I’ve always found the decades-old argument that “The Little Mermaid” is a feminist’s worst nightmare an interesting one. The main argument being: Ariel gives up her voice for a guy and a pair of long legs. It teaches girls that what they have to say doesn’t matter.
It’s one of those sarcastic, cynical synopses that is suppose to make the speaker seem witty and intelligent. Yet I feel like in this case… um, are we watching the same movie?
First of all, the supposedly feminist argument is to me a bit offensive in itself. Ariel is not interested in humans because of one cute guy. The crush pushes her to take action, yes, but that’s the romantic part, okay? Get over it, it’s a movie. It needs a plot.
It’s established in the very first scene that her main objective in life is to explore and learn. She never asks for or demands anything; she pays what she sees as a fair price (without knowing the full price) to achieve her goal. She makes the mistake of taking a short cut, but how many of us haven’t fallen into the trap of an alluring short cut?
By reducing Ariel as a girl with a crush, that person is labeling a woman as the very stereotype they seem to loathe. Don’t dismiss a girl because she’s a little girly. It doesn’t make her dumb or weak. It makes her human.
Or in this case, mermaid.
Anyway, if anything, the older I get the more I appreciate Ariel.
Yes, Ariel is reckless, selfish and entitled. But you can also describe Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” the exact same way, and no one accuses him of ruining the future of America’s little boys do they? The movie is about her paying dearly for those faults, and by the end she experiences something we commonly see in movies: character growth.
Ariel is reckless. But she is also curious, brave, headstrong, and smart. How many other stories are driven by a female protagonist who has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge? How tragic is it that there aren’t more?
She has a passion for learning about humans and actively pursues it despite the fact that everyone, including her loving family, basically tells her not to bother because she has a great voice. Not ONCE in the movie does Ariel show any interest in singing or performing, and so it’s interesting that while everyone in the movie (and for that matter the audience), seems to define her by her voice, Ariel clearly does not.
When Ursula asks for Ariel’s voice she of course hesitates, but it seems mostly out of shock over the strange price. She gives it up pretty quickly, and it’s clear that Ariel’s self-worth is not tied up in what others so often focus on. Sure, you can make the argument that Ariel succeeding without her voice is a metaphor for how unimportant women’s voices are, but they are discounting the fact that she still succeeded.
Eric doesn’t fall in love with Ariel because she has no voice, but in spite of it. Maybe you can judge them for not having the most intellectual conversations, but I like to think he was drawn to her spontaneity and curiosity, her spirit and kindness. Ariel didn’t have a voice, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have a personality or opinion. In fact, I really love that when Ursula tells Ariel she has to make Eric fall in love with her, sans voice, Ariel’s basically like “You’re giving me 3 days? Psh, I’ll do it in 2.” That’s self-confidence every girl should have.
Ariel is selfish. But is she? She doesn’t knowingly put her family in danger (again, she was just reckless with dire consequences). She clearly gained the respect and love of Sebatian and Flounder, and I don’t think anyone would say she wouldn’t do for her friends what they did for her. I see her as the type of person that would 100% support whatever her friends or family wanted to pursue. It’s just that this story isn’t about them. It’s about Ariel. She doesn’t think the world revolves around her – it does because this is her movie.
I would even go so far as to say Ariel shows some very selfless traits in the movie. When she flakes out on her sisters in the beginning of the movie because she’s treasure hunting, she expresses that her father and sisters will kill her once she realizes she’s missing the performance. Ariel doesn’t express any sadness about missing the performance herself, and it’s heavily implied that she’s really only doing it because her family wants her to, perhaps because it’s expected of her.
But like I said, is singing even something she cares about at all? Does anyone even ask her if it’s something she wants to do? She may love it, but it really doesn’t seem like she loves it as much as everyone else expects her to. Before Ariel fights with her father, there seems to be very little indication she was ever ill behaved or even very rebellious. Everyone, even Ariel herself, seems to view her as a flighty kind of girl, but she actually demonstrates a lot of determination and grit when she’s able to do what she actually wants to do. Making one mistake does not make a character trait.
Lastly, Ariel’s character traits are very consistent throughout the movie, and to criticize her actions for being unfeminist, you’re basically criticizing her for being herself. You’re the anti-feminist! Ha, just kidding. You’re probably just falling into the trap of thinking that a woman who doesn’t act like how you think she should means she’s doing it wrong. She’s not. No woman is when they’re trying to be the best version of themselves.
Ariel is a take-charge kind of person. She, and this is honestly amazing for a female character, does not just react to the world around her. She is the plot driver. Ariel isn’t just thrown into a situation and must somehow get out of it. She actively shapes her world, and shapes her own destiny.
Most awesomely, she saves Eric. Twice. Does Eric ever seem like some kind of macho man (and with eyes that pretty, how dare you even suggest it) who would be interested in a non-communicative bimbo? Or would he be like: hey, you’re a fucking badass, let’s get married?
As with all movies, it is what you make of it. You can see it as shallow and ill-intentioned. Or you can choose to see the best in it. I personally really like the music, so I think I’ll do the latter.
all that poetry & all those songs 