Rev. Scott A. Ressman, Pastor and Teacher at United Church in Rockville Centre, New York preached a whole sermon exploring how “Disney’s casting of a black actress to portray “The Little Mermaid” created controversy and sparked conversation” while suggesting in the same way people need to get over the notion of a black mermaid, they must get over the idea of the good old days “when life centered around the church and all of its activities” and “Sunday morning was reserved for worship and fellowship.”
As millions watch the video trailer of The Little Mermaid, people took to TikTok, and yes, this is I think the fifth week in a row that I’ve mentioned TikTok. They took to TikTok to record their children watching the trailer for the first time. And it made me cry, again, and again.
(Shows the church a video of these reactions)
So did you see them? Did you hear their words, ‘what’s going on here?’ For these children of colour, they are seeing someone who looks like them in the magical role of a main character.
No, they didn’t reason that out, but their child-centered intellect told them for the first time for some of those kids, they looked into the mirror of the television or the cell phone or the iPad or the computer screen and saw a reflection of their own being. They were seen, and their black identity was celebrated.
Being seen, that’s the thing that continues to stick with me when I watch these videos. And if you want to see more, just Google them you’ll see a whole bunch. There is such power in being seen, isn’t there? Many of us cannot imagine what it feels like to be invisible in the world, especially in the entertainment world. But even the young children in those videos realizes that a black mermaid is an anomaly.So how does all of this speak to us as people of faith? In the church we’ve become accustomed to the way things are. When folks of a certain age speak of the church they recall with fondness The Glory Days of the church…when life centered around the church and all of its activities. And Sunday morning was reserved for worship and fellowship not just in the church but in the community as well.
But things have changed dramatically. Life no longer centers around the church and it won’t ever again, and like those who hold on to a white mermaid because it makes them feel in control and validates their need to have things be safe and familiar, sometimes we in the church hold fast to a bygone era that will never return, and quite frankly probably shouldn’t’ return.
h/t Woke Preacher TV
