A thinkpiece by Shekinah Louis, writer at 3shotcine
“I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race... it makes you angry with a process like that. It makes you much more militant; it changes you.” – John Boyega, in an interview he did with GQ in September 2020.
Everyone loves a bit of nostalgia – it compels us in a way like no other. In fact, a study published by Neuropsychologia discovered that nostalgic stimuli activates our brain's reward system, much like other enjoyable experiences, like listening to music and having a delicious meal. It makes sense, then, that forward-thinking filmmakers would hope to bring such an avid viewing experience to their intended audience. However, we would’ve probably noticed that much of the films we grew up watching vastly lacked the inclusion of minorities and their stories. Being raised through the eras of Disney, our heroes and heroine’s, more often than not, adhered to a consistent template: pale-skin, thin-bodied characters, adorning luscious light brown or blonde hair with sparkly light-coloured eyes. Tangled, an animated movie inspired by the Brothers Grimm’s story of Rapunzel, was no exception to this. With the movie’s protagonist animated to be a long-haired, bright and bubbly blonde with green eyes, and her love interest being a brunette man with a lean build, Disney’s depiction of the fairytale characters was hardly a stone’s throw from the Eurocentric beauty standard. You can imagine then, the uproar that had erupted earlier this year when Avantika Vandanapu was fan-casted as Rapunzel in the rumoured, live-action remake. Similar to the cruel backlash that spewed following the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, numerous long-time fans of the franchise were indignant over the idea of casting a woman of colour in a role previously held by white women.
Tweet from @TheKandyMuse, on The Little Mermaid (2023) trailer
Nostalgia reboots in Hollywood are not at all uncommon. A fair example of a successful Disney reboot is the 2015 live-action remake of Cinderella, which earned a whopping 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and made over $540 million on the Box Office. In this remake, all of Cinderella’s features were nearly a carbon copy of the 1950 animated film. Lily James, who played Cinderella, bore an uncanny resemblance to the young workaholic. It was no question that such a movie held deep significance for both boomers who grew up with the movie, as well as younger audiences who had grown up watching various versions of the tale (shoutout to The Cinderella Project and Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, iykyk). Without venturing too deeply into its significance, it’s clear that nostalgia is a powerful, emotionally-provoking way of captivating both young and old audiences.
As many minorities would have noticed early on in their youth, most of the films that wind up getting remakes are frequently those that have stuck to the Eurocentric casting standards of old. Early Western cinema did not include many cast members beyond the aforementioned “ideal” framework – and as a result, most cult-classics and vintage English-speaking films were not great avenues of diversity. With Black and POC folk being treated lesser-than in everyday settings, regardless of their industry, it was no surprise that Hollywood had too succumbed to being of appeal to the majority race solely, sidelining any opportunity to amplify voices beyond their bubble of experiences. While there are several underlying political and psychological levels to understanding the concept of white supremacy as a whole, and would definitely require several well-researched books to understand, one thing remains clear — diversity in Hollywood is far overdue.
Let’s view Disney’s Tangled as a case study in this context. The origin story of Rapunzel predates that of the Brothers Grimm version, with the earliest recorded version of the folk tale dating back to Italy in 1643. This version of the story is named Petrosinella, with its French version Persinette released a few decades later in 1698. Regardless of the version that inspired the Brothers Grimm story, it is evident that Rapunzel’s story began as that of a European fairytale.
Due to its origins, many who argued against Avantika’s potential casting as Rapunzel voiced their concerns over its conflicting portrayal of race. By casting Avantika, who is an Indian American, in the role of what was originally a European-featured princess, a vast number of fans argued that it would be a different film entirely. A few stated that, rather than this potential casting being a move towards inclusivity, it swayed into the territory of tokenism — the act of executing surface-level efforts towards a minority group that fails to address or genuinely tackle issues of racism and misrepresentation. Indeed, casting Avantika as Rapunzel would not overturn systemic racism as a whole overnight. There’s no way of knowing if Disney would even portray an Indian character authentically — Mulan and Jasmine for example are characters that represented a ballpark of East Asian and South Asian races specifically rather than a singular ethnicity. Who is to say that the same won’t happen with Tangled’s live action film? In addition to this, it is difficult to predict if Disney’s attempt at “brownwashing” existing characters is merely a means for them to avoid creating more complex and original stories about minority experiences.
