Peter Pan & Wendy Accused of Racism Because of Tinker Bell
Disney continues to weather the criticism over its diversity goals. Now, yet another remake of the beloved classic is under fire.
Disney 's new remake, Peter Pan&Wendy, has finally received a trailer, only for it to arrive to a lukewarm reception, to say the least.
According to some fans, Disney's handling of the new Peter Pan project is... racist.
The reason for sudden fan backlash is the beloved pixie in the green dress, played by a Black actress Yara Shahidi in the movie version.
Many fans have criticized the decision to change the iconic pixie's appearance — and this is not the first time a similar scandal has marred an upcoming Disney premiere.
In recent years, Disney has pursued a strategy of maximum diversity in its projects, and it's not the first time that the casting of a Black actress in the role of an originally white hero has caused a huge backlash.
The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, the recent Little Mermaid scandal. Halle Bailey, who was cast in the titular role, had to endure a wave of hate after the trailer was released.
The consensus among fans is that Disney is simply "capitalizing" on global trends to make as much money as possible.
"Disney couldn't care less about making new stories with POC characters, they just put POC [people] to play white characters, and that shows 1) how lazy Disney is 2) how racist this is, it's like they don't think [people of color] deserve their own stories (beside like 3 animated movies?)" Twitter user tinyscribbles said.
Viewers don't understand why one would change the race of a minor character when the original cartoon already has a black pixie, Iridessa.
Many also recall successful examples of diversity in cartoons when the creators didn't just change the race of the heroes, but made separate titles where the protagonists were people of color, for example, Soul or The Princess and The Frog.
"So instead of giving [POC] their own movies or making new movies with [POC] characters, they decided to just make white characters black for some reason to be like heey we are so accepting we support everyone.. this is so weird, other then princess and the frog there isnt any other," Twitter user scarletWitch729 commented.
Fans are also outraged that diversity in film almost always involves the appearance of black characters, while Hispanic or Asian characters are still being neglected in most cases.
On the other hand, Tinker Bell was originally just a glowing ball that accompanied Peter Pan, so she's actually a character that any person can play.
And many agree that Tinker Bell's appearance contributes greatly to the representation of black people in popular culture.
Peter Pan & Wendy will be released on April 28th and we'll see if the haters change their minds after seeing Yara's performance in the movie.