Known for her role in “Mean Girls,” 19-year-old Indian-American actress Avantika Vandanapu has been the subject of racist backlash ever since rumours spread online that she’s been cast as Rapunzel in a live-action version of the popular Disney film “Tangled.”
Many TikTok users posted videos expressing their disappointment with an actress of South Asian heritage playing the princess.
One TikTok showed a white woman crying with the caption, “Me pretending the little girl in me isn’t so upset by the live-action rapunzel casting.” Another user said she wanted to cancel Disney if Ms Vandanapu was cast as Rapunzel because she isn’t of German descent.
The actress’ Instagram posts have also been flooded with negative comments from people who say they will never accept her as Rapunzel.
“All i’m saying is you definitely don’t fit the role for Rapunzel stop tryna change the princess !” one comment said. “Don’t be rapunzel u’re gonna ruin my childhood ok?,” said another.
This backlash is similar to when Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid.” #NotMyAriel started trending on Twitter in response to Bailey’s selection to play the mermaid princess. While the actress addressed the racist trolls criticizing her role in the film, saying that the Black community needed more representation on screen, Ms Vandanapu hasn’t reacted to the trolling yet.
But South Asian fans have rushed to Ms Vandanapu’s defence, pointing out that there’s been no confirmation that the actress will be playing Rapunzel. A live-action adaptation of “Tangled” isn’t considered in production at the moment.
“Do you know the live-action tangled isn’t even confirmed??? And even if it was Avantika would be the only best candidate for Rapunzel,” one user wrote.
“People need to stop sending this poor Indian girl hate over a RUMOR. And so what if she plays Rapunzel??? White women have been taking the spots of Indian women in Indian movies for decades,” another said.
Others have commented “My Rapunzel” under her social media posts.
