To Cast or Not Cast?: The Controversy Surrounding Fan-Casting Live-Action Rapunzel
Yashaswini Repaka
May 2024
Avantika Vandanapu, an Indian American actress who played Karen Shetty in the musical adaptation of Mean Girls raised contentions when fan-casted as Rapunzel in the supposed live-action version of Tangled. This rumor has spiraled throughout TikTok’s platform, and Vandanapu became the subject of racist comments.
No live-action Tangled movie has been confirmed by Disney yet, but eager fan accounts claimed Avantika is a candidate for the role. As a result, TikTok users took the claims seriously:
One TikToker posted, “Rapunzel is a GERMAN folk story. Indians are not and never will be German,” (Venkataraman 2024).
Another post stated, “Rapunzel Is supposed to be a blonde white girl,” (@faithell.iott 2024).
Avantika also received hate comments in the comment sections of her Instagram posts, stating she wasn’t right for the role and wouldn’t be an authentic Rapunzel. Some also suggested that casting Indian women as Rapunzel would be like casting white actors for the roles of colored princesses such as Mulan and Tiana from Princess and the Frog.
Others argue Avantika is well-suited for the role: “tangled is the story of a brown girl. i said what i said,” (@shivaniranaa 2024).
Another posted, “All this racism and delusions for a movie that doesn’t exist,” (Venkataraman 2024).
Nevertheless, this news spun into debates regarding race, as many claim this as an instance of South Asian discrimination.
The origins of the Rapunzel story can be traced back to a rich tapestry of cultural and literary sources. The tale, popularized by the Brothers Grimm, is just one of the many iterations of a motif found in various folk traditions and oral narratives. In the Brothers Grimm adaptation, Rapunzel is depicted as having “splendid long hair, as fine as spun gold,” (Grimm 2019). In the
Disney adaptation of the tale, Rapunzel has emerald green eyes and the same golden hair magical, making it an integral component of the plot and expanding on the original storyline. Rapunzel’s evil stepmother Mother Gothel uses Rapunzel’s magical hair to obtain eternal youth. Interestingly enough, the Persian epic poem “Shahnameh” has a character by the name of Rudaba, who shares many similarities with Rapunzel (a young woman with long hair, confined in a tower) and that “included the first story to feature a woman lowering her hair to allow someone to climb up and gain entry to her home, and is traced back to have likely inspired the Rapunzel fairytale,” (Mohamed, Williams, Fattani 2021). This narrative has been found to extend across many cultures, including the Italian tale of “Petrosinella” by Giambattista Basile, which features Petrosinella, a character with a fate similar to Rapunzel’s: “Words are but wind,” answered the ogress; “I am not to be caught with such prattle; you have closed the balance-sheet of life, unless you promise to give me the child you bring forth, girl or boy, whichever it may be,” (H, Z. 2024). Petrosinella and the modern Rapunzel face the same fate of being taken captive by a witch because her parents had taken plants from that garden.
Many who oppose Avantika being cast for the role of Rapunzel claim her appearance is not reminiscent of the animated Disney version. Having South Asian roots, Avantika has long, black hair. However, this topic remains up for debate. Many people have expressed concern that the treatment of the South Asian community, in this situation, reflects wider issues of discrimination and prejudice. This incident has sparked important discussions about race relations and the need for greater awareness and understanding of different cultural backgrounds.
As a result, this minor post by fans has sparked outrage among TikTok users, causing controversies to ripple throughout the social media platform, and has left users contemplating the deeper meanings behind cultural representation.
References:
[1] H, Z. (2024, January 19). Petrosinella – An Italian Rapunzel Tale by Giambattista Basile. https://www.pookpress.co.uk/petrosinella-italian-tale-rapunzel/
[2] Grimm 012: Rapunzel. (n.d.). https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm012.html
[3] Rapunzel’s Fairy Tale and its Mythical Persian Origin – Polling and Open Data Initiative at the University of Washington. (2021, December 11). https://poddata.org/blog/2021/12/11/tracing-back-rapunzel-letting-down-her-hair
[4] NBCUniversal News Group. (2024, April 9). Rumors of avantika playing a live-action rapunzel spark racist backlash online. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/avantika-rapunzel-racist-backlash-rcna147039