Avantika for Vogue India, photographed by Emily Malan
Yet, one cannot simply deny the importance and urgency of inclusivity. Many long-time South Asian fans of Tangled had expressed their excitement over potentially being able to witness a Rapunzel who looks like them! While many of us had been raised to see a Euro-Americanised version of Rapunzel on screen, it is magical to think that the next generation of Brown girls would be raised to see an enchanting princess, who shares their features and similarly, their struggles. A few fans were quick to note that Rapunzel’s experiences in Tangled were akin to that of an average South Asian girl: being raised in a culture that has hair care intertwined with ritualistic tradition, having this tradition being a connection point between a mother and daughter, and more importantly– a daughter being overprotected to the point of being unable to leave her own house. Such fans pointed out that Rapunzel’s experiences were extremely desi-fied in nature, with Rapunzel being easily relatable to Brown girls even while she was being portrayed as a white girl.
With both viewpoints considered, it’s clear that there is still so much work to be done with representation. Perhaps a middle ground between these opinions can be reached — while acknowledging that inclusivity is needed, it’s equally necessary to acknowledge that the work towards a more diverse Hollywood does not stop at casting choices. Here are my opinions surrounding this: firstly, If Avantika, or any actress of colour is casted, it is imperative that the quirks of Rapunzel’s character remains. Even if the casting director wishes to honour Rapunzel’s European beginnings, a suggestion could be to include a mainly-European cast of varying ethnicities, for one. An Italian or French Rapunzel does not automatically suggest that the Rapunzel in question must be white — it is completely possible for the protagonist to be of a varying ethnicity. In movies where a character’s ethnic profile plays a vital role in their character’s development, such concerns regarding a casting of a different race would mean a possible erasure of the original character entirely. However, stories like that of Tangled and The Little Mermaid do not have singular ties to specific races. It is completely possible for these stories to be replicated without the need for erasing the essence of the character. Rapunzel’s naivety, bubbliness and whimsical joy are not traits exclusive to certain races, but parts of her growing, coming-of-age spirit. With the movie centralising her turning 18, I would dare say that Rapunzel’s age is a more important factor to consider in casting, in comparison to her ethnic background.
Secondly, I believe that it is time for white Euro-American audiences to be able to find relatability in characters that do not share their features. Growing up with Western cinema since TVs were created, Black and POC folk have been raised to find white-featured characters thoroughly enjoyable and even relatable to their day-to-day struggles. I recall having watched Frozen in the cinema as a child, tearing up at Anna’s backstory because it bore a great resemblance to mine. It did not matter to me, a Brown girl, that she looked nothing like me– I found her immensely loveable and felt that we shared a similar childhood. In many ways, white folk have never previously needed to relate to characters that look vastly different from themselves– Western cinema has always pandered to them, giving them multiple avenues of representation for nearly a century. For this reason, I believe it would greatly benefit the next generation of white Euro-Americans to be able to grow up relating to characters that do not look like themselves. Not only would it expand their worldview of what a princess looks like– it would also encourage a deeper empathy for a wider, more vast group of individuals.
Tweet from @diamondthrone, on the fan-cast of Avantika as Rapunzel
While these are just some points to consider, I would like to emphasise that a mere race-swap is not, and will never be, enough. As much as representing features outside the Eurocentric standard is of high importance, so is representing real-life Black and POC stories. We are not just faces on a college campus brochure! It is so important that, while we amplify diverse casting in remakes, we are also encouraging the production of original, diverse stories. I don’t know about you, but in all, I strongly believe it is time for movie makers to put their money where their mouth is and commit to the diversity in cinema we’ve been hearing so much about.
References
Wang, X., & Gao, M. (2016). Nostalgia and the neural correlates of memory: Functional neuroimaging evidence that nostalgic experiences are processed in the brain's reward system. Neuropsychologia, 91, 123-134.
A thinkpiece by Shekinah Louis, writer at 3shotcine.
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