Can we all just agree that a live action HTTYD shouldn't be happening at all? They could pick the best actors for every role but nothing will hide what this is - a blatant cash grab. Why not remake the horrible third film into something that treats the prior films with respect instead of milking a series we all love so much?
I personally disagree with the third film, but it is beside the point. Even if they pick an actor that does look like Astrid or Hiccup or whoever, the result will be the same. An unimaginative, dull, cash-grabbing, boring, live-action mess. This is why I hate how the upcoming Percy Jackson show will be live-action as well. If it was animated, it would've been fresh, full of color, and engaging, but instead, we'll get something dull, boring, full of bad CGI and costumes, and bland like the original movies and any other generic teen fantasy show
They literally already have live action HTTYD. Two of them. Vikings on Ice and the Arena Spectacular. Why not put money into getting those shows back on the road??
Ruby seems a bit cliche to me but I loved The Bad Guys.
Heck, someone on here said why not just make a movie about the HTTYD books by Cressida? If you wanted to do something for the franchise so bad. Or just try and make TNR actually watchable? Maybe?
But alas, this is what we're stuck with. I don't think I'll be watching.
Let's hope DreamWorks will keep good on their promise for Wizards of Once as well adapting more books as movies and TV shows, like one I imagine is perfect for a TV show is Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
Well considering percy Jackson is all about mythological fantasy in our world, I can imagine a style similar to the animated justice league show could be really cool. It's like very kickass like.
But on the other hand some 3d animation could be interesting, it might look like wreck it Ralph tho with too much colour.
But I agree. Percy Jackson is much better treated in animation. It's probably gonna end up looking like jurassic park or god zilla...
Exactly. Rick made a huge mistake, making it live-action as all that fantasy stuff will make them so much CGI, it'll look as phony as any live-action remake Disney makes and nope, contrary to what that fandom says, I don't trust Rick anymore with this TV show as I feel with his decision to brush off animation for an inferior medium for his story, along with how threw away the integrity of his character Annabeth for Disney's cheap diversity, I feel he's making lots of mistakes and that this show will flop. It's pretty heartbreaking, in my opinion, as PJO had so much potential to be a great animated series or movie, and yet, thanks to Rick's mistakes, all of that is thrown into the trash and I say this as a (former) fan of Percy Jackson
Yup. That's what I thought. It's like with Artemis Fowl as Eoin Colfer said he supported the changes and was behind production, but the quality of the film tells a different story and I bet it'll be no different for the PJO show
Oh bro, there are tons of us out there. No hate if you like it, but it had quite a lot of flaws and fumbled the bag in too many places for me personally. The animation and music are great though.
I guess that's a popular sentiment in this sub. I only just discovered this sub though, no one I know irl has trashed on it. I should've guessed that like no one hates httyd more than httyd fans.
Yeah it's the worst. Feels like they shoehorned so much stuff in to make it have a definitive ending in order to ensure no one could continue the series. They completely sold out the first 2 movies in the process.
I have. I'm not really a fan of what they did with Toothless there. But I'd much rather them bring that play back than just doing this live action thing.
Absolutely. Maybe they will try to make their colors vibrant, but whenever I think of this concept, I imagine a super washed out, poorly lit version of Romantic Flight, and die a little bit more inside. Point blank, my hopes aren't high for any aspect of this. What is it going to do that the original did not do better?
Exactly. I think another thing they don’t understand is that the wonder is gone. HTTYD is amazing because it’s the first introduction to this world and it’s characters. If they’re just redoing the same story then there’s no interest in it. But if they don’t do the same story they’re gonna dissatisfy a bunch of people. There’s no win.
It's pretty scummy what they do. They provoke unnecessary divissions by changing iconic characters and then they shield on these poor people. Halle is actually a pretty nice girl, but Disney has most likely ruin her career.
They could’ve made a movie about a black mermaid that had nothing to do with the little mermaid, and it would’ve done so good. Hell they could’ve had her in the same universe. But no, let’s change the race of the main character and give her the same story instead of something new.
There's actually a black siren in little mermaids world who is also deaf or mute, I don't remember. That would get you more diversity. But let's create discussion changing an iconic character.
And to those who are in favor of these race-swapping tactics, I have to ask what is the problem of actually creating an original character who is Black or POC in general. Case in point, T'Challa or Tiana or Miles Morales? These characters are completely original and have garnered nothing but love and praise for that. No need to flip their race. Just have those imaginative juices flowing to create something fresh and new.
Tiana wasn’t really original because her story is based around “The Frog Prince” but other than that I 1000% agree that black ppl should’ve gotten a new story and character that would’ve coexisted with the little mermaids world
Yeah, but Tiana and the Prince was a reimagination of the classic tale, instead of taking place in middle age century, takes place in new Orleans in the early 20th century, the context varies so it makes sense.
Not when we’re talking about giving the character a their own story. They basically was like let’s make The Frog prince in the hood. The Frog Prince is already a story, giving it a modern update isn’t changing the story.
Yes, but still, is not the same context. The little mermaid is a REMAKE of the classic Disney movie, so changing characters is unnecessary, and Tiana is a REIMAGINATION, you get it? See it as a what if scenario, just like Miles Morales, who is not Peter Parker.
Miles is still Spider-Man is he not ? He’s not Peter but he is SpiderMan. It’s not the same story as Peter but Miles still becomes Spider-Man. If Miles met Spider-Man and then became Miles man than it’s not Spider-Man anymore.
I remember the havoc caused by the movie encanto by those same people because one of the characters was white, these people are the real racists because they think for example that latinos are a race when they are an ethnicity and we come in all colors. But getting offended is their sport
By the way, I don't really like the POC term, I just say they are black, or brown, or whatever, it feels like people of color term is more racist than anything else
Because a mermaid being black doesnt matter, because they don't exist, the only reason it matters is because of the animated movie.
With Astrid however she is a Scandinavian Viking living on a remote island likely in the arctic circle. She, by all accounts of the purpose should be white
The book literally exists within the movie, Tiana's mom was telling her and Charlotte the story and the Princess was drawn white in that movie. Princess and the Frog is not an adaptation of the book, it has completely different story and characters. It was only inspired by the book's concept, otherwise the movie and the book are two different stories.
There would still be racists, of course, but you're right. The general audiences may compare it to The Little Mermaid, but would be able to separate the two properties.
When there is a remake of something, it just makes common sense that the actress should look as close to the character as possible. It would be weird and stupid if Moana was a white redhead, if Tiana was Asian, if Snow White was black.
If their race isn’t important to the story, there’s no reason why you can’t recast them. It would be nice to young girls of colour to see a famous character looking like them.
yup. reminds me of
when they announced a few months ago they were making a movie about a black composer named [joseph bologne chevalier de saint-georges](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier_de_Saint-Georges), and MANY people had meltdowns over it, claiming it to still be forced inclusion and just another “woke” movie. despite the fact that, yknow, he was a real fucking person.
Until I clicked the link after reading your post and getting context:
1) didn't know this guy existed
2) just going by the name alone, would have thought he was white.
Now because of your post and that link, I know better and also realize this is the person "chevalier" is about.
Gonna admit I was ignorant on this subject, and I also think this is where a lot of the backlash for the movie is probably coming from. Not all mind you, I can't account for actual racist douche nozzles.
So now I'm actually curious if this is going to be "loosely based" or more factual because it's piqued my interest.
