Defending Disney.
Okay I haven't updated my journal in ages, mostly because I just didn't feel like it. This is a conversation that my friend Servam and I had through email while I was at work.
I feel that lately Disney is being unfairly attacked so I felt that I had to defend it. I think Disney as created many positive female character so here's my email defending it. I don't know how to do that "cut" thing yet so people you'll just have to deal with it. This is sadly the second half of the conversation, where I defended The Little Mermaid. I'll have to find the first half which is my favorite where I came to the rescue of Sleeping Beauty.
So here's the defense of little Mermaid.
DEFEND H0!!! Okay I'll start with another film that tends to get bashed. The Little Mermaid. I'll just focus on the movie and not the horribly depressing and undeniably sexist story. (I hate that story.) Ariel is a rebel. She's headstrong and impulsive, not nessercary good qualities, but qualities that add to her depth. One thing I really like about her is that she's insatiably curious. She wants to find out all she can about this vast, complex world that is just above her head. I'm sure if we found out that mermaids were real we would always be at the shore lining hoping to find out something new about them. Ariel gives up her voice to try and be with Eric and I trust me I'm very much aware of how symbolically sex1st that is and to properly defend Ariel I feel I must defend Prince Eric as well. Prince Eric has a name and a personality. When we first see him he is trying to explain to his friend/man servant why he didn't "fall" for the Princess of Somewhere. I can't remember the next quote but he basically said, "I want something more then just a princess, something that just hits you like "bam" lightning." Eric, like Ariel, is a romantic at heart. He's a handsome prince but he wants more then a pretty princess. (He also risks his life to save his dog which gives him a lot of points in my book.) Eric is a brave romantic and so is Ariel. Yes, it was foolish and impulsive to make a deal with Ursula, but it was none the less brave to risk everything. Especially with Ursula singing the greatest villain song ever. (And one can also argue that Ariel may not have made such a foolish decision if she felt that she could trust her father, but that's a whole other issue.) Yes Ariel is mute, but she still manages to get Eric interested in HER. Not just her pretty face, but in her. Remember the "kiss the girl" scene? Ariel was clearly all set to lip lock with Eric, but Eric is not willing until he learns her NAME. By showing us that Eric is unwilling to kiss Ariel without knowing her name the movie is telling us that he respects her and she's starting to mean more to him. I loved the fact that he needed to know her name before kissing her. And please note the whole time Ariel spent mooning over Eric, Eric spent mooning over her. He was searching all over for the woman with the most beautiful voice. And please remember that Ariel saved HIM from drowning. After the eels destroy the kissing scene we see Eric sadly playing Ariel's song on his flute when his friend/man servant gives him some great advice. This scene was so lovely that I remember perfectly. "Eric," says man servant. "Far better then any dream girl there's one that warm and caring and right before your eyes." Then he gestures to Ariel's window. They don't know that Ariel is a mermaid princess, but Eric's man servant knows that Eric loves her and Eric does love Ariel. After that Eric throws away his flute showing us that he chooses the mute Ariel over is dream girl. Disney seemed to know the negative meaning of having Ariel give up her voice for a man so they made sure to show that Eric and Ariel's relationship was one of respect. Ariel also saves Eric for the second time, when Ursula is about to shot him with the Trident. Ariel yanks Ursula's hair causing her to miss and hit her eels. (the eels dying made me happy because they creeped me out.) Romantic impulsive and brave Ariel is a great role model for girls. Ariel was not afraid to question the values she was raised with. She was constantly butting heads with her loving but strict father because she always wanted to know more. It's a difficult thing to stand up to one's parents and to risk everything you know for one chance of happiness. Granted this film is hugely romantic but that's part of its charm and I believe Disney did a good job of balancing that out by making Eric such a good guy. They balanced out the inherent sexism of having Ariel being mute by having Eric being such a good guy. By needing to know her name Eric gave back Ariel's identity and only when she had that was he ready to "make a move" with her. Not only do I think Ariel is a fine role model, but I think her relationship with Eric is also a good one to model. This post below is where I tried to defend King Trident's actions. This is just me blabbing away.
