*VIDEO* The mercommunity and it's approach to mers of color and cultures.

[MermaidBonnie]

Starfrit your videos may not be working? I was hoping to see videos that were submitted to Cirque that showed the skill set they wanted for their show by a mermaid performer of African decent. I thought that's what happened, that mermaids did send in their videos and still Cirque didn't take that into consideration which would really be unfair.

[Mermaid Whisper]

From what I understand, other mers were not even on the table. They just wanted Hannah.


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[merwandering]

Well here's where I stand, again, from the perspective of building a community
I am so much more scared than angry. I am terrified.
In the bigger picture, in the real world, all of this tears away at people of color who I love,
but beyond that- they do not even feel physically safe.
And so it isn't just an issue of people of color saying - 'don't take this from me'-
it is the larger issue of why we should stand against a world who thinks it is okay to take in the way that they are in the first place
It so much makes me think of Sherman Alexie's work
like 'Evolution'
it is to take a holy shroud and turn it into the robe of the queen under whom a people are suffering
and I understand being angry. And also I never will.
But, what I would say is- if you are here, because you want to understand, and you are asking questions
don't go.
do some research, If it moves to private messaging me, so be it.
But pull up a chair, and lets have our three cups of tea. Because we desperately need your help.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Starfrit your videos may not be working? I was hoping to see videos that were submitted to Cirque that showed the skill set they wanted for their show by a mermaid performer of African decent. I thought that's what happened, that mermaids did send in their videos and still Cirque didn't take that into consideration which would really be unfair.

This was mentioned before: no efforts were taken by cirque to reach out to black mers specifically for the role. Audition tapes do not exist because we were not made aware of it until the video was released.

im also assuming no you blocked Raina but she did list quite a few black mers, who are qualified specifically for that role, that I thought would be worth sharing with you.
The water Phoenix (the real mer from the film)
naja from Najestic Aka Natasha James

Natasha I believe has two Instagram account and her video is on her Instagram. She also has a Facebook account as well where she shares many of her videos.
Raina has also shared the water Phoenix video clip a few posts ago as well but again I'm assuming you blocked her?
simply type The water Phoenix into the search engine.

[Mermaid Whisper]

Well here's where I stand, again, from the perspective of building a community
I am so much more scared than angry. I am terrified.
In the bigger picture, in the real world, all of this tears away at people of color who I love,
but beyond that- they do not even feel physically safe.
And so it isn't just an issue of people of color saying - 'don't take this from me'-
it is the larger issue of why we should stand against a world who thinks it is okay to take in the way that they are in the first place
It so much makes me think of Sherman Alexie's work
like 'Evolution'
it is to take a holy shroud and turn it into the robe of the queen under whom a people are suffering
and I understand being angry. And also I never will.
But, what I would say is- if you are here, because you want to understand, and you are asking questions
don't go.
do some research, If it moves to private messaging me, so be it.
But pull up a chair, and lets have our three cups of tea. Because we desperately need your help.

You should write poetry. You'd be darling at it.

Psssh, why drink tea when you can have coffee?

I still love all you guys, and this discussion is really helping me see the world and learn a bit more about it. Thanks for all your input, everyone! I think we're really getting somewhere.


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[jukumerboii]

Alright,,im here. Now for those who dont know me, im usually VERY PRO curse words about things im passionate about. But im going to NOT show that side of me today because i just had some seaweed and im feeling real natant right now.

Here we go!

The main reason Momo posted this thread was for pple to see how we, as black mers FEEL about certain things that WE hold close to our hearts. When it comes to Hannah, and i've said it once (in my video posted) and i'll say it again, at the end of the day, Circq could have picked an african american performer to EMBODY Yemaya! She's an ocean goddess, mother of all things. The performer DID NOT have to be in a tail to represent her. She could have been in a dress and had pple praise dancing around her. Even if they wanted her to be a mermaid they could have gotten a BLACK PERSON who could swim, put on a fabric tail and swim they ass back and fourth in that POOL. Hannah was only chosen because of her FAME! Nothing else. No shade.

Im seeing the question "where the ethnic mers that can out-perform her and why they didnt send audition videos." First off, Hannah was swimming in a FREAKIN POOL ON STAGE! There was no need to out swim or out perform her for the role of a BLACK GODDESS!!! Second, had me and every other BLACK mermaid HEARD about an audition for this, best BELIEVE we ALL would have sent in footage, CUZ ITS ON THE INTERNET!!! Hannah was chosen because of her FAME! Hell im sure there wasn't even an audition to begin with.

