Last night’s Oscars included Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy presenting the first trailer for Little Mermaid, and we finally got some glimpses of McCarthy as Ursula. She came to slay!
McCarthy leaned into the draggy look of the iconic villain, with many fans saying the comic actor was unrecognizable.
There’s a reason our community has always loved Disney villains. Via Pride:
Believe it or not, there once was a time when television and filmmakers utilized villains to portray a bunch of cliché and homosexual stereotypes because, duh, all gays are deviant villains (supposedly.) However, whatever plan was behind this idea in the first place backfired, because now all we’re left with is a generation of gay kids with evil role models who had to find representation for themselves somewhere.
These characters aren’t gay, per se, but it would be safe to say that no one should be surprised that the result of villains with queer stereotypes provides queer people with inspiration. These characters may be stereotypical, murdering hot messes, but love is love and they belong to us. Some of these characters are offensive, some just fun, but either way, they’re all fabulously queer AF.
In other words: Be gay, do crimes! Muhahahahaha!
The delightful trailer also introduces us to Javier Bardem at King Triton and cutie-pie Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric.
McCarthy has also been standing up for drag online, posting a meme on her Instagram:
We got a few more cute stills of Bailey as Ariel, too:
Watch.
Images: Blaine Ohigashi / Avalon; YouTube / Disney
