Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has been a hit with critics, but the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel has brought racists and alt-right critics out in force. And efforts to scuttle the film’s success has led one of the internet’s largest film sites to adjust its rating system for the film.
IMDb currently gives the movie a 7 out of 10 ranking, but of more than 33,000 user-submitted reviews, around 13,000 have it ranked as a one-star film in a clear review-bombing attempt.
“Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title. To preserve the reliability of our rating system, an alternate weighting calculation has been applied,” IMDb wrote in a note flagging “unusual activity” on the page. When that occurs, the site says, “an alternate weighting calculation may be applied in order to preserve the reliability of our system.”
To prevent that system from being circumnavigated, IMDb did not disclose its alternate method for generating ratings.
Review bombs are an increasingly large problem for review sites. Activists who object to some element of a film, or groups that want to see it succeed, flood review sites with positive or negative reviews, usually driven by bots, to skew the averages, in hopes of discouraging or encouraging others to view it.
Bailey’s casting as the character Ariel was praised by many, including Jodi Benson, the original voice of the cartoon character (who cameos with Bailey in the new film). Self-appointed culture police, though, loudly complained about the casting, insisting the character remain a Caucasian with red hair.
The attempts to review-bomb the film haven’t stopped audiences from going, however. The Little Mermaid topped the box office last week, with the fifth-biggest Memorial Day weekend opening on record, earning $95.5 million.