All and all YEMAYA is Black, Hannah isnt. It should have been a black person point blank period.

For those of you who want to see me and my other melanin merfam SWIM in videos just type in our names on Google. It's that easy! Merman Blix, Merman Amour, Mermaid Madison, Najestic ENT, its ALL THERE on the internet. We are here and we are COMING and we coming HARD! We at Najestic ENT have an LGBT series coming out next year called ATLANTASEA. Itll be about Yemaya and other african Orishas. Along with black mermaids, witches,vamps,and other creatures who are COC (creatures of color). There's that Orisha series that was mentioned earlier in the thread AND The Water Phoenix.

[AniaR]

. I thought that's what happened, that mermaids did send in their videos and still Cirque didn't take that into consideration which would really be unfair.

You've literally been explained this by everyone in the thread. it's IN HERE SO MANY TIMES. please read before you white splain. Pretend you dont read my comments and have me "blocked" (there is no blocking on mernetwork) but throw passive agressive shade at me LOL.

You didnt bother to actually ready anything, OR watch the vlogs, or look at any of the proof you've been going on and on about. Try doing those things before you decide to tell black people what is and what isn't racist lol

[Merman Andrew]

OK I dont claim to know the full story about why Cirque hired Hannah and then got her to play the part of an African Goddess (and I agree with everyone here that it was pretty shitty of them to do that), but I want to suggest that it might have just been Cirque were not aware of other excellent black mers being out there, and chose Hannah simply because she is well known as a mer. Now that doesn't forgive them for their lack of research if that's what it is but I just wanted to point out that most people really don't know much about the Mer world and the great diversity it encompasses, I know that before I discovered MerNetwork late last year the only Mermaid that I really knew about was Hannah, because I'd seen her in clips on YouTube etc. We in the Mer community often forget that people in the general population don't know all the stuff we know about the community.

So perhaps what we need to focus on is promoting the diversity of the Mer world to the wider population, and make mers of colour just as famous as Hanah is. I aknowledge there is obviously predujice against Mers of colour, as pointed out by Mermaid Momo's excellent video. I think though we have to a knowledge the historical aspects of Mermaids and Mermaid culture before we go and assume someone is being racist by wanting a white Mermaid over a Mermaid of colour. And that is the simple fact that Mermaid myths were largely popularised by white people fantasizing about beautiful white women. Therefore, Mermaids are most often thought about as beautiful white women, and when someone orders a Mermaid for a party or other gig etc, that is likely to be the stereotype they are expecting. I don't think it's necessarily racist of them not to be thinking about black mermaids, if what they want is a white Mermaid. Now I don't know if that's what happened here with the Cirque hiring, i.e. they thought "we need a Mermaid" hired a white one, and later thought it would be cool to add a cultural element of an African Goddess later.

But I do know one thing about Cirque, they hire for the skills they want first, suitability for characters is second. They will often hire gymnasts and circus artists with specific skill sets before they have even invented a character for them or even a show for them to slot into.

Lastly, while I am not advocating the selection of a white person over a black person for a black role I just wanted to ask why is it necessarily being racist for a white person to play a black character, especially if the cultural behaviours are well researched and acted out respectfully? I mean I don't see circus performers any differently to other performing arts performers like dancers or actors or singers. Theatre actors play the role of all kinds of different people and cultures, no one ever says that it is off limits for them to play different characters. Same with dancers.

I've been a dancer for the last 10 years and dancers learn and perform all kinds of different styles and cultures of dance, and I think it's great that we can draw on so many different cultures and styles to do so. I don't think anyone is about to tell someone they can't perform a particular ballet because they don't have the particualr cultural roots of that ballet. And so the same with circus. I just see that it borrows from many different cultures in all the aspects it represents, from the many and diverse types of acts and apparatus there are from all different cultures around the world. Cirque's many and varied characters are also the same. They are not afraid to borrow from other cultures to tell a story. That should not have to mean that that person must be from that background to play thst character.

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[Starfrit]

Starfrit your videos may not be working? I was hoping to see videos that were submitted to Cirque that showed the skill set they wanted for their show by a mermaid performer of African decent. I thought that's what happened, that mermaids did send in their videos and still Cirque didn't take that into consideration which would really be unfair.

