Outrage as ‘The Little Mermaid’ gets bombed by negative reviews: 'All of this because lead role went to Black woman'

The offshore release revenue is lower than estimated because 'The Little Mermaid' has been bombed by negative reviews on sites like IMDb
UPDATED MAY 29, 2023
Halle Bailey stars as Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid' (Walt Disney Studios/YouTube)
Halle Bailey stars as Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid' (Walt Disney Studios/YouTube)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Disney’s latest live-action adaptation ‘The Little Mermaid’, which made its way to the theatres on May 26, 2023, has made $163.8 million following its global debut. However, the offshore launch is lower than estimated because the movie has been bombed by negative reviews, prompting some sites such as IMDb to put up advisory messages. 

On IMDb, a warning read, as stated by Deadline, “Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title. To preserve the reliability of our rating system, an alternate weighting calculation has been applied.” As per the outlet, the warning note appears on the US and Canadian sites as well as those for the UK, Brazil, and Mexico. 

RELATED ARTICLES

30 years of 'The Little Mermaid': How the original animated movie changed things for Disney

'The Little Mermaid' featuring Halle Bailey is on track for $100M+ weekend and Disney fans are loving it

IMDB added, “Although we accept and consider all votes received by users, not all votes have the same impact (or ‘weight’) on the final rating. When unusual voting activity is detected, an alternate weighting calculation may be applied in order to preserve the reliability of our system." However, the website did not disclose the exact method used to generate the rating.



 

'The Little Mermaid’ became subject to 'ratings terrorism'

Forbes reported, "The critic score is just 67%, while audiences are giving it a whopping 95%—significantly higher than The Jungle Book’s 86%. That film scored a 94% with critics." The reason behind this is that the negative reviews are receiving hundreds of likes, and positive reviews getting thumbs down. As per Deadline, on the day of release, the score was 1.96, which has now come to 6.67 as many have applauded Halle Bailey's character. But on the other hand, many viewers slammed the idea of having a Black mermaid as lead with one writing on IMDb, "2 hours 15 minutes of boredom."

Korea’s SBS News reported that the film had been subject to “ratings terrorism” in an article whose title Korean entertainment website Zapzee translated to “Backlash Against ‘Black Mermaid’: Appearance Ridiculed, Ratings Drop on Day One." In Germany, Moviepilot showed a rating of 0.7 out of 10 before the release. 

'All of this because the lead role went to a black woman'

Many social media users were quick to react to the review bombing. One wrote, "All of this because the lead role went to a black woman. Y’all are sickening." One more commented, "I don’t get how insecure incels go behind their screen to review bomb a CHILDREN’s movie simply because of the race of a mermaid (a fictional character btw). Little do they know that the whole entire story is written by a gay man."

"Review bombing a children’s disney movie is extremely sad," wrote another. While an individual said, "Racist’s mad because the movie is actually excellent."



 



 



 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.

GET THE BIGGEST ENTERTAINMENT STORIES
STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX.

MORE STORIES

The first teaser for 'Avengers: Doomsday' is currently playing in theatres before the screenings of 'Avatar: Fire & Ash'
6 hours ago
Richard Linklater, 65, has received multiple awards in his career, including two BAFTAs and an Oscar
6 hours ago
Much has been documented on the historical accuracy of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'
13 hours ago
Marvel's First Family is returning in a new prequel comic, teasing fresh threats and untold MCU stories before 'Avengers: Doomsday' arrives
14 hours ago
'Ready or Not 2: Here I Come', originally scheduled to release on April 10, has officially scored an early release date
15 hours ago
Freddy's nightmare continues as 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' leaves theaters early and brings its animatronic terror home in time for the holidays
18 hours ago
The trailer also gives a glimpse of Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus
1 day ago
Those expecting a clip from 'Avatar 4' will be disappointed, but there is something special instead
1 day ago
The prologue starts with Odysseus hiding within the Trojan horse, half-submerged in water, on his way to attack the city of Troy
1 day ago
The ending of 'The Great Flood' reveals that the catastrophic flood was real, but it also served as the foundation for a strange loop experiment
1 day ago