This was really interesting to read, but as this is my least favorite Disney movie for many of these reasons, I must disagree. I am aware of her wanting to be part of the human world, but the way it's written later on severely bothers me, and would regardless of her gender.... I definitely wouldn't think of a male character who I see as that foolish as being so great, heroic guy. ... and as someone who is "rebellious" and doesn't get along with my parents, I just find her actions grating and... not well reasoned
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Hm... that's interesting! To be honest, I don't really think there is any deep reason for Ariel wanting to be human, but at the same time, I don't really think there needs to be? The way I see her character is that she's got severe culture envy, similar to an Anglophile or a weeaboo or what have you. She comes off as basically "a human in a mermaid body", which, I mean, isn't exactly the peak of maturity but at the same time, as someone who knows people who have random obsessions or collecting-type hobbies (and heck, I have them myself) I can definitely understand the behavior. Maybe this is influenced by my life experiences / where I am in my life but I think it's important to have fulfillment in life, wherever that fulfillment comes from, and regardless of how immature Ariel's hobbies are or how short-sighted her dreams are, they DO give her fulfillment.
Ursula doesn't entice Ariel with becoming human to escape her father (this is never mentioned from what I recall) or her own societyYou have a point, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is
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Besides, her sea creature friends are loving and care for her, but she betrays their wishes as well.Could you expand on this a bit (the betrayal part, I mean
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Yes, but there's a bit of a difference between collecting (which is fine) and what she eventually does. XD It's like... hmm, there are European countries I'd likely fit in better than I would here (liberal, metal-loving countries where it's considered normal to be introverted? Hell yes), but I don't think my collection of Scandinavian metal albums is really going to prepare me for life in Norway... especially if I don't buy a better coat first. I'd want to be sure I had a good enough handle on the language first, study the cultural norms more beforehand, etc. In Ariel's case (assuming books on human culture don't just fall into the sea), I would've spied on human society more before actually joining them. She just got really, really lucky she wasn't locked up on insanity charges for doing things like brushing her hair with a fork... which definitely wouldn't have fulfilled her life much, since it was a huge risk for something she knew very little about. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a weaboo or something, so long as
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I have said she gave up her voice for a man she barely knew, which I thought was utterly ridiculous, since by that point... well, that is the focus for that bit of the movie, but I do agree it wasn't everything just for him. I can understand the selfish/selfless bit, as many actions can be perceived as both. You can donate money to a good cause, but it can be both out of the human need of community, which does help others without need of personal gain, and out of a more selfish desire to just not look "bad" by not donating. In this case, I think she can be seen as selfish as she didn't think... at all, about anything, and that indirectly hurt others because she was just thinking of her own need to have what she couldn't. Yet, since she does it for one person (to use their usage; I'm not saying she does), she seems selfless towards that one, while coming across as selfish to her family, as it's nearly impossible to please everyone at once.
"she gave up her voice to be with a dude who ended up ditching her for another girl" are
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Haha, I see your point. Basically, given the poor understanding Ariel had of the human world (because she relies on Scuttle's random made-up nonsense), it seems like a horribly bad/uninformed decision to go and live there forever. I can understand that. I do think that Ariel has the right personality to be able to thrive in a foreign culture, though. Like, from my experience, I think being adventurous and unafraid of making embarrassing mistakes is more helpful for acclimating to a new culture than being knowledgeable about it
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Ursula doesn't entice Ariel with becoming human to escape her father (this is never mentioned from what I recall) or her own societyYou have a point, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is ( ... )
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Besides, her sea creature friends are loving and care for her, but she betrays their wishes as well.Could you expand on this a bit (the betrayal part, I mean ( ... )
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"she gave up her voice to be with a dude who ended up ditching her for another girl" are ( ... )
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