‘We were literally doing that for free’: Viewers defend Little Mermaid cosplayer after a movie theater customer called her setup ‘ghetto’
A TikToker is going viral for setting the record straight after a person called her good deed "ghetto."
The video by cosplayer @angelcakeslove was filmed in reaction to a TikTok that a movie-goer uploaded of her calling her Little Mermaid character setup "ghetto." The original video shows @angelcakeslove dressed up as Disney's Little Mermaid at the movie theater. She's lying in what appears to be a decorated wheelbarrow and has an underwater-themed backdrop behind her.
Two little Black girls and their caretaker approach her, seemingly happy to be interacting with a "real" mermaid.
The live-action version of the iconic movie made history by casting a Black woman, singer, and actress Halle Bailey, as Ariel. The movie premiered just last weekend.
The video poster insulted the young woman's efforts to bring the character to life at the movie theater and alleged that they paid $30 to see her.
"Look at this ghetto shet I just saw at the movies," the original poster said. "What the fock is this bro? This is not the mermaid I paid 30 dollars to see."
In her reaction video @angelcakeslove clarified that she and her team were giving people the Ariel character experience for free and nobody was charged to see her or to take a photo.
The TikToker is part of a company called Brown Beauty Magic, a character company that hires a diverse group of people to bring to life fan-favorite characters, like Cinderella and Ariel, for children's parties and events. On the site, they describe their mission as, "Creating magic by representing the beauty of brown in every ethnicity, culture and shade."
She went on to explain that most of the events the organization does are free and they specifically go to areas where the community can't afford to pay for character photo-ops.
"We volunteer downtown and f*cking donate to people who can't afford crap like that," she says.
She added that she understood it wasn't the "best setup," but the person's unnecessary critique of their volunteer work hit "a little different" right now because, in addition to working hard to do things for their community, the organization's founder recently died.
The TikToker is directing supporters to the company's Cash App ($brownbeautymagicllc) and PayPal for donations.
"We had to deal with losing that person and then deal with this crap. So thanks for everyone for being an a**hole," she concludes.
The video has more than a million views and nearly 5,000 comments.
@angelcakeslove this has been a rough week and this did not make this better😭 its awful because they one lied and for two the video is getting so many veiws and i dont want my face on that so if you can report it please do so
♬ original sound - Your angel❤️
Commenters flooded the TikToker with words of support and encouragement.
"Went to see The Little Mermaid at the drive in & they were driving around a mermaid on a golf cart. My kid was SO excited. These events make an impact," one said.
"Some people are MISERABLE. Don’t let this discourage you from what you’re doing love. My condolences," another wrote.
The original poster took down the video and shared a new TikTok showing positive and polite exchanges with @angelcakeslove via TikTok DM.
The Daily Dot reached out to @angelcakeslove via email and the original poster via TikTok comment.
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