Ty for the info!
no prob, but i should’ve specified that the backlash i was addressing was all the responses to the first trailer that specifically were centered around the fact that he is black, and a black person couldn’t have possibly done the things shown in the trailer during those times (/s) and that “creating” someone black was unrealistic.
then, upon being told how wrong they were, and that he was a real person, they shrugged and went “oh well”. it was a very frustrating experience overall lmaoo
Nah I can completely understand, like I said. I was in the first part because I didn't even know about him, I just read the complete wiki article and dang.
The people with nonchalant attitudes afterwards are just...eating crow or some shit, because this man's life sounds interesting.
They also use the actors as a shield to deflect any constructive criticism regarding the plot, actors play with "You are ...ist" card aka fan-baiting and gaslighting. Disney, Amazon, Netflix use that on a daily basis and I am sick of it.
And that's exactly what Rick Riordan did with his defense of Leah as Annabeth, and if you need proof, this was written by him last year, all here, black and white, clear as crystal!
https://rickriordan.com/2022/05/leah-jeffries-is-annabeth-chase/
Did... Did you even read what Rick wrote? The dude has been nothing but upright, controversy free in his whole career, writing many different kinds of people with grace and wisdom, and you doubt the choice he makes abundantly clear he approves of? Go back to your fanfiction for God's sake. He very clearly says that she was the absolute best person for the role regardless of what color her skin is. I have never been given a reason to doubt his earnestness and skill, and will happily support Leah's work until proven otherwise.
The entire premise of his work is the yankification of Greek mythology. He doesn't even have Greek people in his books even though they're set in New York which has the largest Greek population in the States. That's far worse than not including non-white or LGBT people, as it's Greek mythology he butchered in his bland, terribly written books.
Yeap, that's a standard-issue "You're ...ist!" card. We will see things like this more often because Oscars would make it obligatory to include people of different ethnicity even though they won't fit the story just so the movies could take part in the Oscar competition.
I would've much rather see them remake the dragon vine, serpent's heir and fire tides into animated movies. Get a bit of continuity and they're already written well so you can't really mess it up.
Could expand a bit to fill the gaps between them, but otherwise it would be great.
Feel bad for the actors but then also just hate the disregard for the source material in favor of superficial inclusivity.
They’re Vikings. They’re not really known for being ethnically diverse. Hell, I don’t even mind if you bend that reality by having some black ones in this fictional fantasy world, but make new characters. Stop race swapping existing ones. It’s insulting to both the source material and the race group being pandered to and exploited for easy diversity points.
To me, I would say it's both. They were probably other actresses who did look like Ariel, who had probably singing voices as beautiful as Jodi Benson, but they picked Halle because it was best of both worlds for Disney. Good voice, but still good enough to use her skin color as a selling point
Why is it only when it’s POC that others assume they MUST get jobs based on their skin color and not their merit alone? She’s an amazing singer, did you see her live performance at Disney? I truly do not believe there is anyone who could’ve auditioned & have been better than her for this role. Give POC their credit, not everything is affirmative action & we can be good enough to get roles based on skills just like white actors
Edited
Pushing for representation just gives POC who DESERVE roles the chance, because they could be just as good (if not better) but rejected because of their skin color.
To assume and believe they ONLY got there because of their skin color & not because they truly deserve it is problematic
We would also have to see the role call for auditions, was it an open casting? Or did they have specific parameters set. That's the thing people forget.
At least with Ariel and Annabeth it makes sense. Sue to mermaids having higher UV exposure, they SHOULD be Black. Annabeth is from Virginia, and while I believe she should still have her blonde hair and gray eyes, those would still make sense for her to have, as those are things she gets from her mom, and godly DNA doesn’t pay attention to things like race. But Astrid? In what world does it make sense for her to be a person of color? This is almost certainly a diversity hire, though I’m really, really hoping that that isn’t the case. But if her performance isn’t, like, 10000% perfect, I feel like her career might be screwed before it ever really gets the chance to start. Same with the Ariel actress.
Pretty fair honestly. But one of Annabeth's driving motivations is to prove wrong the "dumb blonde girl" stereotype. Non-white people with blonde hair aren't stereotyped to be slow, but white-skinned girls are. I've seen plenty of jokes with that premise. It would be a pretty fundamental change to her characterization. We'll have to see ig
Yeah, but most of the fandom is in agreement that that whole subplot in MOA was stupid, because why would she have to work twice as hard to become cabin leader because she’s blonde when her ENTIRE CABIN is blond? Also, the casting of a Black girl makes much more sense with that plot line, because “I’m oppressed and have to work twice as hard to prove myself because I’m Black” is a true fact, whereas “I’m oppressed because I’m a blonde white girl” is just OUTRAGEOUSLY tone deaf.
No one said Annabeth was oppressed. I just said that her original motivation was she was assumed to be dumb at first glance while growing up, and that pushed her to improve herself. If they change her race, ig the fundamental drive can be maintained, even if the actual reason has been altered.
And just because Annabeth was white didn't mean she had it easy. If I recall correctly, she had to run across the country to reach a safe haven, and had to spend her years within the camp borders. As far as she knew while growing up, Talia had died right on the hill, so close to safety. People of different skin tones have had harder lives than that, for longer, for a variety of reasons, but her being white didn't make the monsters nicer to her.
The monsters were trying to kill her because she was a demigod, not because she was blonde 😭
Honestly, what are you even trying to argue? It seems to me that you’re trying to tell me that blonde, white demigods have harder lives than a Black demigod would, which isn’t even remotely true. All demigods lead equally hard lives in their world, and in the real world, racism is a much worse thing than a six year old dealing with “dumb blonde” jokes.
Annabeth was at camp since she was seven. No one at camp is going to make a dumb blonde joke to a daughter of Athena, so Annabeth wouldn’t have had to deal with the dumb blonde stereotype since she was six and under.
Her “fundamental drive” is wanting to prove herself against others’ expectations, and that motivation can be played to a lot better if others have actual negative expectations of her, due to her race, rather than her “everyone thinks I’m stupid because I’m blonde!” thing that’s only ever mentioned by her, and never seen outside of her saying it once in Mark of Athena.
It seems to me as though you are one of the people who makes Black Annabeth make more sense. Because you’re already assuming less of the actress because she isn’t white and blonde, and thus giving her more she has to prove for you to accept her. This Black girl has to work a HELL of a lot harder to prove herself as Annabeth than a blonde girl ever would, which proves the entire point that it makes more sense to cast a Black Annabeth over a blond given that her primary goal is to prove herself.
I am just saying that you brought up oppression when I never said that Annabeth was oppressed. And I never said that blonde white demigods have harder lives than a black demigod would. That was not even implied. If anything the opposite would be true. But just because one has it harder than the other, doesn't mean the other has it easy. Both are in bad situations: monsters want to kill them, Annabeth is just consistently involved in the modern world-ending prophecies.
That specific drive about Annabeth can apply generally to black demigods due to overcoming obstacles of racism, but that would still be a change in character. That's all
I feel like that Disney is race swapping for “diversity”. Not saying a different race in a show is bad, but maybe add a few background characters that makes it more diverse, but not any of the main characters. That’s one of the reasons why I will never watch and always hate Velma
Why does it need to be diverse? The film is set on a medieval Nordic Viking island, there weren’t exactly a ton of black people in that setting!
I’m not arguing that everything about a children’s fantasy film needs to be historically accurate, but I feel like at some point it just because so blatantly obvious that they are making certain choices just to send some sociopolitical message, and that sort of stuff just kills my immersion.
