“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
― Lyndon B. Johnson
If the past several years have taught me anything, it’s that people who choose to ignore the suffering of others aren’t even any happier for it. If anything, they’re just as sad and angry as the rest of us, if not more so, but for all the wrong reasons. If they aren’t raging over the most petty of concerns, they’re misdirecting their anger at those who have it even worse than they do instead of those responsible. After all, a lot of the people the media claims suffer from economic insecurity have a suspicious amount of pricy toys, everything from lavish armories and souped up trucks (often complete with truck “balls” and crass bumper stickers, even as they demand the censorship of books) to private jets and vacation homes.
These people will angrily insist privilege doesn’t exist, but as long as Brett Favre and his co conspirators walk free after one of the most brazen cases of welfare fraud, they look like big ol’ liars to me, to say nothing of the endless parade of people above a certain tax bracket committing crimes up to and including rape and murder without consequence. They also insist they aren’t racist or sexist or any other ist, but any time anyone of another race, sex, whatever gets hired or promoted, they assume it’s a “diversity” hire of an unqualified applicant while taking their own merit for granted.
Anyway. I remember when I saw the first trailer for The Little Mermaid as a little girl, and especially the movie itself. The visuals, the music. It was big and dramatic and colorful, and I loved it. The Little Mermaid breathed new life into the Disney brand as whole. I felt underwhelmed the first time I saw Beauty and the Beast because it felt so bland and muted in comparison. After you’ve been under the sea, a dusty old castle just doesn’t hold the same appeal (apart from that amazing library).
I think Beauty and the Beast is the only live-action adaptation I’ve seen, and it was fine. Forgettable but fine. But the first time I saw the trailer for The Little Mermaid, it took me right back to the awe the original made me feel as a little girl. Halle Bailey threw me for a loop. I knew she was cast years before (to mild uproar), but I hadn’t heard her sing. She sounded just like Jodi Benson, at first. Then she made the song her own. The two things combined made the reason for her casting pretty obvious to my ears. I’ve also been involved in theatre most of my life so I’ve seen any number of people bring the same roles to life in different ways.
Meanwhile the same people who claim they don’t see color have lost their damn minds (or pretend to for personal gain). We have grown men making historical and scientific arguments against a black mermaid in a children’s fantasy movie loosely based off the story a man wrote to convey his dismay over another man’s engagement (and in which the mermaid dies). The single most defining characteristic of the little mermaid is her singing voice. Halle can sing. Everything else is moot. And nobody was this mad when Brandy played Cinderella or when Diana Ross moved on down the road to see the Wiz (I don’t think…it was a little before my time).
It’s also strange how many Americans get weirdly protective of the British crown and hate on Meghan Markle, though it does support my view that the defining struggle in the US has always been between those who believe in representation and those who believe in supremacy and subjugation.
At best, this ridiculousness distracts from very real, very bad things. At worst, it’s used to justify those things. People will believe in some single supersized cabal controlling the world (an idea linked to anti-Semitism) while ignoring the many groups that actually exist like the Federalist Society, which is the most powerful in the US. Similarly, the largest US broadcast company is Sinclair Media. Even if you subscribe to the inanity of a linear political spectrum, neither is “left” and both have outsized influence over politics and public perception – like pushing bogus culture wars.
If your biggest source of angst is an imaginary black mermaid, a real black woman marrying a “royal”, or Lizzo playing an instrument owned by a former slave owner (instead of yeeting it), reflect on the quality of your problems. The so-called ‘woke’ left is not one of those problems, but racism might be. It’s being exploited to perpetuate real pain and suffering for others, even yourselves. When human decency fails, one expects self-preservation to kick in. Yet I’ve seen people who experienced abuse empower and glorify the corrupt institutions that enabled it, even parroting their abusers and betrayers.
I don’t like people hurting, and I like it even less at my own expense. I don’t get people who hurt themselves or their loved ones to hurt others.
