The “House of Mouse” has been at the top of the western entertainment world for quite some time now. Disney made big splashes in the film industry dating as far back as 1932, when they produced the first full-colour cartoon. In more recent years, those industry changing splashes have shifted to accusations of catering to a “woke” culture that some will claim is the cause for loss of revenue for the megacorporation.
The most recent discourse came with the announcement of a live-action casting choice. Disney is rebooting, or reimagining as the Mouse House would say, the 2002 classic film, Lilo and Stitch. The outcry comes from the casting of Sydney Agudong as Nani, Lilo’s older sister. I found this a bit curious.
Agudong is of mixed background and was born and raised in Kaua?i, where Lilo and Stitch takes place. The upset stems from the fact that Agudong has lighter skin and more eurocentric features than the original animated Nani. This isn’t the only case of conflict for racial casting choices. The Little Mermaid, another recent Disney live-action reboot, caught attention for the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel. Physical characteristics and heritage do play some role in Lilo and Stitch, mainly that the characters Nani and Lilo presented something exceedingly rare: representation for many female Pacific Islanders. Though Bailey looks significantly different from Disney’s original animated Ariel, the story of the mermaid and its moral message are not impacted since it focuses on the story of a fish out of water, in the most literal sense. Having viewed the reboot, I can vouch that the change in appearance made little to no impact on the quality or plot of the film, though a hyper-realistic flounder was rather startling.
So, is it a major issue that a lead supporting character is being played by a lighter toned Hawaiian? Hawaiians come in all sorts of different tones of skin. Much of the population is mixed, like Agudong. Personally, as another person of mixed heritage, I don’t see an issue with it, especially considering she is native to the very specific location the film takes place in. Many people choose to see things as black and white, if you don’t naturally fall into one category or another, they refuse to acknowledge the grey and then force a person into one of the pre-existing categories. Agudong may be partially British-Irish, but that doesn’t diminish her Hawaiian heritage. It feels silly to argue about whether a woman born and raised in Hawaii and of Hawaiian descent should be playing the role of a Hawaiian. All of the cast members are varying in appearance and skin tone, which in my eyes it just shows the broader spectrum of Hawaii.
I believe people are caught up in old beliefs and are being hypercritical of choices made by other people rather than themselves. A mythical creature can look however you want and not every Hawaiian will look like the stereotypical image we have in mind. Disney is adapting to the mixed and multicultural world that we all live in, and I think that’s something to be celebrated, whether it comes in small steps or big waves.
Emmaline is working on her BA and ambitions to become an English teacher. They always say, those who cannot do, teach. She spends her free time buying, reading, and hoarding books with the hope that one day she will have no furniture and instead only have piles of books.
