The Little Mermaid

Though it wasn't a planned event, out of a combination of laziness and lack of a better idea, Christine, Jason, Terri and I watched The Little Mermaid. While I loved this film in my childhood, I was even Sebastian the crab for Halloween one year, I haven't seen it since. I relished the opportunity to discern why this film was so meaningful to tiny Kevin and to add new perspectives. Somewhat surprisingly, I still knew most of the song lyrics, a testimony to repeated viewing experiences.

I struggled with The Little Mermaid's central theme about someone craving to be something she isn't. It's not clear as to why, but Ariel hates being a mermaid and wants to be a human more than anything. Why is she so dead set on turning on her aquatic lifestyle? I think that as a kid, it's easy to just go along with the idea that of course a fish would prefer to be a human and see nothing problematic with the representation, in the same manner that a movie would have easily convinced me that of course a black person would prefer to be white, as it is "better." While the racial analogy can be drawn, I see this film as addressing issues of class, someone giving up her lower past to join the ranks of the elite.

Terri countered that it probably isn't about class because Ariel is both a princess as a mermaid and a human, so it's a bit of a wash. Instead, Terri offered an interesting theory that The Little Mermaid is about the transgendered identity. Ariel is a individual who feels trapped in the wrong body and is willing to go through significant sacrifices to alter her being. She feels far more comfortable in her human body than she ever did as a mermaid. Furthermore, it demonstrates the acceptance of a trans existence by having Prince Eric take Ariel for who she is. He never once expresses a problem upon learning that Ariel used to have a tail, instead loving her for the new identity she is presenting. I'm not sure I agree that Disney intended to push this radical agenda, but I can think of one person's parent who would agree...

Indeed, the whole queer identity angle made me chuckle because, as a kid, Stacy was forbidden from seeing Disney movies, not because they promoted questionable ideals and poor body image, but because Disney theme parks hold an annual "Gay Day" to provide a welcoming environment for gay families. Finding this immoral, Stacy's parent eliminated Disney from Stacy's life, a pretty deviant decision in raising an American child. In the long run, the plan backfired, however; not only is Stacy employed by a gay music and film festival, but ey's planning a trip to Disneyland soon.

Stacy is also the one to point out I make a "Poor Unfortunate Soul" face in my everyday life. According to Stacy, when I react to certain things, I bulge my eyes wide and crinkle my mouth just like the deceived creatures Ursula turns into polyps in the film. Since I don't actually see myself making this face that everyone claims I do often, I can only guess that it looks approximately like the picture below. Friends: can you correct or confirm?


The best part of The Little Mermaid is definitely the dancing turtle. The turtle appears on screen for all of three seconds, but immediately attracted my attention such that I demanded we rewind and watch it dance again. Upon viewing it for a second time, I discovered why I was compelled by the image: the turtle dances just like me! Or rather, I dance just like the turtle. Is it possible that a tertiary character in a movie I watched about a dozen times in my youth has influenced my present dancing style?


Naturally, it's much better to check out the dancing turtle in motion to get the full effect. The turtle shows up at the 2:33 mark, but I'd recommend watching the whole performance of "Under the Sea" because it'll be a nice dose of nostalgia (next year the film will be 20 years old!) and bring a smile to your face.



Worth a listen, but probably not a download: Skye Sweetnam - Part of Your World