People have been left divided over Disney's casting of Nani in their upcoming live-action rendition of Lilo and Stitch.
The original movie debuted over 20 years ago and told the story of Lilo and her alien friend Stitch, as well as her sister Nani and her boyfriend David, and their adventures together in Hawaii.
The movie became a cult classic and broke the mold of what a Disney movie had to be. So, of course, fans were delighted to hear about its revival.
While no specific details about the plot line have yet been disclosed, in a major announcement via The Hollywood Reporter, it has been revealed who will be taking on the roles of some of the main characters.
Maia Kealoha, a young actress from Hawaii, will be taking on the part of Lilo, while Zach Galifianakis has also joined the lineup, though his exact role has not yet been announced.
Most recently, it was announced that Sydney Elizabeth Agudong will be taking on the role of Lilo’s older sister, Nani, but it seems as though a lot of folks online have been left displeased by the news.
The outlet reported that Agudong was "born and raised on the island of Kauai, Hawaii" but fails to specify whether is Native Hawaiian or not. Not only that, but some fans have also raised the issue of colorism, stating that Nani is a darker-skinned Pacific Islander and that should be better reflected in the choice of casting.
Under a tweet published by @PopCrave, many expressed their concern.
One Twitter user wrote: "what?? i am pretty sure there are hawaiian actresses with a skin tone more similar to nani's, where's representation now? i hope this doesn't happen to tiana's because i'm really rooting for coco jones on that part [sic]".
A second added: "Absolutely no hate to this beautiful woman but let’s re cast."
A third tweeted: "Colourism [...] Nani isn’t that light skin!!! Where is our dark skin Polynesian representation!?"
"The issue is not that they casted a native Hawaiian because props to them for doing so, the issue is that once again we are seeing colorism impact casting choices," another added.
And the conversation continued to spread across the social media platform.
"The conflict occurring in Lilo and Stitch being about the colonialist state attempting to pull this tiny 'broken' native Hawaiian family apart is made more apparent by their both being darker skinned girls. Casting a lighter skinned Hawaiian to play Nani interferes with that," this person pointed out.
And this Twitter user didn't hold back with their opinion: "Like all shade all offense to nani’s actress in this upcoming lilo and stitch bc how do u look at the character ur supposed to be playing THEN look in the mirror and see that u are whitewashing/actively taking a role from someone more marginalized and still accept that role."
And when people tried to compare the casting criticism to that of Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid remake, another very passionate Twitter user further explained: "Nani's race and skin colour are RELEVANT TO THE STORY. a white passing nani DOES NOT WORK WITH THE STORY. Ariel on the other hand is a MERMAID a creature that DOES NOT EXIST and her race is NOT RELEVANT TO THE STORY because she is a literal MERMAID (I have dumbed this down for u).
"In the movie the siblings' feeling of isolation from the other characters stems from many things INCLUDING the fact that they are dark skinned Hawaiian women. Nani is a character who is curvy and has darker features. Someone who is white passing cannot represent that struggle."
While everyone has the right to be upset about Disney's casting choice, this Twitter user had a reminder for everyone stating that people shouldn't be misdirecting their hate to the actress who was just cast for a role:
And another supporter tweeted: "Sydney is Hawaiian [...] and a proud one either, Nani is a fictional Hawaiian character so regardless of the lighter tone Sydney has , doesn’t change the fact they cast an actual Polynesian girl a true island girl for this."
What do you think about the issue?
Disney's Lilo and Stitch is set to be released on Disney+ in the near future.
