Racist Remarks Surface Among Disney Fans Once More

After a few rough few days on social media, it turns out that some within the Disney fandom have demonstrated their hidden racism once again, in a situation incredibly similar to what fans observed in 2022 and 2023 with The Little Mermaid live-action from Disney. 

It’s well known that fans are quite devoted to Disney classics. For example, Snow White (both the character and the film) are beloved by fans all over the world; in particular, the 1937 version of Snow White is widely acknowledged to be a fan-favorite. 

So, when Rachel Zegler was cast as Snow White in the upcoming live-action remake of the movie, many fans believed that she was unsuited to play the iconic character from the German folk tale. And many made sure they communicated this in no uncertain terms.

However, the Rachel Zegler instance was not the first time that fans demonstrated an unwillingness to accept different ethnicities and races being cast in Disney films. 

Previously, when Halle Bailey was cast in The Little Mermaid as Princess Ariel, fans made their displeasure about this known, and many even took it upon themselves to tank the movie’s reviews by review-bombing it online. 

Unfortunately, the internet is at it again. A similar situation has arisen on social media, except this time, Disney hasn’t even confirmed the casting.

This time, an Indian-American actress by the name of Avantika Vandanapu has been on the receiving end of a lot of racist backlash. 

Recently, rumors that Avantika Vandanapu was cast as Rapunzel in Disney’s Tangled, particularly the rumored live-action remake of the classic film, which was released in 2010, took root online. Many fans took to social media to share their unhappiness about this supposed development.

In fact, a TikTok video went viral on X when a woman filmed herself crying alongside the caption, ” Me pretending the little girl in me isn’t so upset by the live-action Rapunzel casting.”

“Unpopular opinion Rapunzel is a blonde white girl,” another fan wrote, “sorry but a Brown Girl with long black hair is not Rapunzel.”

Were that not enough, many fans have also taken to attacking the Indian-American actress’s Instagram posts with comments insisting that she will never be their Rapunzel.

What’s particularly disturbing about this situation is that unlike in the cases of Zegler and Bailey, Vandanapu has not actually even been cast as Rapunzel.

This rumor was created by a user online when they tweeted in March, “Sources say Avantika and Milo Manheim have been screen testing as Rapunzel and Flynn Rider for the Tangled live-action.”

It’s one thing to disagree with Disney’s official casting of an actress in a particular role. However, attacking an actress who has not been confirmed to be playing a certain role is unacceptable behavior.

my heart breaks for avantika. How a simple fancast cant get her so much hate. Her instagram comment section is rancid, tiktok is getting so many likes for being vile towards her and nothing has ever been confirmed. Avantika is a talented, beautiful woman who deserves none of this pic.twitter.com/W9bHhw7UNY

— ZAYNA🇵🇸 FREE PALESTINE (@sitcomabed) April 8, 2024

This kind of behavior was also seen previously when the stunning Yara Shahidi was cast as Tinker Bell in Disney’s live-action remake of Peter Pan and Wendy. 

Admittedly, the movie itself was not popular with fans and received unfavorable reviews. But many also took the time to attack Shahidi in the same way that Vandanapu is currently being attacked, and Bailey and Zegler were attacked in the past.

It is one thing to disagree with official casting, but to hold actors and actresses accountable and post online about their ethnicity and race being inappropriate for a specific role is perhaps a smidge too far, even for devoted fans. 

Of course, while some fans responded this way, others had fun with the rumor and imagined a Tangled live-action remake set in India with Vandanapu playing Rapunzel and Avan Jogia playing Flynn Rider. 

It’s worth noting, however, that the fan deleted their post soon after because “people took it seriously and decided to be racist.” 

Ultimately, it’s worth remembering that Disney is a global company, and perhaps it’s time to accept new ways of looking at old stories; something that Disney is particularly good at doing.

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