They were referring to The Frog Prince in relation to The Princess and the Frog..
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Some Chinese filmgoers unhappy with Disney's Ariel casting
- Thread starter Yukari
- Start date
But it already exists??? Even before the whole Pooh = Xi Jinping controversy
I was all for it before someone pointed out on the front page that the original is based in the Caribbean oceans with Caribbean musical influences, and now I'm super all for it.
Don't worry, Disney has that covered with the whitewashing of John Smith and Pocahontas.
I don't quite understand why her ethnicity matters here. Like are you watching one of the newer Spider-Man movies and getting upset that Zendaya is MJ and she's mixed?
Interesting as there are many who don't really like Will Smith looking like he's from an Eiffel 65 video.
The fact you can name all of them off the top of your head should say something right?
I think our miscommunication lies in the fact that I'm following on from (and trying to expand on) what you are saying to make a broader point about stories and cultural identity.
I'm trying to talk about the absolutely essential parts of each story - the parts that make them uniquely that story - and what can be changed without losing that.
Disney is a perfect framework to explore this given their history of taking old stories from other cultures and modernising/altering them for mass audiences.
So, can the story of The Princess and The Frog be transposed into other cultures while losing none of the essential themes and key narrative milestones that make it unique?
Me, I would say yes, Fairy/Folk Tales are by and large very easily slotted into other settings and cultures. That's why I brought up the original tale, it shows that the story has been transposed, and very successfully, I might add. I think The Little Mermaid fits here.
On the other hand, could Moana, given its narrative and themes lean so heavily on Polynesian culture? I would say no.
Moana is, for all intents and purposes, a culture hero and her story bears the hallmarks of a creation myth: she brings back wayfaring to the people and restores balance with nature. It would be markedly more difficult to transpose this story convincingly to another culture, so changing Moana's race would have an effect on the essential elements of the story, unlike changing the cultures and identities of The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog.
Do you see where I'm coming from here...?
I suspect you missed the fact we were talking about The Princess and The Frog at that point.
I think it's a generational thing rather than just a geographical thing. Which hopefully means that we are making at least a little progress. Older generations grew up in a society where racism was normal and accepted.
I think she looks and is perfect for the role, I can't imagine anyone else in the role now.
Speaking of being obsessed with wanting lighter skin, it reminds me of a documentary I watched about people in I think it was south Africa using skin bleaching products to lighten their skin, crazy stuff that people would do that and yet I get why they do as they think people will accept them more if they have lighter skin which is so sad that they have to do that.
Sorry to go off topic it just made me think of it when someone mentioned them being so into lighter skin in China.
Speaking of being obsessed with wanting lighter skin, it reminds me of a documentary I watched about people in I think it was south Africa using skin bleaching products to lighten their skin, crazy stuff that people would do that and yet I get why they do as they think people will accept them more if they have lighter skin which is so sad that they have to do that.
Sorry to go off topic it just made me think of it when someone mentioned them being so into lighter skin in China.
Not that its necessarily related but China is heavily invested in Africa. Its not uncommon at all to see Chinese people over there.
Yea, on the one hand it's not like there aren't a Chinese people that are racist towards black people but cherry picking some takes on social media and trying to conflate it as all Chinese filmgoers is suspicious.
Haha it'll never see release just like the last Pooh film (Christopher Robin).
However the internet could produce a live action version of WTP set in modern times for the Chinese market by just stitching together clips of Xi's appearances.
Ya I'm wanting to see more evidence that this extends beyond a couple social media users.
People did that to Black Panther and China and that movie made bank in China
Like no doubt there's a lot of racists on the internet and China
But it doesn't seem to really bother the general audience who even if their not like 100% color blind or something don't seem to care enough
Given that only a handful of foreign movies are allowed screened in China each year, it doesn't surprise me that it'd make bank even with controversy surrounding it.
There were people using as shield by comparing gingers to a something akin to a racial minority
exactly
have none of y'all interacted with mainland asians before? I'm korean, not chinese, but I'll be 100% with y'all. a LOT of people in my parent's generation and older, whether japanese/chinese/korean, are racist against and uncomfortable with black people. they're incredibly ignorant on the issue, probable stemming heavily from a lack of interaction
It kinda did happen. Once Upon a Time's Triton/Poseidon was black
So was Ursula, Lancelot, and Merlin. And the show was Disney-backed
I never saw OG Ariel as white.
It's fair to ask how widespread the sentiment is and I doubt you have that answer
When discussing internet opinions you are necessarily cheering picking because not everyone has the same opinion.
It's fair to ask how widespread the sentiment is and I doubt you have that answer
The articles cast this as a widespread view in China, but cite 3 people's comments in each. A similar article could be written about people in any country. I'm not saying that the articles are wrong, but if they're trying to portray this as a widespread belief in a country of 1.5 billion people it would be good to have more than just 3 message board posts as evidence.
some of the comments in this thread, smdh. i agree with others that suggest this thread in itself is basic race-baiting bs.