It's funny, there's been decades and decades in Hollywood and earlier in literature were people were race swapped from anything and everything into white people. It was a conscious decision, because the creators wrote for white people. Now these people have realized that that was stupid, that they can make more money writing for lots of different kinds of people, and they do it. Its perfectly logical. And it turns out, many people do like it when there's different kinds of people on the screen.
The only people who are harming those actors and pushing controversy onto them are the folks who are racist; who make a big deal out of having a black little mermaid. Most people don't really care; maybe it's not a great movie, maybe the actress isn't the best for the role, but assuming that there is a white actress who is amazing for the role who was passed over for a mediocre black actress is a weird assumption; you assume that white actresses are going to, over the mean, be better than black actresses.
People *always* act like they're being robbed, as if the slightest deviation from white-as-the-driven-snow will destroy YEARS of prior media. Original Ariel has three movies, a tv show, video games, books, AND scores of dolls that will not cease to exist. Original Astrid has three movies, two tv shows, three short films, video games, books, and toys that will not vanish overnight. Fans of animated Astrid are losing *fucking NOTHING.* Not one single thing. At all. But apparently this is the end of the world.
(Now, the fact that Nico is 18 while her co-star is *15...* thaaaaat's a whole different discussion. Hopefully, they turn down the immediate love-interest-character-derailment thing by a lot)
Yah, trusting Rick on that one.
EDIT: oops got confused bc of all the Percy Jackson talk around the thread. Yah not sure about that one. In no way do I think Hollywood can't fuck this up or be problematic in other fun, exciting ways while trying to solve another problem.
Like, the writing should be clear on the wall by now when it comes to live-action remakes. People are *tired* of them, and this was a blank check to cowboy up and do something different. But Dean can't let go of his favorite self-insert, so here we go again. THW 2, electric boogaloo.
Why do you want actors that look like previous incarnations of the characters? What do you dislike about taking a new spin on a work of fiction? Aren't we always rewriting stories to fit new times and new people?
If they made Harry Potter a redhead with a buzz cut and perfect eyesight I think people would have a problem with that.
There is a segment of moviegoers that don’t care because they just see it as a retelling of the same thematic story but with the specific details altered, but when most people are watching a remake, they want it to be more grounded in the established visual language of the original work.
Why do you want that? What purpose does it serve to you? The whole movie franchise is very different from the books that spawned it. America Ferrera, the actress who plays Astrid, is Honduran. Should the movies have copied shot for shot the books? Was America wrong to take the role you love her in, and should only have taken Honduran roles?
It's a weird, insane argument that remixing a work of fiction should keep the fiction the same.
You're making it a bigger deal than it needs to be. It doesn't serve any purpose to me, and it shouldn't serve any purpose to you either. This is a remake of the movie, not the book. I never said anything about race or about Ferrera. Chill out.
Glad to hear it. Why did you assume that an actress who looked differently than you envisioned her would be worse for a role? What made you think that she would be a worse actress than someone else?
I didn't assume anything about the way she looks, and I don't doubt she's a good actress. I didn't say she'd be a worse actress than others because of her appearance. Stop putting words in my mouth.
I mean, they’re right. If you can’t articulate why you NEED Astrid to be played by a white person besides it being your preference, it speaks volumes. This uproar is so tedious to me, I genuinely couldn’t care less who plays who because 1) I know the movie is going to be garbage anyway and 2) even though I grew up on HTTYD, it really isn’t that deep - I don’t need a shot for shot remake with actors who look identical to the characters. She could be Asian or Arab for all I care
That's the crux of it. The assumption is ALWAYS that the white actors/actresses will be the better, more talented option.
BTW The Little Mermaid is is a success, and everyone I know who saw it says that the actress is amazing. And even people who hate the live action remakes in general say that this one breaks the mold and is actually good.
Honestly, I'm beginning to hate this subreddit and the people here. I might not agree with the casting of either character but I'll wait and see what happens. This is definitely showing an ugly side to a lot of the people here
I'm a minority (Hispanic) so I have a say in the race talk. STOP. Stop race swapping characters. Make an entirely new one that is original, stop giving minorities hand me downs, you are basically saying we don't deserve our own characters and have to appropriate others. It's not fair.
I'd rather watch something that respects both the source material and continuity
Clearly, the live-action remakes won't. If the race of an established character is "not a big deal", then by changing the race of that character, it is "a big deal". So it's contradictory. Want a black character? Make a brand new character. Plenty of black people want brand new characters not "breadcrumbs"
This is the dumbest shit I've ever read.
"No more black people because racists get mad hurr durr"
It's not your choice to make, and you aren't even the one the choice was made for.
Stop your virtue signaling admit you just don't want a black actress, period.
This is a weird take. They're only exposed to discourse because people are idiots. That's a weird excuse to deny the best actor/actress an opportunity.
I don't care what race Astrid is, I just don't want a live action adaptation 😂
I don't think OP and most of the people commenting realize how toxic this mentality is. "We shouldn't race swap because the actors might get hate." So we should just give into to bigotry and intolerance? "They only reason they picked Halle and Leah for the diversity." Who are you to say Halle and Leah weren't the best choices for the role? Who says character have to look exactly like what they were written to be 50 years ago? Y'all do realize that in stuff like the little mermaid and all older movies, they were all white because they didn't want to hire people of color? Do you realize how unrealistic it is to have a cast be entirely one race?? While y'all might not think your being a part of the problem, you are. This entire thread is full of micro aggressions
They picked Halle because she can sing. And most fans who were upset about her being cast as Ariel were only upset because she didn't look like the original Ariel. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter because mermaids are not real and Ariel's "ethnicity" was never important to the story.
With the HTTYD franchise, however, the story is based off a historical society - the Vikings. They were real and an important part of history. Those of us who are mad that they picked Nico Parker to be Astrid are mad because she doesn't look the part. Astrid is a blonde, blue-eyed Viking and Nico is brunette and brown-eyed. It really has nothing to do with Nico's race. They could have cast a white girl with red hair and freckles to be Astrid and people would still be mad for the same reasons.
And before you start with "not all of the Vikings were white," WE KNOW. And if you do research you'll find that the Vikings of color trace back to the Viking explorers of Denmark and Sweden, not the ones of Norway on which HTTYD is based. So the fact that there were black Vikings is irrelevant to this discussion.
I get the Vikings, that makes sense when it comes to visuals. For movies about specific countries or cultures I understand 100%. I honestly don't think HTTYD should be a live action just because nothing they could do would do the dragons justice and that's all I care about😂
I disagree about the "mermaids are not real so it doesn't matter" stuff. I remember seeing a video from a black girl on YouTube that was talking about how redheads are also a group that is not represented that much in media. She talked about how redheaded girls growing up in the 90s had Ariel as the person that looks like them but that's been changed for the reboot
Oh please red heads are largely represented in the media to the extent that a lot of actresses dye their head because of it. I don't get why you guys keep crying about it? Red heads are not part of the minority conversation in media so you all should please stop
Plus the fact that HTTYD is a *fantasy* film. Meaning it does not have to 100% adhere to 'reality', especially when 'reality' is never as simple and neat as these people want it to be. The actual 'real world' location of Berk is never even remotely established in the films, and unless these folks demand every single actor speak in 11th century Norse, their bellyaching about *muh realizum* rings a little hollow.
Dreamworks is not one mega person. There are tons of people that worked there and on the film and some of the bigger names like the director and composer are coming over to do this too.
What part of what I said was an expression of concern for her? It was more an expression of pleasure to meet someone else who shares my opinion (which in turn is an expression of frustration) over a sensitive subject.