King Trident is definitely a scary character especially when you're young, which is why I think Ariel is so brave to question him. He's strict and intimating as all heck, but Ariel still questions him even though he can make sharks wet themselves. He's intimating, but I won't call him abusive though. I remember when he was yelling at Ariel for missing the concert and going to the surface and he made her cry. After she swam away he was upset with himself. He asked Sebastian, "Do you think I was too harsh on her?" Granted destroying her personal things was messed up but see if from his point of view. He is deadly afraid that Ariel will be hurt and captured by humans and honestly she is in huge danger whenever she goes to the surface. What if someone like Jafar found her? It's like you forbid your daughter from going to a biker club but you find that she continues to go and brings back trinkets from the biker club. Won't you be furious and sick with fear that something horrible would happen to her? It's his deep fear of something happening to her that drives his to lose his temper. And he never once hurts her or calls her names like "stupid." If something happened to Ariel on the surface Trident would be helpless to help her and he in destroying her surface collection I think he was trying to cut her ties to the world, he believes would enslave and harm her. After Trident destroyed her collection they show you a close up of his face and he is very sad. He doesn't like yelling at Ariel, he doesn't like being the bad guy, but he believes unless he enforces his rules she'll be hurt because of it. I agree that destroy her collection was the wrong way to go, because I think that made Ariel feel she could no longer trust him or feel welcomed at home. But when Sebastian tells Trident about Ursula and everything he without hesitation trades places to save Ariel. Trident knew that Ursula would plunge the seas into chaos, but the only thing Trident could think of was he had to save Ariel. Ursula knew that Trident would do anything to save Ariel and that's why she set in motion her EVIL plan. Do I think Trident is flawed? Yes. Do I think that destroying her things was a mistake? Yes. Do I think he was abusive? No. I think he was just extremely strict and worried. In his mind the humans are monsters because they eat his subjects. One can hardly blame him for thinking the worst of them. I think Trident hates every fight he has with Ariel. You see that he's always upset after they argue. I think he unconditionally loves Ariel. He's not perfect, but when Ariel needed him most he was there for her.
I feel that lately Disney is being unfairly attacked so I felt that I had to defend it. I think Disney as created many positive female character so here's my email defending it. I don't know how to do that "cut" thing yet so people you'll just have to deal with it. This is sadly the second half of the conversation, where I defended The Little Mermaid. I'll have to find the first half which is my favorite where I came to the rescue of Sleeping Beauty.
So here's the defense of little Mermaid.
DEFEND H0!!! Okay I'll start with another film that tends to get bashed. The Little Mermaid. I'll just focus on the movie and not the horribly depressing and undeniably sexist story. (I hate that story.) Ariel is a rebel. She's headstrong and impulsive, not nessercary good qualities, but qualities that add to her depth. One thing I really like about her is that she's insatiably curious. She wants to find out all she can about this vast, complex world that is just above her head. I'm sure if we found out that mermaids were real we would always be at the shore lining hoping to find out something new about them. Ariel gives up her voice to try and be with Eric and I trust me I'm very much aware of how symbolically sex1st that is and to properly defend Ariel I feel I must defend Prince Eric as well. Prince Eric has a name and a personality. When we first see him he is trying to explain to his friend/man servant why he didn't "fall" for the Princess of Somewhere. I can't remember the next quote but he basically said, "I want something more then just a princess, something that just hits you like "bam" lightning." Eric, like Ariel, is a romantic at heart. He's a handsome prince but he wants more then a pretty princess. (He also risks his life to save his dog which gives him a lot of points in my book.) Eric is a brave romantic and so is Ariel. Yes, it was foolish and impulsive to make a deal with Ursula, but it was none the less brave to risk everything. Especially with Ursula singing the greatest villain song ever. (And one can also argue that Ariel may not have made such a foolish decision if she felt that she could trust her father, but that's a whole other issue.) Yes Ariel is mute, but she still manages to get Eric interested in HER. Not just her pretty face, but in her. Remember the "kiss the girl" scene? Ariel was clearly all set to lip lock with Eric, but Eric is not