Why are you even still in this thread if you can't be bothered to fucking read, jesus christ

[merwandering]

To me the fact that those videos don't exist is more unfair.

[Starfrit]

And so the same with circus. I just see that it borrows from many different cultures in all the aspects it represents, from the many and diverse types of acts and apparatus there are from all different cultures around the world. Cirque's many and varied characters are also the same. They are not afraid to borrow from other cultures to tell a story. That should not have to mean that that person must be from that background to play thst character.

.............. literally the whole reason this discussion came up is because a group of white people chose to cast a white person to play the part of an actual African deity. It's not just a "character," they whitewashed a black religious entity and didn't even give people of color a chance to audition. And I don't care how cute you think it is that "we can all just borrow from other cultures to tell stories and that's magical!!!!" What happened here-- and what continues to happen across all forms of the entertainment industry-- is racist and is NOT OKAY. Plain and simple.

How is this so difficult for people to get?

[AniaR]

but I want to suggest that it might have just been Cirque were not aware of other excellent black mers being out there, and chose Hannah simply because she is well known as a mer.

That's their JOB though. they clearly put a lot of thought into it, they hired other black actresses and performers, did a lot of African inspired stuff, and Circ is sort of known (especially here in Canada) for being multicultural. it's not Hannah's fault that it all happened. She was ignorant, what's done is done. But circ knows better lol. Don't excuse it for them, trust me.

And really these issue at this point and in this entire thread isnt about arguing over the details about circ and hannah though so many keep deflecting it. It was the response Hannah gave when Black mers addressed it with her, that prompted MANY merfolk of colour to finally take a stand an address some of the racial issues in this whole community.

So perhaps what we need to focus on is promoting the diversity of the Mer world to the wider population, and make mers of colour just as famous as Hanah is. I aknowledge there is obviously predujice against Mers of colour, as pointed out by Mermaid Momo's excellent video. I think though we have to a knowledge the historical aspects of Mermaids and Mermaid culture before we go and assume someone is being racist by wanting a white Mermaid over a Mermaid of colour.

The fact is, as this thead demonstrates, is people have BUILT IN biases. They clearly don't understand they are being racist or exclusinoary. This is a phenomnen specifically in the peformer world that has been studied. the excuse of "well no one of colour fit the role" it literally the blanket excuse for all white washing. So we have to stop giving people the benefit of the doubt because that in this case, has NEVER worked. We had black folks boycotting the oscars this year. It's time to start calling it what it is and not dance around it anymore. I appreciate your attempt at a doplomatic and fair approach but the situation isn't fair at all. So we need an approach weighted toward helping the victims.

Lastly, while I am not advocating the selection of a white person over a black person for a black role I just wanted to ask why is it necessarily being racist for a white person to play a black character, especially if the cultural behaviours are well researched and acted out respectfully?

Honestly, everything. There are so few minority characters and roles as is, there's simply no need for a white person to take them.

Here's a few helpful articles

Common defenses of whitewashing, and why they are BS
http://www.pajiba.com/think_pieces/common-defenses-of-whitewashing-and-why-they-are-bullshit.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XebG4TO_xss

http://www.livemaguk.com/why-is-whitewashing-bad/

http://www.upworthy.com/this-comic-breaks-down-the-problem-with-whitewashing-race







http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/mo...ored.html?_r=0

http://screenrant.com/worst-examples-whitewashing-movies/?view=all


http://sites.psu.edu/christiercl/201...-whitewashing/

http://www.geekquality.com/hollywood-whitewashing/


Lastly,

They are not afraid to borrow from other cultures to tell a story. That should not have to mean that that person must be from that background to play thst character.

there is a huge difference between cultural exchange, and flat out stealing from a culture. Yemayah represented African diaspora. It's like taking Gandi and making him white. Taking Martin LK Jr and making him White. You are taking someone who is a HUGE symbol for their race, and making them white. It's not even a matter of a generic character or something. She is literally a goddess and represents the black struggle. IT'S INSULTING and hurtful!