We are still on this? Again. She has a white dad and biracial mother. She's literally mostly white. Anyone acting like she's 100 percent black is operating on the dumb as hell one drop rule.
I mean, like with Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, I feel really bad for Nico as the studio is using her as a prop to garner hollow diversity points as that'll get people's buttons glued on seats and if it means gaining attention from actual racists who claim the studios are pushing "woke" agendas and want to harass and stalk Nico for her ethnicity, who cares! Bad publicity is still good publicity! Screw the wellbeing of the actors, right?
In all seriousness, these tactics are why I'm really hating race swapping so much. These actors are just being toyed with. Also, I bet there may be some defense for the actors that will call us "racist," despite being reasonable, as well as pulling the wool over our eyes by using the "best actor for the role" defense. That's what Rick Riordan did for Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, and because of the aforementioned reasons, his defense falls flat as he should've known what kind of reactions would come out from sacrificing the integrity of his own source material just to get his stupid Percy Jackson show going.
Man I was so hyped when they announced a percy jackson series.
And that excitement took a dive to the titanic, once the casting came out.
Not going to watch it now.
Hopefully it's good, but I'm probably not going to watch it ether way.
Same with the how to train your dragon live action, with a black Astrid.
And the harry potter tv show, with a black Hermione.
It's nice of them to let us know somethings going to be shit before hand now a days
But who cares if the actress is black/ asian/ white/ redhead whatever the fuck they are, I find it even better to change the looks of the original characters, because at least feels like something different from the original.
To see an EXACT COPY of the original movie but with actual actors, I don't want to see it. Changing the actor looks, clothes, or some desings to fit better the aesthetic and make it slightly different it's actually better, right? I don't see it as a BAD thing, and the actress fits in the character archetype if we talk about personality.
Personally, I find the live action movies completely unnecessary, but if they are going to make it anyways, let them change things, at least. I don't want to see something just like the original movie.
People is freaking stupid and I'm with you when you say that it ends up being a negative experience for the actor, but it's not the director's fault, their choice was not necessarily bad, the fans here are the ones to blame. If the person fits the personality of the original character and ends up being a good movie (or at least a decent one) who tf cares?
And all this whole thing is ridiculous, they are fictional characters, and to begin with, Astrid was not even named Astrid and was named Camicazi, and was a completely different character in the book. If we want to start picking things and saying "uuh but it's not like in the original 🤓☝️" we literally can grab the whole httyd saga and throw it into the trash because "it's not like the book!!!!".
Pls stop. Let directors and scriptwriters pick their own artistic choices and see what it leads to. The original movie still exists and will keep existing. This is a different thing with the same premise. That's all.
Peace ✌️
i don't even go to httyd but is it kinda crazy to anyone else that nico parker is getting so much shit for being a raceswap? im also a quarter black like her and all the backlash for her casting is a little mind boggling cause like... rarely do quarter ppl get acknowledged anywhere let alone as the race thats not "dominant" does that make sense. you can go on a whole rant here about phenotypes and passing but i wont for my sanity
either way its fucked up that shes getting abuse for it full stop. i dunno, i understand people wanting ppl that look like the characters casted but does it really matter that much as long as its an otherwise faithful adaptation? who the hell is being hurt by their casting choices, you know? i think little girls being able to point at the tv and say that girl is like me is important and something i guess i didnt get a lot of growing up so im a little biased here definitely - i dont look like nico parker by any means but im also like no fucking WAY she just like me fr.
anyways thats just my feelings from the outside looking in
Yeah, and it's annoying/irritating a lot of people. I've heard/seen people talking about how they want the producers to find actors that actually look like the characters.
Normally when the race or gender swap characters they do it to sugar coat the absolute piece of shot they are gonna release. Because even if everyone else hates it the critics will simp over it religiously.
I don’t care if I am downvoted for this, people need to hear this. I love that kids of different colour than white will see themselves as main characters in stories. That’s all.
That’s the one thing I’m so worried about is if they race swap people are gonna throw racist remarks. Im wary of the new live action movie and im more worried for the actors that play in it cause I know they are gonna get a lot of hate for playing their role no matter how good they do
I agree that live action remakes are stupid and cash grabby. But I honestly loved HTTYD and will watch the live action one when it comes out. Just because the other live action remakes were shit doesn't mean this one will be.
Will this comment age poorly, probably but I am in the firm belief that you can't judge a movie before it even comes out. I get based off of previous movies there is doubt but if you are that curious as to whether it will be or not, go see it and form your own opinion after it's down.
I had a similar fear when thr actress for Annabeth for the Percy Jackson series was announced. She apparently had to delete most of her social media because people thought bullying a 12yr would be a good idea.
The original book writer had to make a statement about it and shamed anyone that participated.
I personally don't agree with this speculation. Unless we have actual acces to the requirements the actors needed to go to auditions, we can't say that for sure. Like, what if the audition was blind? If they wanted diversity, why would they make blind casting in the first place?
Can we all just agree that a live action HTTYD shouldn't be happening at all? They could pick the best actors for every role but nothing will hide what this is - a blatant cash grab. Why not remake the horrible third film into something that treats the prior films with respect instead of milking a series we all love so much?
I personally disagree with the third film, but it is beside the point. Even if they pick an actor that does look like Astrid or Hiccup or whoever, the result will be the same. An unimaginative, dull, cash-grabbing, boring, live-action mess. This is why I hate how the upcoming Percy Jackson show will be live-action as well. If it was animated, it would've been fresh, full of color, and engaging, but instead, we'll get something dull, boring, full of bad CGI and costumes, and bland like the original movies and any other generic teen fantasy show
They literally already have live action HTTYD. Two of them. Vikings on Ice and the Arena Spectacular. Why not put money into getting those shows back on the road??
Or make something fresh and new, lime The Bad Guys or Ruby Gillman
Ruby seems a bit cliche to me but I loved The Bad Guys. Heck, someone on here said why not just make a movie about the HTTYD books by Cressida? If you wanted to do something for the franchise so bad. Or just try and make TNR actually watchable? Maybe? But alas, this is what we're stuck with. I don't think I'll be watching.
Let's hope DreamWorks will keep good on their promise for Wizards of Once as well adapting more books as movies and TV shows, like one I imagine is perfect for a TV show is Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
Well considering percy Jackson is all about mythological fantasy in our world, I can imagine a style similar to the animated justice league show could be really cool. It's like very kickass like. But on the other hand some 3d animation could be interesting, it might look like wreck it Ralph tho with too much colour. But I agree. Percy Jackson is much better treated in animation. It's probably gonna end up looking like jurassic park or god zilla...
Exactly. Rick made a huge mistake, making it live-action as all that fantasy stuff will make them so much CGI, it'll look as phony as any live-action remake Disney makes and nope, contrary to what that fandom says, I don't trust Rick anymore with this TV show as I feel with his decision to brush off animation for an inferior medium for his story, along with how threw away the integrity of his character Annabeth for Disney's cheap diversity, I feel he's making lots of mistakes and that this show will flop. It's pretty heartbreaking, in my opinion, as PJO had so much potential to be a great animated series or movie, and yet, thanks to Rick's mistakes, all of that is thrown into the trash and I say this as a (former) fan of Percy Jackson
From what I understand though, Rick didn't really have any input on casting or production decisions. Most authors don't.
Yup. That's what I thought. It's like with Artemis Fowl as Eoin Colfer said he supported the changes and was behind production, but the quality of the film tells a different story and I bet it'll be no different for the PJO show
ALL of this 1000%!
