"These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now."
Under the sea, under the sea, darling it’s better down where it’s wetter take it from me. And were you a fan of the Disney classic The Little Mermaid? Oh it was so wonderful with the singing and the dancing and the ham-fisted creole accents.
Well, as you may have read, Disney is now laying a twelve second message in front of many of its older films that reads, “These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.”
I do not know if The Little Mermaid is fitted with the disclaimer, though I’d imagine many were triggered by not only its creole accents but also Ariel’s white privilege. In Denmark, for instance, someone scrawled “Racist Fish” on Copenhagen’s Hans Christian Andersen Little Mermaid statue.
But leave it to Australia’s Bondi Beach to make things right.
Yesterday two sharks, two swimmers and a large school of salmon put on a magnificent show that is entirely non-triggering. Zero accents. No songs about “kissing de girl.”
Except… are the salmon making some sort of racist caricature?
More as the story develops.
Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
Why can’t Stevie Wonder read or write?
He’s black.
– Patrice O’neal
I think Bondi is the worst beach in Australia, closely followed by Every other populated crowded beach in Sydney in second with Byron bay and surrounding areas coming in with a Bullet in third place as shittest parts of Australia best avoided.
“what bits are fishy and what bits are not” ……
So I walked into a bar in Mundacca and saw a man , HUGE like Laird , much taller though , but with a tiny head not much bigger than and orange ….. after a few beers , I can’t help myself , and ask him about his unusual body dimensions ….
Anyway he turns out to be an affable chap and a natural born storyteller…..this is his story
On a fishing trip in the tropics , the boat goes down , and after countless hours floating aimlessly in the sea , I find myself , alone , lost but alive , washed up on a deserted Island …. Time passes and I see , perhaps I am hallucinating , a mermaid , swimming dolphin like towards me ….. I wave for help ….. Hello lost man she says to me an offers me 3 wishes ….. Starving , I ask for a feast , fit for a king … and VOILA …. a sumptuous banquet appears ….. After the food I am still feeling weak after the ordeal so my second wish is to be the strongest man in the world KAPOW ! Muscles sprouting all over the shop …. I AM HUGE !
The Mermaid is now starting to make parts of my new body ,stiff as a board, so I start thinking about my 3rd and final Wish ….So In my most seductive voice I say “ Well I can see that it’s not possible to make love with that fishy tail and all …. So ……ummm… how about a little head ?
Well I’m offended.
I don’t know about Little Merman but that looks more like scenes from Finding Nemo
Isn’t it a portrait of your masked anonymous board tester?
A guy was flying a drone at the park behind DY surf club, my grom and I were shooting this slingshot rocket which goes pretty fuken high, so I was trying to hit the drone and the drone guy freaks out gets distracted and the drone crashes and breaks, we laugh, he comes over starts goin off at me, I tell him to go fly a kite.
You gave free investment advice!? Kite = cheaper
It could hit somebody and cause a brain aneurysm like the wacko omeoba.
You can get pretty good kites for 5 bucks at kmart.
We buy 4 at a time.
When I was a kid I could make one outta newspaper and cardboard with the edges sticky taped.
And a stick from a tree as the wing support and fuselage
Kites rule
How are those massive ones they fly in Bali..
I’ve got a few pirate ships and a couple of big bird ones too that I put up off a fishing rod with 400 metres of line.
I tried kite flying with my kids in windy Kiel last autumn with dodgy 3€ kite in the form of an old fashion plane and fuck , I swear ( well I just did ) it felt more like surfing than skating or snowboarding …. ? and when the ropes got tangled , just as frustrating .
Better watch yourself there Bex. Because drones are still treated as aircraft by CASA, any attempts to fuck with someones drone in flight can land you in serious trouble. Basically the law can treat you just the same as if you’d been hurling rocks at planes as they attempt to land.
This wa a $50 kmart job and he couldn’t fly it.
Especially could not fly it after your anti aircraft fire!
Bex Big Bertha Rex ! INCOMING !
Sorry , I am getting slow in my old age .
These are Norwegian Salmon creating an installation of Edvard Munch’s “ The Scream ! “
Thought it looked a bit like this guy as well…
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Rusty Spoon Model coming soon ….
You cunt! Thanks for sending me down another unproductive rabbit hole revisiting this shit haha!
Strange how the swimmers created the eyes and, as usual , the shark the mouth .
What great big teeth you have Grandma ( shark) ? All the better to EAT YOU with ….
grandma Shark do do do do d do
grandma Shark
The shark is being very choosy. Surely all those salmon taste pretty much the same?
So Aussies, after a rough few months of shark interaction, continue to swim with GWS and through schools of salmon no less?
All that’s missing are bait balls and diving birds.
“Lovely day for a swim, eh mate?”
Perhaps hoping for some type of disfigurement ,to avoid , making an effort to make or purchase a costume , to attend a party , with no more than 10 people , for Halloween ? …..
Oh another Mummy ?
Fuck off ! I am the Bondi Salmon Run Shark Attack Victim …. and looking for a one legged Irish Girl named Eileen .
Those are cute lil Threshers, not Whitey
Theses guys and gals are super committed, they really don’t care what’s under them.
Salmon avoid surfer, salmon avoid shark, shark swim in empty area see object, feed as instinct? News!
Is there a disclaimer for Dick Van Dyke’s shockingly bad cockney accent in Mary Poppins ?
aging yourself mate….
..swings and roundabouts – compensated for by Louis Armstrong in the “Jungle Book”.
I nose what oi loiks , and oi loiks what oi do ….
Fact: Salmon are the most racist fish.
I dont know how you can put them above a species that dub themselves “the great white”
Clearly, I’m an idiot.
Black Fish is the apex though. So much to ponder.
Do you think blackies are down there, swimming around wearing their BFM masks?
You mean Black Fish like the movie, or black fish like Luderick aka nigger fish?
Clearly fisherman are the most racist cunts of all coming up with names like these. Yellow-belly are another example.
At least they don’t do mullets ?
Jewfish is up there
And we have the Moon fish discriminating against sun worshippers and Sun fish throwing shadow on those partial to the deity in the moon ? Not to mention the Christian Surfers ?