The new age of live-action Disney Princess movies have been met with pushback, but none more than the most recent versions, and it isn’t hard to see why many online have decided that the new takes on The Little Mermaid and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves deserve their ire.
Stars Halle Bailey and Rachel Zegler have faced constant ridicule and hatred masked as “criticism” online because they’re two women who do not fit into the typical “ideals” for the characters they’re portraying. Bailey faced non-stop racist comments for taking on the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid and Zegler has been faced with a litany of angry responses to her simply pointing out her own feelings on Snow White (which many others, like myself, feel about the character).
So it is truly and honestly beautiful to see these two very wholesome and sweet women, if you actually take the time to listen to them speak, talk to each other in their Actors on Actors conversation. Focused mainly on their two big movies each that have come out this year, Zegler and Bailey’s conversation covered their work both as princesses in the Disney canon but also talked about Zegler’s film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as well as Bailey’s turn in the upcoming remake of The Color Purple.
It is just an absolutely beautiful conversation between two friends and so sweet to see these two women talking to each other about being princesses for the next generation of Disney fans. To see this without the angry mob of (let’s face it) men online holding onto every single word they say, looking for something to criticize? It’s refreshing and beautiful, and I love it.
Just a joyful exploration of being part of the Disney legacy
These are two young women who are constantly under scrutiny by everyone, watched by the world and looked at by every single person out there to see what they’re going to say. So to hear that they’re just genuinely so happy to both be princesses, to just be happy to be part of the Disney legacy, is truly beautiful.
Both Bailey and Zegler have faced online criticism because of people wanting to take them down for their own warped views. Whether it be rooted in racism or sexism or just plain hatred for whatever reason they’ve justified to themselves, it doesn’t seem to have stopped both Zegler and Bailey sharing their love and happiness at being these princesses who they recognize have an importance to others. This chat is just truly so heartwarming to watch.
Yet again, two friends talking to each other made for a great conversation on Actors on Actors. Not that these chats don’t work when the actors don’t know each other, but there is an added level of comfort when the two have a familiarity, and having Bailey and Zegler with that level of friendliness really just made this an incredibly sweet conversation.
(featured image: Variety/screengrabbed from YouTube)