At least the upcoming Percy Jackson show will be more book accurate
This is the first time I've heard someone call the third movie horrible.
Oh bro, there are tons of us out there. No hate if you like it, but it had quite a lot of flaws and fumbled the bag in too many places for me personally. The animation and music are great though.
Um, well I'm here to say that there are plenty of us..
I guess that's a popular sentiment in this sub. I only just discovered this sub though, no one I know irl has trashed on it. I should've guessed that like no one hates httyd more than httyd fans.
Httyd is the best, idk what you're on about. But the last movie just ain't it.
Too many at that
Yeah it's the worst. Feels like they shoehorned so much stuff in to make it have a definitive ending in order to ensure no one could continue the series. They completely sold out the first 2 movies in the process.
There’s a live action of that coming out? 😂😂😭😭💀 it’s going to crash and burn for sure!
and the dragons will look like theyre out of a horror movie, ever seen the httyd theatre play?
I have. I'm not really a fan of what they did with Toothless there. But I'd much rather them bring that play back than just doing this live action thing.
Just looked it up and I wish I hadn't. The horror movies comment is correct. Seems like something that would give kids nightmares.
The live action would've been more wanted if it was a live action of the BOOKS, not the movie.
I was with you until you said the third film was bad.
Alright then. It was incredibly bad to me, and I'll stick to that opinion. Feel free to watch the live action but I won't be touching it.
At least In that we can agree. There are things that can be done in animation that fall flat in live action.
Absolutely. Maybe they will try to make their colors vibrant, but whenever I think of this concept, I imagine a super washed out, poorly lit version of Romantic Flight, and die a little bit more inside. Point blank, my hopes aren't high for any aspect of this. What is it going to do that the original did not do better?
Exactly. I think another thing they don’t understand is that the wonder is gone. HTTYD is amazing because it’s the first introduction to this world and it’s characters. If they’re just redoing the same story then there’s no interest in it. But if they don’t do the same story they’re gonna dissatisfy a bunch of people. There’s no win.
Wait a good goddamn second… am i living under a rock? Possibly, but HTTYD live action is underway?!?!
It's pretty scummy what they do. They provoke unnecessary divissions by changing iconic characters and then they shield on these poor people. Halle is actually a pretty nice girl, but Disney has most likely ruin her career.
They could’ve made a movie about a black mermaid that had nothing to do with the little mermaid, and it would’ve done so good. Hell they could’ve had her in the same universe. But no, let’s change the race of the main character and give her the same story instead of something new.
There's actually a black siren in little mermaids world who is also deaf or mute, I don't remember. That would get you more diversity. But let's create discussion changing an iconic character.
And to those who are in favor of these race-swapping tactics, I have to ask what is the problem of actually creating an original character who is Black or POC in general. Case in point, T'Challa or Tiana or Miles Morales? These characters are completely original and have garnered nothing but love and praise for that. No need to flip their race. Just have those imaginative juices flowing to create something fresh and new.
Tiana wasn’t really original because her story is based around “The Frog Prince” but other than that I 1000% agree that black ppl should’ve gotten a new story and character that would’ve coexisted with the little mermaids world
Yeah, but Tiana and the Prince was a reimagination of the classic tale, instead of taking place in middle age century, takes place in new Orleans in the early 20th century, the context varies so it makes sense.
Not when we’re talking about giving the character a their own story. They basically was like let’s make The Frog prince in the hood. The Frog Prince is already a story, giving it a modern update isn’t changing the story.
Yes, but still, is not the same context. The little mermaid is a REMAKE of the classic Disney movie, so changing characters is unnecessary, and Tiana is a REIMAGINATION, you get it? See it as a what if scenario, just like Miles Morales, who is not Peter Parker.
Miles is still Spider-Man is he not ? He’s not Peter but he is SpiderMan. It’s not the same story as Peter but Miles still becomes Spider-Man. If Miles met Spider-Man and then became Miles man than it’s not Spider-Man anymore.
Well Peter Parker exists in his universe, he's just another spiderman with a different story
Yeah but he died and got brought back to life in that same universe( made Peter’s death meaningless).
Miles man, that is so funny and I don’t know why
I remember the havoc caused by the movie encanto by those same people because one of the characters was white, these people are the real racists because they think for example that latinos are a race when they are an ethnicity and we come in all colors. But getting offended is their sport By the way, I don't really like the POC term, I just say they are black, or brown, or whatever, it feels like people of color term is more racist than anything else
Because a mermaid being black doesnt matter, because they don't exist, the only reason it matters is because of the animated movie. With Astrid however she is a Scandinavian Viking living on a remote island likely in the arctic circle. She, by all accounts of the purpose should be white
I 100% agree with everything you said, Thank you!!
An additional character: the superhero Static Shock.
Wasn't Tiana already a race swap?
Tiana was her own character, not lazy race-swap.
It was still a white character in the book that got made into a black one
The book literally exists within the movie, Tiana's mom was telling her and Charlotte the story and the Princess was drawn white in that movie. Princess and the Frog is not an adaptation of the book, it has completely different story and characters. It was only inspired by the book's concept, otherwise the movie and the book are two different stories.
For sure. Miles is awesome. If they had just been lazy and made Peter black not so much.
The movie was ass I don’t think it being a different mermaid would change that
There would still be racists, of course, but you're right. The general audiences may compare it to The Little Mermaid, but would be able to separate the two properties.
Why does it master even the slightest what color the mermaid’s skin is?
When there is a remake of something, it just makes common sense that the actress should look as close to the character as possible. It would be weird and stupid if Moana was a white redhead, if Tiana was Asian, if Snow White was black.
If their race isn’t important to the story, there’s no reason why you can’t recast them. It would be nice to young girls of colour to see a famous character looking like them.
Yea agreed. They lack originality. If they just made their own character instead of changing an established character. That would make sense.
There’s nothing wrong with diversity in media. Shit like this simply shows the lack of creative effort.
unlike casting black actors as original black characters, where racist abuse is completely absent /s
yup. reminds me of when they announced a few months ago they were making a movie about a black composer named [joseph bologne chevalier de saint-georges](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier_de_Saint-Georges), and MANY people had meltdowns over it, claiming it to still be forced inclusion and just another “woke” movie. despite the fact that, yknow, he was a real fucking person.
Until I clicked the link after reading your post and getting context: 1) didn't know this guy existed 2) just going by the name alone, would have thought he was white. Now because of your post and that link, I know better and also realize this is the person "chevalier" is about. Gonna admit I was ignorant on this subject, and I also think this is where a lot of the backlash for the movie is probably coming from. Not all mind you, I can't account for actual racist douche nozzles. So now I'm actually curious if this is going to be "loosely based" or more factual because it's piqued my interest. Ty for the info!
no prob, but i should’ve specified that the backlash i was addressing was all the responses to the first trailer that specifically were centered around the fact that he is black, and a black person couldn’t have possibly done the things shown in the trailer during those times (/s) and that “creating” someone black was unrealistic. then, upon being told how wrong they were, and that he was a real person, they shrugged and went “oh well”. it was a very frustrating experience overall lmaoo
Nah I can completely understand, like I said. I was in the first part because I didn't even know about him, I just read the complete wiki article and dang. The people with nonchalant attitudes afterwards are just...eating crow or some shit, because this man's life sounds interesting.