I'm not trying to argue you with you, I can see you're genuinely trying to understand, but you like many of us white folks just have these inherent biases of "what's the big deal" when blacks are dying in the streets telling us over and over again, this is a BIG deal

i feel like we're going in circles/

[AniaR]

Starting off with a biggie—the Hollywood equivalent of “I don’t see color.” Which is great for you, really. How nice to live in that world where a person’s race is unimportant. The rest of us do not live in that world. The rest of us live in a world where the movie industry has been run since its inception by a bunch of white guys—white guys who valued whiteness—a result of which is that the diversity of the real world is not represented in film. The fact that you don’t see race as having an effect on how people are treated in the industry doesn’t mean the effect is not there.But hey, I get it. Headshots cross your desk, you audition some people, you cast the best ones. But to assume that the reason the majority of actors up for any given role are white is just a coincidence—that it has nothing to do with a fundamental equality problem in Hollywood—is disingenuous and complicit with the larger problem. What you’re essentially saying when you just accept that “well, most of the good actors are white” is that white people are better actors than people of other races. And it sounds stupid when you put it like that, huh? There are good actors of color out there, doing good work and making a living, and there would be more if studios would put a smidge more effort into finding talented actors of color who are being passed over in favor white actors with a little bit of name recognition. Hollywood, you have a diversity problem, and nobody’s going to fix it but you.

^ this

[MermaidNerenia]

This was an exceptionally tacky choice from Cirque and it's unfortunate. Hannah should have never been cast in this, this was not a role she should have ever been portraying. It's insulting and completely unbelievable that they didn't see all the things wrong with it when they cast her.

It's a big deal the reasons why they did this, it's also a big deal that they don't see anything wrong with what they did which underscores an even more massive issue.

The video of this shows that there were many many many other parts of this performance that a lot of thought, care and respect was put into, this wasn't one of them.

It's sad but this changes the way I see Cirque, I don't think that's a company I want to give my money to see shows from, that either is blatantly ignorant about parts of their own shows, or refuses to acknowledge whitewashing at it worst.

[MermaidBonnie]

Now I see! Cirque didn't even accept audition videos from others. That's what I didn't understand. Maybe they will from now on. As for Mermania, I'm considering coming and bringing with me my UW photographer Ziggy who is African American and is a certified diver that I have been exclusively working with since last spring. He is a part of my Music City Mermaid company and my avatar alone shows yall his talent. He has all the right equipment, is a hard worker, fun to be around, and just radiates talent! Since you are doing a panel there about mermaids of color, maybe he could be a part of that as a photographer that lives in the Deep South? He and I had an amazing convo about his experiences while in Key Largo during our shoot. He could also do uw portraits for a commission of course. Would my company need to rent a spot for him? Let me know the prices. If the schedule works out, this could be a great opportunity for him and for yall to work with him. If this inquiry is on the wrong thread please let me know.

[AniaR]

We already have photographers who have exclusivity with the event for underwater portraits and sessions.

if your friend would like to speak on the "mers of colour" panel, they'll need to send a proposal to the panel organizer (Daphne Clem) like everyone else. Though the focus is on the mermaid community.

You can contact the NC Mermania page for further discussion and submitting proposals

[Hydro Aqualarin]

You are so right Mermaid Momo. That sucks that we live in a world that has race problems. Humans are the only ones that do that. We dont see dogs like a yellow lab and a black lab hate or see them selves and different from each other for the color of there fur. There are many kinds of dogs, cats and other animals of the same kind of size and color but no hate there. I am a Hispanic, Latino, native american and white person but to me I am just a merman my race is merfolk not Hispanic, Latino native american and white. To me I think merfolks are just merfolks one race only. So we as merfolks need to stick together for are community because if we keep on bickering with each other of are human side of are race we lose the honor and beauty of what it means to be a merfolk. Dont disgrace are merfolk community by human hate and negativity of human people. Merfolks rule.

[merwandering]

That inspires me to begin, when filling out paperwork any time it asks my race, writing in "mermaid"....

[AniaR]

relevant:

https://mic.com/articles/150173/cons...fly#.6dhMN3h3M

Matt Damon cast in film about the great wall of China. -_- there's more asians in the world than whites. Tell me again how they couldnt find a chinese actor...

[merwandering]

Makes me cringe how true this is-but true nonetheless. How can we do better? Here's a start. YOU be the one to speak up. If you don't realize you have privilege, do some research. Once you know, you be the voice, every chance you get.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf9QBnPK6Yg