Beyoncé has nothing to say on the topic of "black Ariel"
She is said to have made a comment about the black Ariel in Disney's live action film adaptation of the cartoon. But just because it's on the internet doesn't necessarily mean it's true. A look at Namibia sheds light on the matter.
In Beyoncé Knowles' video for the single "Spirit", the musician dances through the desert. At her side: dancers and her daughter Ivy Blue. They all have dark skin and auburn hair. The internet suspects a secret message behind it.
Twitter user mandy-hive (backup) lets it be known that the artist's hair hue is a comment on Halle Bailey's casting as Ariel the Little Mermaid. Beyoncé wanted to address a conversation with it.
Wrong.
If this is supposed to be an allusion, then probably to the members of the Himba tribe. But it probably has absolutely nothing to do with Ariel. Furthermore, it is still not confirmed that Beyoncé wants to make any statement beyond aesthetics.
The ochre in her hair
The Himba - singular OmuHimba, plural: OvaHimba - are one of the last nomadic tribes in Africa. They live in northern Namibia, particularly in the Kunene region. For reasons of both hygiene and aesthetics, the OvaHimba, especially the women, rub themselves with Otjize.
Source: Hans Hillewaert/Wikimedia Commons
Otjize is extracted from stones. When the OvaHimba find suitable red stones, they open a kind of mine at this location. This mine is used over a long period of time. The stones are ground into pigment dust. This is then mixed with milk fat and wood ash and applied to the skin. Sometimes a plant from the Commiphora family is used as a perfume.
The OvaHimba apply Otjize two to three times to their skin and hair. They use this to keep themselves clean, as water is scarce in their habitat. They also attach great importance to the colour red. Red symbolises the earth and blood, the essence of life. This is why the red colour given to the skin and hair by Otjize is the Himba's ideal of beauty.
The errors in the timeline
The theory of the mandy-hive does not work in terms of time. Or if it does, then only just. The video for Spirit was published on YouTube on 19 July 2019
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This means that it had to be produced before the day. The gossip magazine TMZ reports that Beyoncé flew to Arizona for the shoot on 10 July 2019. She flew by helicopter to a tourist area that was temporarily closed off to tourists, filmed for five hours and then took off again. The location was Havasu Falls in the US state of Arizona. A local newspaper reported that Beyoncé or one of her representatives called "last week" to ask if she could film at the waterfall the following day. Instagram user scottbailey68 spotted Beyoncé at the waterfall on 11 July.
So the post-production of the video took less than seven days. That's pretty impressive.
However, the production of the video itself, so that a post-production of seven days is possible, has to be planned well in advance. A camera crew doesn't just wait for Beyoncé to call and book them for the next day. A helicopter, whether hired or private, must also be reserved and maintained. To ensure that the shoot itself runs smoothly, the individual scenes have to be planned in detail. In a music video, this includes choreography, costumes, dancers and many other elements.
Halle Bailey was confirmed as Ariel on 3 July.
Possible in terms of timing, but extremely close.
And what do we learn from this? The Himba are pretty damn cool and will hopefully be around for a long time to come. And just because something is on the internet doesn't mean it's true, meaningful or substantial. <p
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