Reflection: The Little Mermaid

As I have previously mentioned on this blog, The Little Mermaid was my absolute favorite Disney princess movie when I was a little girl; I loved the idea of an ocean setting and mermaids. We even performed “Under the Sea” during my fifth grade chorus concert, reinvigorating my love for the film at ten years old. I did not think much about the film again until my high school independent study on gender inequality. Once I started to examine the movie with a new lens, I was not too pleased that I had been allowed to see such a film at such a formative age. I mainly watched clips and read articles for my independent study, so this was my first time watching the entire movie, beginning to end, in quite some time. After watching it, I continued to be frustrated about several things, including the image of the mermaids, the portrayal of Ursula, the lyrics of “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” and, honestly, just the general plot of the movie.

I know that all of the Disney princesses are ridiculously skinny - to the point where it is not even physically possible - but seeing Ariel without any clothing on top of her torso is quite striking. I mean… c’mon. Who draws people like that? The space between her eyes is wider than her waist. I do not remember noticing this as a young child, but that is part of the problem; we subconsciously absorb those messages about body image, and I cringe at the thought of so many young girls being told that a body type like Ariel’s, which would actually be considered incredibly unhealthy in real life, is beautiful and attractive.

I also find trouble with the portrayal of Ursula as the villain. She has several of the physical characteristics considered most unfavorable for women: overweight, very large breasts, too much makeup, prominent mole on her face, and white hair. It is okay to have female villains. It is not okay to teach young girls to correlate traits like being overweight with being evil. Again, young children subconsciously absorb these messages and could end up judging themselves or others with these skewed perspectives in later years.

It is not hard for an adult watching this film to determine that “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is probably one of the most problematic aspects of this Disney movie - and, in my opinion, one of the most problematic aspects of the entire franchise. Here are just a few of the lines: “but you’ll have your man [in the absence of family],” “I’m not asking much… what I want from you is your voice,” “You’ll have your looks,” “The men up there don’t like a lot of blabber,” “They think a girl who gossips is a bore,” “On land it’s much preferred for ladies not to say a word,” “They dote and swoon and fawn on a lady who’s withdrawn.” UM… YIKES. My jaw about dropped to the ground the first time I heard these lyrics as a teenager. Who wrote this?! Perhaps it could be argued that Ursula is the villain, so her messages are supposed to be bad, but I am not convinced… these are still incredibly harmful lessons that young children are, once again, subconsciously absorbing about the way men and women should interact. If you want to make her messages negative, brainstorm some options that do not have to do with the oppression of an already marginalized group. I am confident someone at Disney could have thought of some alternatives.

Overall, I consider this movie to be the most problematic of the Disney princess films. Consider this plot summary: a sixteen year-old girl falls deeply in love with a man who, according to the Prince’s assistant’s comments about Ariel being a “young guest,” must be significantly older than her. She decides she is willing to give up her family to spend her life with the man that she does not know at all. Not only that, but she also decides to give up her voice and change her physical appearance to be with him. Read that one more time: she gives up her voice and changes her body for a man who makes zero sacrifices in return. I have trouble thinking of a more harmful message about gender that young boys and girls could absorb.

***I am already past my word limit, but here are two quick other things to consider for those who are interested: problems with consent in the lyrics of “Kiss the Girl,” and the fact that Eric is able to defeat the new queen of the sea by just pushing a boat into her… seems like Disney went to all sorts of unrealistic lengths to make the male figure in the relationship the hero, once again.