“The Little Mermaid looks like me!”: cross-cultural diversity, inclusion and children’s self-esteem on TikTok
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Abstract
While media raise awareness about inclusion and cross-cultural diversity worldwide, new avenues for debate are emerging in social media platforms such as TikTok, targeting especially children’s audiences. An example of this are the popular reaction videos to film releases such as the teaser of Disney’s The Little Mermaid live action, which have constructed discussion networks around symbolic representation, colonial decentralization, stereotypical rupture, or the Caucasian imaginary in childhood. This study examines children’s reactions and community sentiment expressed on TikTok through qualitative analysis of 50 video-reactions and sentiment analysis of 11,510 comments. For this purpose, we conducted an inductive content analysis using 10 codes, including “diversity and inclusion”, “emotions”, “prejudice”, and “racial/ethnic identity”, as well as a sentiment analysis coded using natural language processing and artificial intelligence based on OpenAI’s GPT model. The findings indicate that the portrayal of an African-American character, Halle Bailey, is well-received by minors, fostering a widespread positive response towards cross-cultural diversity. The representation of a black complexion and copper-brown hair, in contrast to the former Caucasian and red-haired icon, does not appear to intimidate children, who express enthusiasm and excitement about her role. This representation reflects a sense of shared positivism, where both the adult and child “Disneyfied” imagination suggest a future based on diversity and enhanced self-esteem for children.
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