Fans are clapping back at racist trolls critiquing
the casting of Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell in a Peter Pan remake.
But others point out that authentic storytelling
isn't just about seeing yourself on screen.
I’m Dometi Pongo and this is MTV News Need To Know.
On Tuesday, the official trailer dropped for the upcoming Disney+
movie, ‘Peter Pan & Wendy.’
And it faced racially charged backlash over the casting
of ‘Black-ish’ star Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell.
We saw similar clapbacks over the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel
in the upcoming live action adaptation of ‘The Little Mermaid.’
And over HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon,’ which cast Black actors
as members of the Velaryon family.
Some fans of these existing franchises complained that the
colorblind casting is not historically accurate.
But blogger Ken Barbie pointed out in a tweet:
Mad people have made the valid point that these are fantasy stories.
And while we should all celebrate actors of color
getting roles typically held by white actors, this conversation
resurfacing makes me question the motives behind
some of these colorblind casting decisions.
I mean, does changing Tinker Bell's race add
something new or substantive to the story?
Or is it just tokenism, using a Black actor to feign inclusivity?
Culture critics like Angie Speaks are highlighting
this “illusion of inclusion.” She wrote in Newsweek,
Like many other companies, Disney is relying on longstanding IP,
or intellectual property. ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ is the fourth
live action Peter Pan movie that Disney has made.
You've also got ‘Hook,’ ‘Peter Pan,’ and ‘Pan.’
Vice Staff Writer James Grieg broke down the reason
we’re seeing so many recycled stories in Hollywood:
Ratings and wins at the box office show that audiences have
been drawn to what’s already familiar to them,
making it much harder to launch brand new stories.
Businesses, including Disney, following the fallout from 2020’s
racial reckoning, vowed to create more opportunities
for creatives of color.
And this is why we find ourselves where we are today:
Remixing IP and giving some of the greatest Black talents,
like Halle and Yara, roles once occupied by white voices.
Yet the point a lot of these companies are missing is
that we want our real perspectives shown on screen.
There’s a difference between just seeing yourself on screen
and actually feeling seen on screen. And that comes with authenticity.
Now, the Marvel Universe did introduce more
Black, Asian, and Latinx superheroes in its latest phase of content.
And Disney has recently had a string of massive animated hits with
diverse lead characters, like ‘Coco,’ ‘Moana,’ and ‘Encanto.’
And as great as these films were, if viewers felt like something
was missing culturally, it’s probably because these three stories were
developed by white men and helmed by mostly white crews.
In an interview with ‘The New York Times,’ Aiko Hilkinger,
a screenwriter from Colombia, criticized ‘Encanto.’
FF2 Media is an outlet that supports the underrepresented
voices of women in film.
It found that in 2019, less than 1 percent of movies
streaming on Disney+ had women directors,
the vast majority of whom were white.
However, a 2021 Nielson study found that
So, if Disney expects to genuinely tap into this loyal consumer base,
they’re gonna have to realize that inclusive content means a lot more
than giving Black actors roles traditionally held by white ones.
I’m Dometi Pongo and that’s what you need to know.