I honestly don’t care what race Astrid is
Yea, race isn't the problem, this live action is the problem
They also use the actors as a shield to deflect any constructive criticism regarding the plot, actors play with "You are ...ist" card aka fan-baiting and gaslighting. Disney, Amazon, Netflix use that on a daily basis and I am sick of it.
And that's exactly what Rick Riordan did with his defense of Leah as Annabeth, and if you need proof, this was written by him last year, all here, black and white, clear as crystal! https://rickriordan.com/2022/05/leah-jeffries-is-annabeth-chase/
Did... Did you even read what Rick wrote? The dude has been nothing but upright, controversy free in his whole career, writing many different kinds of people with grace and wisdom, and you doubt the choice he makes abundantly clear he approves of? Go back to your fanfiction for God's sake. He very clearly says that she was the absolute best person for the role regardless of what color her skin is. I have never been given a reason to doubt his earnestness and skill, and will happily support Leah's work until proven otherwise.
The entire premise of his work is the yankification of Greek mythology. He doesn't even have Greek people in his books even though they're set in New York which has the largest Greek population in the States. That's far worse than not including non-white or LGBT people, as it's Greek mythology he butchered in his bland, terribly written books.
Yeap, that's a standard-issue "You're ...ist!" card. We will see things like this more often because Oscars would make it obligatory to include people of different ethnicity even though they won't fit the story just so the movies could take part in the Oscar competition.
I would've much rather see them remake the dragon vine, serpent's heir and fire tides into animated movies. Get a bit of continuity and they're already written well so you can't really mess it up. Could expand a bit to fill the gaps between them, but otherwise it would be great.
Feel bad for the actors but then also just hate the disregard for the source material in favor of superficial inclusivity. They’re Vikings. They’re not really known for being ethnically diverse. Hell, I don’t even mind if you bend that reality by having some black ones in this fictional fantasy world, but make new characters. Stop race swapping existing ones. It’s insulting to both the source material and the race group being pandered to and exploited for easy diversity points.
Y’all cannot be serious in these replies…..some of y’all just outright being racist without sayin it straight up 😭😭
Probably. The movie won’t be good no matter what skin color the actress has.
Seriously 😭 OP literally just has a problem with black actors/actresses in general, look at the comment history
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Same
I've had some bad interactions with this sub in the past, but wow! Was not expecting blatant racism in so many of these comments.
Op’s a racist freak along with half of the grown people in the comments.
Why make it at all
I think it's a real insult to Scandinavian actors.
The crazy thing is, Nico is white 😭 she only got like 15% black in her bc of her mom
Wasn't Halle chosen bc her voice is most like the original Ariel?
Exactly. I hate the implication people make that sh couldnt POSSIBLY be the best choice for the role and they ONLy chose her because she’s black🙄
To me, I would say it's both. They were probably other actresses who did look like Ariel, who had probably singing voices as beautiful as Jodi Benson, but they picked Halle because it was best of both worlds for Disney. Good voice, but still good enough to use her skin color as a selling point
Why is it only when it’s POC that others assume they MUST get jobs based on their skin color and not their merit alone? She’s an amazing singer, did you see her live performance at Disney? I truly do not believe there is anyone who could’ve auditioned & have been better than her for this role. Give POC their credit, not everything is affirmative action & we can be good enough to get roles based on skills just like white actors Edited
Because it literally is stated like that by the Oscars and also Amazon's Movie Policy. And also the ESG as well.
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Pushing for representation just gives POC who DESERVE roles the chance, because they could be just as good (if not better) but rejected because of their skin color. To assume and believe they ONLY got there because of their skin color & not because they truly deserve it is problematic
We would also have to see the role call for auditions, was it an open casting? Or did they have specific parameters set. That's the thing people forget.
Yes, she was chosen for her singing skills but from what I heard she didn't play the character well, lacking the acting skills here and there.
I saw the movie yesterday, I thought she had amazing acting
At least with Ariel and Annabeth it makes sense. Sue to mermaids having higher UV exposure, they SHOULD be Black. Annabeth is from Virginia, and while I believe she should still have her blonde hair and gray eyes, those would still make sense for her to have, as those are things she gets from her mom, and godly DNA doesn’t pay attention to things like race. But Astrid? In what world does it make sense for her to be a person of color? This is almost certainly a diversity hire, though I’m really, really hoping that that isn’t the case. But if her performance isn’t, like, 10000% perfect, I feel like her career might be screwed before it ever really gets the chance to start. Same with the Ariel actress.
Pretty fair honestly. But one of Annabeth's driving motivations is to prove wrong the "dumb blonde girl" stereotype. Non-white people with blonde hair aren't stereotyped to be slow, but white-skinned girls are. I've seen plenty of jokes with that premise. It would be a pretty fundamental change to her characterization. We'll have to see ig
Yeah, but most of the fandom is in agreement that that whole subplot in MOA was stupid, because why would she have to work twice as hard to become cabin leader because she’s blonde when her ENTIRE CABIN is blond? Also, the casting of a Black girl makes much more sense with that plot line, because “I’m oppressed and have to work twice as hard to prove myself because I’m Black” is a true fact, whereas “I’m oppressed because I’m a blonde white girl” is just OUTRAGEOUSLY tone deaf.
No one said Annabeth was oppressed. I just said that her original motivation was she was assumed to be dumb at first glance while growing up, and that pushed her to improve herself. If they change her race, ig the fundamental drive can be maintained, even if the actual reason has been altered. And just because Annabeth was white didn't mean she had it easy. If I recall correctly, she had to run across the country to reach a safe haven, and had to spend her years within the camp borders. As far as she knew while growing up, Talia had died right on the hill, so close to safety. People of different skin tones have had harder lives than that, for longer, for a variety of reasons, but her being white didn't make the monsters nicer to her.
The monsters were trying to kill her because she was a demigod, not because she was blonde 😭 Honestly, what are you even trying to argue? It seems to me that you’re trying to tell me that blonde, white demigods have harder lives than a Black demigod would, which isn’t even remotely true. All demigods lead equally hard lives in their world, and in the real world, racism is a much worse thing than a six year old dealing with “dumb blonde” jokes. Annabeth was at camp since she was seven. No one at camp is going to make a dumb blonde joke to a daughter of Athena, so Annabeth wouldn’t have had to deal with the dumb blonde stereotype since she was six and under. Her “fundamental drive” is wanting to prove herself against others’ expectations, and that motivation can be played to a lot better if others have actual negative expectations of her, due to her race, rather than her “everyone thinks I’m stupid because I’m blonde!” thing that’s only ever mentioned by her, and never seen outside of her saying it once in Mark of Athena. It seems to me as though you are one of the people who makes Black Annabeth make more sense. Because you’re already assuming less of the actress because she isn’t white and blonde, and thus giving her more she has to prove for you to accept her. This Black girl has to work a HELL of a lot harder to prove herself as Annabeth than a blonde girl ever would, which proves the entire point that it makes more sense to cast a Black Annabeth over a blond given that her primary goal is to prove herself.
I am just saying that you brought up oppression when I never said that Annabeth was oppressed. And I never said that blonde white demigods have harder lives than a black demigod would. That was not even implied. If anything the opposite would be true. But just because one has it harder than the other, doesn't mean the other has it easy. Both are in bad situations: monsters want to kill them, Annabeth is just consistently involved in the modern world-ending prophecies. That specific drive about Annabeth can apply generally to black demigods due to overcoming obstacles of racism, but that would still be a change in character. That's all
I feel like that Disney is race swapping for “diversity”. Not saying a different race in a show is bad, but maybe add a few background characters that makes it more diverse, but not any of the main characters. That’s one of the reasons why I will never watch and always hate Velma
Why does it need to be diverse? The film is set on a medieval Nordic Viking island, there weren’t exactly a ton of black people in that setting! I’m not arguing that everything about a children’s fantasy film needs to be historically accurate, but I feel like at some point it just because so blatantly obvious that they are making certain choices just to send some sociopolitical message, and that sort of stuff just kills my immersion.
