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 society You have a point, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is all about getting Eric -- no other motivation is mentioned or even hinted at. But in the grander scheme of the movie, if you look at what Ariel was sacrificing to be human, it's not much aside from her voice. Her relationship with her father was in pieces at that point and she had no worldly possessions she cared about anymore because he destroyed them. When Triton blew up at her and destroyed her grotto, what it effectively did was make it so that there was nothing tying her to the sea anymore, no real reason why she SHOULDN'T be human and start her life over in a new place. So while Ursula IS like "Eric Eric don't you want to be with Eric?" I think more subtly the other issue is that there's nothing holding Ariel back; she doesn't have much to lose (you know, other than her own self), which is why the decision is possible.
(which really isn't that bad at all and which she seems to fit in quite well otherwise-- she definitely isn't a social outcast who dislikes her own culture by any means), she entices her with this man she just met and "is in love with" presumably only because he's human... Hm, I don't think you need to be a social outcast to want to be in a different society, though. It goes along with what I said above about Anglophiles and weeaboos -- people like what they like, you know? As for why Ariel is in love with Eric, I mean, I'm not exactly a romantic person but I can see her falling in love with him due to his looks and personality. She can tell that he's a dog person, pretty genial and down to earth, treats sailors as his equals, and dislikes when people do things like make statues of him, and he went back to a burning ship to save his dog. I can also see that she might feel like they have a special connection because she saved his life -- if she hadn't been there that night, if she hadn't intervened, his life would've ended then and there. So I can see Ariel seeing their connection as fate of some kind. So yeah, I don't really see Ariel as liking Eric purely because he's human, although I can see that being part of it. (I mean, if we're going with the Anglophile/weeaboo analogy, I know people who think English accents are inherently sexy or have a thing for Asian men/women so...)
Ursula doesn't entice Ariel with becoming human to escape her father (this is never mentioned from what I recall) or her own society
You have a point, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is all about getting Eric -- no other motivation is mentioned or even hinted at. But in the grander scheme of the movie, if you look at what Ariel was sacrificing to be human, it's not much aside from her voice. Her relationship with her father was in pieces at that point and she had no worldly possessions she cared about anymore because he destroyed them. When Triton blew up at her and destroyed her grotto, what it effectively did was make it so that there was nothing tying her to the sea anymore, no real reason why she SHOULDN'T be human and start her life over in a new place. So while Ursula IS like "Eric Eric don't you want to be with Eric?" I think more subtly the other issue is that there's nothing holding Ariel back; she doesn't have much to lose (you know, other than her own self), which is why the decision is possible.
(which really isn't that bad at all and which she seems to fit in quite well otherwise-- she definitely isn't a social outcast who dislikes her own culture by any means), she entices her with this man she just met and "is in love with" presumably only because he's human...
Hm, I don't think you need to be a social outcast to want to be in a different society, though. It goes along with what I said above about Anglophiles and weeaboos -- people like what they like, you know? As for why Ariel is in love with Eric, I mean, I'm not exactly a romantic person but I can see her falling in love with him due to his looks and personality. She can tell that he's a dog person, pretty genial and down to earth, treats sailors as his equals, and dislikes when people do things like make statues of him, and he went back to a burning ship to save his dog. I can also see that she might feel like they have a special connection because she saved his life -- if she hadn't been there that night, if she hadn't intervened, his life would've ended then and there. So I can see Ariel seeing their connection as fate of some kind. So yeah, I don't really see Ariel as liking Eric purely because he's human, although I can see that being part of it. (I mean, if we're going with the Anglophile/weeaboo analogy, I know people who think English accents are inherently sexy or have a thing for Asian men/women so...)
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