If you are a leftist or a left-leaning corporation, you know that once the Chinese Communist Party takes a shot at you, you are in over your head. And Disney, who recently introduced a portly, mustachioed man as a hostess of the Bibbidy Bobbidi Boutique at its California park, just can’t seem to veer left far enough or fast enough.
At issue is the remake of The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey in the title role. This of course is part of Disney’s plan to save on creativity by rebooting old favorites with the new actors as opposed to crafting new stories. Just get a POC or non-binary cast, pull up the original script, throw in some CGI, and there’s your new summer blockbuster. But the Mouse it seems, can’t catch a break. First, it was The New York Times bemoaning the fact that there wasn’t enough kink in the film.
Disney's live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, "reeks of obligation and noble intentions," Wesley Morris writes.
"Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing." https://t.co/GRE3yyIIfz
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 27, 2023
Because kink is what you are going for when you remake a timeless children’s classic. I’m sure Hans Christian Andersen is kicking himself beyond the grave for not adding any “kink” when he penned the original. The Times also felt the need to bellyache about the fact that the reboot wasn’t black enough since all Disney did was place black people in white roles. It even alleged that there were overtones of slavery. But who didn’t see that coming?
The Chinese Communist Party, on the other hand, wasted no time in taking a shot at the Disney Death Star because of the casting choices. According to Bounding into Comics, China’s Global Times, the CCP’s English language news outlet, commented:
Disney’s decision to cast a person of color as the lead in The Little Mermaid seemingly was made to break stereotypes and promote equality, but so far, the negative reactions outweigh the positive ones. This begs the question of whether Disney’s ‘political correctness’ actions are motivated by capital interests or genuine concern for representation.
The controversy surrounding Disney’s forced inclusion of minorities in classic films is not about racism, but its lazy and irresponsible storytelling strategy.
If the company truly wants to represent marginalized groups, why not create original stories that reflect their experiences instead of turning classic tales into ‘sacrificial lambs’ for political correctness?
If Disney continues following this path, audiences, especially innocent children will no longer care if the ‘prince and princess live happily ever after,’ but ‘what is the skin color of the prince and princess,’ and the fairy tale will lose its magic glory.
At first blush, the Global Times is correct, and the comments hit all of the right anti-woke buttons. But before we start nodding our heads in agreement, we should remember that the enemy of our enemy is not necessarily our friend. As Vivek Ramaswamy once pointed out in a speech, China is guilty of horrendous human rights violations. It practices predatory capitalism, leverages ESG at every opportunity, and is a massive, oppressive surveillance state. It is encroaching on the rest of the world, particularly in Taiwan. It never misses a chance to accuse the United States of outright racism and oppression of minorities whenever doing so suits its needs. And it is all too eager to replace the U.S. on the world stage.
This has nothing to do with China taking a stand for integrity in filmmaking or speaking out against the “woke mob.” If China cared about innocent children, or anyone else, it would never have put the Uyghurs into concentration camps for forced labor, sterilization, and sex trafficking. It would not be trying to sweep up the rare earth deposits and other natural resources around the world. It would not limit the speech and worship of its citizens. It wouldn’t be perverting U.S. children through TikTok. And it would have been perfectly fine with a prominent image of John Boyega on the posters for the last Star Wars trilogy.
This is about China trying to poke the hornet’s nest and stir up controversy in the U.S. It wants to humiliate Disney, inflame the SJWs, and get the conservatives to nod their heads in agreement. As Sun Tzu said in Art of War, “All war is deception.” When your enemy issues talking points with which you may agree, it is time to be doubly on guard.
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