The Little Mermaid live action remake premiered this weekend, and it's already been under fire for some of its production choices. The iconic character Ursula, portrayed by Melissa McCarthy, had her drag-inspired make up done by Peter King. However, the film has been under fire for not having an LGBTQ make up artist complete her look, per TMZ.
King says the claims are ridiculous. He's a seasoned make up artist, and has done makeup for The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, and Spider-Man. The artist said, “I find that very offensive. Why can't I do as good a job as a queer make up artist?”
He continued, “I personally don't get it. Yes, I'm very old now, so that's fine, I get that too, but you know, a make up artist or makeup designer could design makeup, they don't have to have an attachment to the nature of what they're doing.”
Melissa McCarthy played the sea witch Ursula. Ursula's character design is iconic: the purple skin, the shock white hair, bold red lip, and the black tentacles. It's been mentioned that her character was inspired by drag queens. And for her make up look in the remake, Ursula's inspiration was the real drag queen Divine.
The issue for certain LGBTQ members is that they feel their culture is being adapted by someone who doesn't have the right to adapt it. However, King is a seasoned make up artist and did a successful job bringing McCarthy's character into the live action world. What do you think about it?
See The Little Mermaid in theaters now.
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