The internet has been buzzing with excitement since the trailer of The Little Mermaid dropped. Adorable videos of young Black girls in awe as they see Black Ariel have taken the internet by storm.
Sadly, there have also been stories of those who disapprove of the casting choice, some going as far as to use A.I. to make Ariel white.
Now, a new video has surfaced, this one featuring The Daily Wire host Matt Walsh disputing the casting of the fictional fairy tale character because of...science.
In the video, Walsh stated:
"Also, by the way, with The Little Mermaid – can we also just mention that, from a scientific perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have someone with darker skin who lives deep in the ocean."
"I mean, if anything, not only should the Little Mermaid be pale, she should, actually, be translucent."
"If you look at deep sea creatures, they're, like, translucent. They have no, kind of, pigmentation whatsoever."
"And they're just, like, these horrifying -- they look like skeletons floating around in the ocean."
"That's what the Little Mermaid should look like. She should be totally pale and skeletal where you can see her skull through her face.
Walsh then finished with:
"And that would actually be a version of The Little Mermaid that I would watch."
You can watch the video below.
As you can imagine, Twitter users had plenty to say.
\u201c@JasonSCampbell Anti-science for vaccines. \n\nPro-science for fictional fish people.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@BoricuaEnMaui @JasonSCampbell\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@JasonSCampbell https://t.co/i3pefD3GqC\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@JasonSCampbell From a scientific perspective does he know mermaids don't actually exist cause that might blow his mind? \n\nI am so disgusted by some people's reactions.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@JasonSCampbell So you find nothing illogical about a half fish, half mammal, but the human half being black is a bridge too far?\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@JasonSCampbell What science says that white people can live deep in the ocean?\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@agcia87 @JasonSCampbell From a scientific perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense arguing the skin colour of a mythical creature.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@JasonSCampbell Dude is really out here defending racists by discussing the science of mermaids\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
Some Twitter users came to Walsh's defense, saying he was clearly kidding.
\u201c@JasonSCampbell So.... you can't tell when someone's joking?\n\nIs that what this is a demonstration of?\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@M_Singular @JasonSCampbell At one minute and 10 seconds, he pauses, now he's done responding seriously to the comment, but decides to tell a joke about what a real mermaid would look like. I believe the comedic style is called "deadpan." Watch it again from there with the premise that he's telling a joke.\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
\u201c@JasonSCampbell This was supposed to be an effin joke https://t.co/nseacRXTfB\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1663189520
Walsh himself later posted a follow-up tweet:
\u201cI said Ariel should be played by someone with translucent skin like a real deep sea fish and thousands of Leftists took me seriously and are calling me racist because of it. I\u2019m actually being accused of harboring racial favoritism for translucent people. I love it. This is great\u201d— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh) 1663198466
Kidding or not, Walsh should have been more sensitive to the controversy surrounding the new Ariel's race. The fact that his "scientific" argument was allegedly in jest doesn't mean it wasn't racist. As Douglas Adams said, “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.”
The Little Mermaid is set to be released in May 2023.
NBC News via Lisa Anderson
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