playing First Sister in Obiwan on Disney. I rest my case. I’ll catch it on digital, just to see how it was but I could care less about the color of a mermaids skin.