willing until he learns her NAME. By showing us that Eric is unwilling to kiss Ariel without knowing her name the movie is telling us that he respects her and she's starting to mean more to him. I loved the fact that he needed to know her name before kissing her. And please note the whole time Ariel spent mooning over Eric, Eric spent mooning over her. He was searching all over for the woman with the most beautiful voice. And please remember that Ariel saved HIM from drowning. After the eels destroy the kissing scene we see Eric sadly playing Ariel's song on his flute when his friend/man servant gives him some great advice. This scene was so lovely that I remember perfectly. "Eric," says man servant. "Far better then any dream girl there's one that warm and caring and right before your eyes." Then he gestures to Ariel's window. They don't know that Ariel is a mermaid princess, but Eric's man servant knows that Eric loves her and Eric does love Ariel. After that Eric throws away his flute showing us that he chooses the mute Ariel over is dream girl. Disney seemed to know the negative meaning of having Ariel give up her voice for a man so they made sure to show that Eric and Ariel's relationship was one of respect. Ariel also saves Eric for the second time, when Ursula is about to shot him with the Trident. Ariel yanks Ursula's hair causing her to miss and hit her eels. (the eels dying made me happy because they creeped me out.) Romantic impulsive and brave Ariel is a great role model for girls. Ariel was not afraid to question the values she was raised with. She was constantly butting heads with her loving but strict father because she always wanted to know more. It's a difficult thing to stand up to one's parents and to risk everything you know for one chance of happiness. Granted this film is hugely romantic but that's part of its charm and I believe Disney did a good job of balancing that out by making Eric such a good guy. They balanced out the inherent sexism of having Ariel being mute by having Eric being such a good guy. By needing to know her name Eric gave back Ariel's identity and only when she had that was he ready to "make a move" with her. Not only do I think Ariel is a fine role model, but I think her relationship with Eric is also a good one to model. This post below is where I tried to defend King Trident's actions. This is just me blabbing away.
King Trident is definitely a scary character especially when you're young, which is why I think Ariel is so brave to question him. He's strict and intimating as all heck, but Ariel still questions him even though he can make sharks wet themselves. He's intimating, but I won't call him abusive though. I remember when he was yelling at Ariel for missing the concert and going to the surface and he made her cry. After she swam away he was upset with himself. He asked Sebastian, "Do you think I was too harsh on her?" Granted destroying her personal things was messed up but see if from his point of view. He is deadly afraid that Ariel will be hurt and captured by humans and honestly she is in huge danger whenever she goes to the surface. What if someone like Jafar found her? It's like you forbid your daughter from going to a biker club but you find that she continues to go and brings back trinkets from the biker club. Won't you be furious and sick with fear that something horrible would happen to her? It's his deep fear of something happening to her that drives his to lose his temper. And he never once hurts her or calls her names like "stupid." If something happened to Ariel on the surface Trident would be helpless to help her and he in destroying her surface collection I think he was trying to cut her ties to the world, he believes would enslave and harm her. After Trident destroyed her collection they show you a close up of his face and he is very sad. He doesn't like yelling at Ariel, he doesn't like being the bad guy, but he believes unless he enforces his rules she'll be hurt because of it. I agree that destroy her collection was the wrong way to go, because I think that made Ariel feel she could no longer trust him or feel welcomed at home. But when Sebastian tells Trident about Ursula and everything he without hesitation trades places to save Ariel. Trident knew that Ursula would plunge the seas into chaos, but the only thing Trident could think of was he had to save Ariel. Ursula knew that Trident would do anything to save Ariel and that's why she set in motion her EVIL plan. Do I think Trident is flawed? Yes. Do I think that destroying her things was a mistake? Yes. Do I think he was abusive? No. I think he was just extremely strict and worried. In his mind the humans are monsters because they eat his subjects. One can hardly blame him for thinking the worst of them. I think Trident hates every fight he has with Ariel. You see that he's always upset after they argue. I think he unconditionally loves Ariel. He's not perfect, but when Ariel needed him most he was there for her.