The hashtag #Notmyariel was trending, and many would write on the topic such as  “I Don’t Want a Black Ariel – Why We Shouldn’t Be Satisfied With Race Switching” by The Final Cutback. The Final Cutback is a black man who in his writing demonstrates that he cares about getting the right representation. He saw the #Notmyariel and began to write his op-ed on the blogging website “Medium” in 2020. On this website, anyone is free to publish a story which says a lot because there are no restrictions on who publishes, and it is easy to publish one on the site. 

The intended audience for this op-ed are people who want genuine representation in the entertainment industry. I believe he is writing specifically to these people because he wants to let them know they are not alone in how they feel. The Final Cutback in his op-ed is saying what many may not want to voice on social media due to fear of public criticism. The extended audience would be all sides of the controversy. The op-ed that The Final Cutback wrote is somewhat of a middle-ground because he voices that he does not want a black Ariel, only because it is a cheap way to say that the film is giving minorities representation. 

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella starring Brandy was a 1997 live-action movie. Vicky Mochama wrote, “​​Brandy’s Black Cinderella Made The Impossible Possible In Hollywood”. Vicky Mochama is a black journalist, editor, and writer based in Toronto with a lot of experience. She wrote this op-ed in 2021 which she then published on Refinery 29’s Unbothered page which is a page where the black community voices their thoughts and opinions. 

The intended audience for this op-ed is black people who were extremely thrilled to find out that the film was officially going to come out on the Disney Plus streaming platform. I believe that they are Mochama’s intended audience because in her writing she states “ I swear I heard several million Black people scream through my computer monitor when Disney+ announced that it will finally stream Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella starting February 12”. I feel like she is writing to them specifically because the black community considers the movie special culturally. The extended audience would be people who are not a part of the black community but a part of the generation who saw this movie as a kid.

During the time of the release of these op-eds was the 2020 presidential election. Coincidentally during this time, on social media, there was a rise of racist remarks and slurs being used. In this case, Mochama wrote her op-ed when Disney Plus announced the release of Brandy’s Cinderella. Around the time the movie was re-released, people on social media were still criticizing the Little Mermaid casting with Halle Bailey. Cutbacks op-ed was published during the time that the news of Halle Bailey being cast as Ariel came out. This was also the time that TV shows and movie castings would heavily use race-switching.The purpose of Cutback’s op-ed was to voice his opinion on the matter of the Ariel controversy and let minorities know to not accept the cheap representation that Hollywood gives the audience. He states “Representation is not something that should just be visual i.e through seeing a black face in place of another on-screen; it should be through diverse stories, characters, settings as well as the casting. Changing the race of Ariel is nothing but cheap, second-hand representation”. I agree with this because to me it looks like Hollywood does not want to take the time to create a brand-new storyline for minorities like Miles Morales. Cutback takes advantage of using pathos by expressing to his audience that cheap race switching is used to satisfy the audience who are minorities.  Mochama’s op-ed discussed the cultural importance of Brandy’s Cinderella and the influence it has had on shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton. Mochama expresses “Black Cinderella also laid the groundwork for the return of the live musical event on television”.  Similar to Cutback, Mochama uses pathos in her op-ed to appeal to the black community by bringing on nostalgic memories of the film and reminders of how influential this film has been. She wants to let the audience know that Brandy Cinderella heavily impacted the representation we have gotten from the media over the years.