#just little mermaid things
I hope im not just a blog you follow but also the only person with 100% correct opinions about the little mermaid
Dish those opinions, let’s hear it
My biggest issue is the absolute ice cold take of “Ariel gave up her life/voice for a boy” when the film repeatedly shows Ariel was preyed upon by Ursula. She was exploited and stalked by the literal antagonist of the film into making a really bad decision, especially when Ursula knew Ariel was at her most emotional and the least unable to reach out to her support network.
And the deal Ariel made was meant to be an impossible task that she was tricked into taking AND STILL Ariel was smart enough to almost achieve it if Ursula wasn’t playing dirty and directly interfering in with it all.
Ariel was absolutely a victim of manipulation and circumstance, and people who use this as an irredeemable flaw in her character act like they got big brain energy when their brains are smooth as fuck.
(not to mention she was 16)
Also?
URSULA is the one who says Ariel’s doing it all for the guy.
According to Ariel herself, what she wants is:
—to be where the people are
—to see dancing and walking
—to ask her questions about the human world and get answers
—to not live in the ocean
—to be part of the human world
—to explore the human world
WHERE DOES ERIC COME INTO ANY OF THIS?!
She wants to see a world she isn’t able to see! She wants to have adventures, not a boyfriend! What the hell!
I would argue that she was totally fine with the boyfriend, but Ursula was the one who forced it to be a priority.
AND ANOTHER THING
Her first impression of him is a dude who is both attractive, capable, and willing to jump back on to a burning ship to save his dog.
Later, dude climbs aboard a SHIPWRECK that’s caught in a WHIRLPOOL so that he can RAM IT into a 150-foot-tall MAGIC SEA MONSTER in order to save her.
It’s not like girl was settling.
Ariel is a field anthropologist. That she happened to fall in love with a member of the culture she was studying isn’t exactly a problem.
Can we talk about the correlation between Ariel losing her voice to her feeling unheard/spoken over to the point of hiding her interests in a cave? Because I feel like there’s a rich vein of discussion in there
She gave up her voice cuz she didn’t place value in it! The whole point of Ariel giving up her voice is a case of dramatic irony! Both Triton and Ursula only placed value in Ariel’s voice in relation to how it benefitted them, and Ariel didn’t realise how vital it was.
It’s why it’s so great Eric is attracted to her voice first and foremost. Not her looks, or her face, it’s her voice!
