Ariel: The Elite

We meet at last…Ariel.

Before I started this series, I had a bit of an epiphany about how this movie is completely insane. At the time I was writing a paper about myths and fairytales and how they relate to the foundations of a particular society (Romans, if you care to know). I must have been procrastinating by thinking about Disney and the European stories they used for their canon. I don’t usually talk about the stories on which these movies are based, but it’s important for this one.

Patience, your flipper-ed highness.

The Little Mermaid as Hans Christian Andersen had it was a story about a creature which existed completely in darkness, but yearned for the light. The nameless mermaid fell in love with the world above-and subsequently a human man- and made a deal with a witch in order to win his love and by doing so she will gain a human soul.

Yeah…Ariel’s not into souls so much as images.

She is ultimately unsuccessful because he falls in love with another. Her sisters give the witch their hair in exchange for a new deal. The little mermaid must kill the man she loves in order to become her old self. But she can’t bring herself to do it.

Crap, where’s the nearest bottomless cavern?

She accepts her fate of having loved and lost and at the last moment, she is saved by “the daughters of the air.” She is rewarded for her good deeds by getting the chance to earn an immortal soul by doing three hundred years work of blessing mankind.

You’ll get no argument from me.

I love this story because it’s not a story about an inter-species romance; it’s a story about trying to achieve a higher good. It’s about accepting the consequences of your decisions and trying to transcend your place in the world. So how does Disney screw it all up?

I could get the past the whole plot of “I have to rebel against my father and only role model by falling in love with a guy I barely met who probably isn’t good for me.” I could even forgive the fact that Eric finds a girl who to him must seem mentally disabled and his response is “I’mma hit that.”

 Good God, that disturbing.

My problem is the point at which Ariel gives up her voice in order to have legs. Metaphorically, she gives up her ideas, opinions, and goddamn identity for the chance of getting a boyfriend. It’s the same tired cliche screenwriters have been pushing on women for decades: You can either get married and sacrifice everything unique about yourself to your husband, or be a lonely intellectual (or otherwise perfectly capable professional).

In Ariel’s case, she doesn’t even have to sacrifice anything. She gets out of her deal through her father’s sacrifice, the boyfriend gets rid of the pesky sea witch, and she gets her wish of being human with nary a sweat broken. Instead of trying to find true love, or gaining a valuable lesson in accepting the consequences for her actions, everything gets swept under the rug without Ariel having to grow or change in any way.

As adaptations go, this one misses the mark by many miles.

I concur.