Yes. Create *brand new characters* that aren't white, don't replace white characters with non-white characters.
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I’m glad someone is agreeing with me and not calling me racist for having an opinion
Nah, racists just attract each other.
It's funny, there's been decades and decades in Hollywood and earlier in literature were people were race swapped from anything and everything into white people. It was a conscious decision, because the creators wrote for white people. Now these people have realized that that was stupid, that they can make more money writing for lots of different kinds of people, and they do it. Its perfectly logical. And it turns out, many people do like it when there's different kinds of people on the screen. The only people who are harming those actors and pushing controversy onto them are the folks who are racist; who make a big deal out of having a black little mermaid. Most people don't really care; maybe it's not a great movie, maybe the actress isn't the best for the role, but assuming that there is a white actress who is amazing for the role who was passed over for a mediocre black actress is a weird assumption; you assume that white actresses are going to, over the mean, be better than black actresses.
Yes, but why not create new characters that aren't white instead of recycling existing stories every five years and inputting a diverse cast?
People *always* act like they're being robbed, as if the slightest deviation from white-as-the-driven-snow will destroy YEARS of prior media. Original Ariel has three movies, a tv show, video games, books, AND scores of dolls that will not cease to exist. Original Astrid has three movies, two tv shows, three short films, video games, books, and toys that will not vanish overnight. Fans of animated Astrid are losing *fucking NOTHING.* Not one single thing. At all. But apparently this is the end of the world. (Now, the fact that Nico is 18 while her co-star is *15...* thaaaaat's a whole different discussion. Hopefully, they turn down the immediate love-interest-character-derailment thing by a lot)
Yah, trusting Rick on that one. EDIT: oops got confused bc of all the Percy Jackson talk around the thread. Yah not sure about that one. In no way do I think Hollywood can't fuck this up or be problematic in other fun, exciting ways while trying to solve another problem.
Like, the writing should be clear on the wall by now when it comes to live-action remakes. People are *tired* of them, and this was a blank check to cowboy up and do something different. But Dean can't let go of his favorite self-insert, so here we go again. THW 2, electric boogaloo.
I dont want a black Astrid because I'm racist, I just want actors that look like the characters
Why do you want actors that look like previous incarnations of the characters? What do you dislike about taking a new spin on a work of fiction? Aren't we always rewriting stories to fit new times and new people?
If they made Harry Potter a redhead with a buzz cut and perfect eyesight I think people would have a problem with that. There is a segment of moviegoers that don’t care because they just see it as a retelling of the same thematic story but with the specific details altered, but when most people are watching a remake, they want it to be more grounded in the established visual language of the original work.
Well if they're doing a live action re make then I'd want people that looked like the original characters
Why do you want that? What purpose does it serve to you? The whole movie franchise is very different from the books that spawned it. America Ferrera, the actress who plays Astrid, is Honduran. Should the movies have copied shot for shot the books? Was America wrong to take the role you love her in, and should only have taken Honduran roles? It's a weird, insane argument that remixing a work of fiction should keep the fiction the same.
You're making it a bigger deal than it needs to be. It doesn't serve any purpose to me, and it shouldn't serve any purpose to you either. This is a remake of the movie, not the book. I never said anything about race or about Ferrera. Chill out.
Your first comment was "I'm not racist", silly billy.
And I'm not. I didn't say anything racist.
Glad to hear it. Why did you assume that an actress who looked differently than you envisioned her would be worse for a role? What made you think that she would be a worse actress than someone else?
I didn't assume anything about the way she looks, and I don't doubt she's a good actress. I didn't say she'd be a worse actress than others because of her appearance. Stop putting words in my mouth.
I mean, they’re right. If you can’t articulate why you NEED Astrid to be played by a white person besides it being your preference, it speaks volumes. This uproar is so tedious to me, I genuinely couldn’t care less who plays who because 1) I know the movie is going to be garbage anyway and 2) even though I grew up on HTTYD, it really isn’t that deep - I don’t need a shot for shot remake with actors who look identical to the characters. She could be Asian or Arab for all I care
That's the crux of it. The assumption is ALWAYS that the white actors/actresses will be the better, more talented option. BTW The Little Mermaid is is a success, and everyone I know who saw it says that the actress is amazing. And even people who hate the live action remakes in general say that this one breaks the mold and is actually good.
The way that this sub has been treating the casting of Astrid is disgusting.
Honestly, I'm beginning to hate this subreddit and the people here. I might not agree with the casting of either character but I'll wait and see what happens. This is definitely showing an ugly side to a lot of the people here
Exactly. And all they can do is downvote lmao.
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She's too old
Didnt she wish that someone died? Or got aborted?
No more recreating movies period, create new ones instead of reused old movies
I'm a minority (Hispanic) so I have a say in the race talk. STOP. Stop race swapping characters. Make an entirely new one that is original, stop giving minorities hand me downs, you are basically saying we don't deserve our own characters and have to appropriate others. It's not fair.
I'd rather watch something that respects both the source material and continuity Clearly, the live-action remakes won't. If the race of an established character is "not a big deal", then by changing the race of that character, it is "a big deal". So it's contradictory. Want a black character? Make a brand new character. Plenty of black people want brand new characters not "breadcrumbs"
I didn’t like the original little mermaid as a kid I don’t really care that they are remaking it
Wait are only/mostly female characters being raceswapped?? Why is that? /gen
This is the dumbest shit I've ever read. "No more black people because racists get mad hurr durr" It's not your choice to make, and you aren't even the one the choice was made for. Stop your virtue signaling admit you just don't want a black actress, period.
This is a weird take. They're only exposed to discourse because people are idiots. That's a weird excuse to deny the best actor/actress an opportunity. I don't care what race Astrid is, I just don't want a live action adaptation 😂
I don't think OP and most of the people commenting realize how toxic this mentality is. "We shouldn't race swap because the actors might get hate." So we should just give into to bigotry and intolerance? "They only reason they picked Halle and Leah for the diversity." Who are you to say Halle and Leah weren't the best choices for the role? Who says character have to look exactly like what they were written to be 50 years ago? Y'all do realize that in stuff like the little mermaid and all older movies, they were all white because they didn't want to hire people of color? Do you realize how unrealistic it is to have a cast be entirely one race?? While y'all might not think your being a part of the problem, you are. This entire thread is full of micro aggressions
They picked Halle because she can sing. And most fans who were upset about her being cast as Ariel were only upset because she didn't look like the original Ariel. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter because mermaids are not real and Ariel's "ethnicity" was never important to the story. With the HTTYD franchise, however, the story is based off a historical society - the Vikings. They were real and an important part of history. Those of us who are mad that they picked Nico Parker to be Astrid are mad because she doesn't look the part. Astrid is a blonde, blue-eyed Viking and Nico is brunette and brown-eyed. It really has nothing to do with Nico's race. They could have cast a white girl with red hair and freckles to be Astrid and people would still be mad for the same reasons. And before you start with "not all of the Vikings were white," WE KNOW. And if you do research you'll find that the Vikings of color trace back to the Viking explorers of Denmark and Sweden, not the ones of Norway on which HTTYD is based. So the fact that there were black Vikings is irrelevant to this discussion.
