[News Terms] 'PCism' Controversy Sparked by Black Mermaid

'PC (political correctness)' is commonly translated as 'political correctness.' It is an ideology that advocates not holding prejudices against various discriminatory conflict factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, culture, religion, and language.

The term originated in multiethnic countries like the United States, where eliminating discrimination and prejudice from a political perspective is considered correct. Although it spread actively in the U.S. from the 1980s, since the 1990s, critical voices from the conservative right have increased, arguing that it represents and enforces only the opinions of certain minorities rather than legitimate criticism based on valid grounds, leading to a full-fledged debate between progressive and conservative camps.

The Little Mermaid still cut.
Photo by Walter Disney

For example, in the American film industry, while 'whitewashing'?casting white actors ignoring the original characters?was criticized in the past, recently 'blackwashing'?changing white characters to Black actors?has become the target of criticism. This mocks the trend of unconditionally including Black and other people of color in works under the pretext of pursuing racial diversity.

Homosexuality is also a subject of debate between PC advocates and anti-PC advocates. Regarding PC advocates' stance on 'recognition and respect for homosexuality and sexual minorities,' anti-PC advocates emphasize that 'it is wrong not only to recognize and respect homosexuality and sexual minorities but also to force this on everyone.' Due to such conflicts, some parts of American society use the term 'Equal Opportunity (EO)' instead of PC.

The recently released Disney live-action film The Little Mermaid became embroiled in a PC controversy. The casting of Black singer and actress Halle Bailey as the protagonist Ariel was criticized as 'blackwashing.'

In response, some film experts argue, "The original The Little Mermaid itself was a 'politically correct (PC)' work from the start, as Andersen, who was a sexual minority, sublimated the sorrow of being rejected by a man," and claim that Disney's 1989 animated The Little Mermaid was rather a whitewashed work. The PC controversy is still ongoing.