How A Rapunzel Fancast Sent TikTok Down The Drain
Anyone who spends a significant amount of time on TikTok would certainly have come across edits of different fancast ideas for various fandoms.
For the few people deprived of the internet and have never felt the joy of compulsively obsessing over a book or anime, fancasting is assigning a real-life individual (often actors or models) to a fictional character based on one's preferences as a fan and/or the available description. It's like imagining your favorite book series being turned into a show and casting the perfect actors to play out your beloved character.
This, of course, doesn't just happen with book characters. Disney princesses, for example, are often fancasted as Disney has taken up the light hobby of creating live-action versions of our favorite princess movies. And when a supposed casting for Rapunzel was revealed to be Avantika Vandanapu, a South Asian actress, there was a large commotion as everyone looked back at the Florence Pugh, Meg Donnelly, and Anya Taylor-Joy fancasts they adored.
Image Courtesy: Avantika via Instagram
But here's the thing: there is no live-action Rapunzel in production. Avantika is simply another fancast. The difference between her and the other blonde, blue-eyed fancasts is the devastating amount of hate Avantika has received and the discourse that has sprouted for a movie that doesn't exist.
TikTok was sent into a frenzy after the rumor gained traction, with hundreds of grown blonde women talking about their inner child crying and how they feel unrepresented, arguing that white women are often underrepresented in the media. There were comments about how the actress should be German since Rapunzel was a German fairytale, except that the fancast they offered wasn't German, just white (kind of how everyone said that a Scandinavian actress should be cast for Astrid instead of Nico Parker in the live-action How To Train Your Dragon, but ignored how her white co-stars weren't Scandinavian either). And unlike the few Disney films that star women of color as princesses, Rapunzel's race and ethnicity have no impact on the story.
Image Courtesy: (Meg Donnelly) via Disney; (Florence Pugh) Getty; (Anya Taylor Joy) Getty
Like many others, I didn't even know Rapunzel was German until a week ago. So, maybe we can slow down with the suggestions of making Tiana and Mulan white, especially since the discrimination that Tiana faced because she was black and Chinese mythology are significantly important to the arc of the stories.
Hundreds of people got upset, bullied, and made a mockery of brown women. Those who used Avantika to spit out lines of how the possibility of her being cast as Rapunzel would be a shame are simply finding an excuse to release all of their deep-seated racism, with comments such as, "Not my Rapunzel" or "Please don't ruin my childhood again Disney," followed by a stream of puking emojis.
Some people say she should play Mother Gothel instead, despite her being 19 and Mother Gothel still being white — though I suppose that's okay since she's the villain and not the beloved heroine. It has strayed so far from being disappointed in a casting choice or uncertain of an actor's direction. It is now simply an excuse to be racist in a socially acceptable way.
The same thing occurred when Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel, only far worse because it was confirmed. Despite race having very little to do with the story (Ariel having a tail was the important aspect of the plot, but real mermaids are hard to find), there was worldwide rage that a woman of color dared to take space in a white-dominated area. Genuine discussions about how red-head representation was scarce in the media and they felt reduced to stereotypes popped up — I hope you can appreciate this irony. There was no concern about Halle's acting or singing ability; she was judged entirely for the color of her skin and decided by thousands that she simply couldn't be good enough because of that.
Image Courtesy: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Avantika, unfortunately, is receiving the same treatment — all at the mere idea that she could hypothetically play a Disney princess who was originally portrayed as white.
I have never once felt represented by any princess. The closest was Jasmine, but that was an oriental-fantasy mess that mashed very different cultures together, and I clung to her because we were both kind of brown. I thought I couldn't dress up like a princess for Halloween because I didn't look like them. The heroes of stories that I heard growing up, in general, never looked anything like me to the point where I eventually made the princesses and heroes of my stories white because it was all I saw. Even to me, a brown woman, the default was still white.
Avantika Vandanapu as Rapunzel would be a casting choice I would support. It's partly out of spite but mostly because of the talent that Avantika has. Not only is she an incredible actress, but her singing and dancing in Mean Girls: The Musical were the parts I adored most about that movie. Fancast or not, she's my Rapunzel.
Strike Out,
Rameen Naviwala
Boca Raton
Rameen Naviwala is a content writer for Strike Magazine Boca. A water sign that enjoys rom-coms and reading melodramatic novels, she spends most of her time with headphones on and scribbling down whatever thought comes to mind. You can reach her at rameen.naviwala@outlook.com.