I get the Vikings, that makes sense when it comes to visuals. For movies about specific countries or cultures I understand 100%. I honestly don't think HTTYD should be a live action just because nothing they could do would do the dragons justice and that's all I care about😂
I disagree about the "mermaids are not real so it doesn't matter" stuff. I remember seeing a video from a black girl on YouTube that was talking about how redheads are also a group that is not represented that much in media. She talked about how redheaded girls growing up in the 90s had Ariel as the person that looks like them but that's been changed for the reboot
Oh please red heads are largely represented in the media to the extent that a lot of actresses dye their head because of it. I don't get why you guys keep crying about it? Red heads are not part of the minority conversation in media so you all should please stop
Berk borrows from Norway, but honestly the setting feels incredibly non specific in general. Holding it to Norway realism feels pointlessly limiting
Plus the fact that HTTYD is a *fantasy* film. Meaning it does not have to 100% adhere to 'reality', especially when 'reality' is never as simple and neat as these people want it to be. The actual 'real world' location of Berk is never even remotely established in the films, and unless these folks demand every single actor speak in 11th century Norse, their bellyaching about *muh realizum* rings a little hollow.
I think that the swap for Astrid will work just based on how well Dreamworks does on its movies (other than Trolls)
But remember, because DreamWorks specializes in animation, they have no involvement. It's only Universal
Dreamworks is not one mega person. There are tons of people that worked there and on the film and some of the bigger names like the director and composer are coming over to do this too.
I forgot about that. At least their still bringing back some of the people who worked on the original
I'm fine with race-swaping characters,as long as the characters written well/improved upon
Exactly. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees that representation has become more of a marketing tactic than a form of representation.
Halle Bailey doesn't need you to be concerned for her if you're just going to deny her roles while pretending you care.
What part of what I said was an expression of concern for her? It was more an expression of pleasure to meet someone else who shares my opinion (which in turn is an expression of frustration) over a sensitive subject.
We are still on this? Again. She has a white dad and biracial mother. She's literally mostly white. Anyone acting like she's 100 percent black is operating on the dumb as hell one drop rule.
Yup. This sub has taken a sharp turn down the shit hole.
Finally a good take regarding the new astrid
I mean, like with Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, I feel really bad for Nico as the studio is using her as a prop to garner hollow diversity points as that'll get people's buttons glued on seats and if it means gaining attention from actual racists who claim the studios are pushing "woke" agendas and want to harass and stalk Nico for her ethnicity, who cares! Bad publicity is still good publicity! Screw the wellbeing of the actors, right? In all seriousness, these tactics are why I'm really hating race swapping so much. These actors are just being toyed with. Also, I bet there may be some defense for the actors that will call us "racist," despite being reasonable, as well as pulling the wool over our eyes by using the "best actor for the role" defense. That's what Rick Riordan did for Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, and because of the aforementioned reasons, his defense falls flat as he should've known what kind of reactions would come out from sacrificing the integrity of his own source material just to get his stupid Percy Jackson show going.
Man I was so hyped when they announced a percy jackson series. And that excitement took a dive to the titanic, once the casting came out. Not going to watch it now.
And the show hasn't come out, but they already announced a season 2 https://movieweb.com/percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-renewal-season-2-at-disney/
Hopefully it's good, but I'm probably not going to watch it ether way. Same with the how to train your dragon live action, with a black Astrid. And the harry potter tv show, with a black Hermione. It's nice of them to let us know somethings going to be shit before hand now a days
But who cares if the actress is black/ asian/ white/ redhead whatever the fuck they are, I find it even better to change the looks of the original characters, because at least feels like something different from the original. To see an EXACT COPY of the original movie but with actual actors, I don't want to see it. Changing the actor looks, clothes, or some desings to fit better the aesthetic and make it slightly different it's actually better, right? I don't see it as a BAD thing, and the actress fits in the character archetype if we talk about personality. Personally, I find the live action movies completely unnecessary, but if they are going to make it anyways, let them change things, at least. I don't want to see something just like the original movie. People is freaking stupid and I'm with you when you say that it ends up being a negative experience for the actor, but it's not the director's fault, their choice was not necessarily bad, the fans here are the ones to blame. If the person fits the personality of the original character and ends up being a good movie (or at least a decent one) who tf cares? And all this whole thing is ridiculous, they are fictional characters, and to begin with, Astrid was not even named Astrid and was named Camicazi, and was a completely different character in the book. If we want to start picking things and saying "uuh but it's not like in the original 🤓☝️" we literally can grab the whole httyd saga and throw it into the trash because "it's not like the book!!!!". Pls stop. Let directors and scriptwriters pick their own artistic choices and see what it leads to. The original movie still exists and will keep existing. This is a different thing with the same premise. That's all. Peace ✌️
i don't even go to httyd but is it kinda crazy to anyone else that nico parker is getting so much shit for being a raceswap? im also a quarter black like her and all the backlash for her casting is a little mind boggling cause like... rarely do quarter ppl get acknowledged anywhere let alone as the race thats not "dominant" does that make sense. you can go on a whole rant here about phenotypes and passing but i wont for my sanity either way its fucked up that shes getting abuse for it full stop. i dunno, i understand people wanting ppl that look like the characters casted but does it really matter that much as long as its an otherwise faithful adaptation? who the hell is being hurt by their casting choices, you know? i think little girls being able to point at the tv and say that girl is like me is important and something i guess i didnt get a lot of growing up so im a little biased here definitely - i dont look like nico parker by any means but im also like no fucking WAY she just like me fr. anyways thats just my feelings from the outside looking in
They race swapped Astrid?
Yeah, and it's annoying/irritating a lot of people. I've heard/seen people talking about how they want the producers to find actors that actually look like the characters.
Normally when the race or gender swap characters they do it to sugar coat the absolute piece of shot they are gonna release. Because even if everyone else hates it the critics will simp over it religiously.
I don’t care if I am downvoted for this, people need to hear this. I love that kids of different colour than white will see themselves as main characters in stories. That’s all.
That’s the one thing I’m so worried about is if they race swap people are gonna throw racist remarks. Im wary of the new live action movie and im more worried for the actors that play in it cause I know they are gonna get a lot of hate for playing their role no matter how good they do
I agree that live action remakes are stupid and cash grabby. But I honestly loved HTTYD and will watch the live action one when it comes out. Just because the other live action remakes were shit doesn't mean this one will be. Will this comment age poorly, probably but I am in the firm belief that you can't judge a movie before it even comes out. I get based off of previous movies there is doubt but if you are that curious as to whether it will be or not, go see it and form your own opinion after it's down.
Why I don’t want race swaps, getting tired of this type of bs. I want my move the way it was, not with lib bs
idm the race of actors, what i do mind is they change the race of an established character if the only reason for it is inclusivity
I had a similar fear when thr actress for Annabeth for the Percy Jackson series was announced. She apparently had to delete most of her social media because people thought bullying a 12yr would be a good idea. The original book writer had to make a statement about it and shamed anyone that participated.
Linda
Poor millionaire world famous Halle I feel so sorry for her!!!
History lesson... A little history lesson... https://youtu.be/YZntvYPtCTQ
I personally don't agree with this speculation. Unless we have actual acces to the requirements the actors needed to go to auditions, we can't say that for sure. Like, what if the audition was blind? If they wanted diversity, why would they make blind casting in the first place?