So I Watched The Little Mermaid…

So I watched The Little Mermaid, Disney’s latest live-action remake that nobody asked for. Did it get any more woke than the much-debated race-swapping of Ariel, or was I pleasantly surprised? Let’s get into it.

Check out my new short documentary, Unwoke Inc!

Follow me on Social Media:

[meredithsmakings]

The whole point of Ursula telling Ariel, “It’s she who holds her tongue that gets a man” was to convince her that she wouldn’t need her voice anyway. It was to persuade Ariel to make the deal so that Ursula could further manipulate her. She was lying to Ariel. You know, like a villain.

[immunityvi]

The point of Ursula singing about women shutting up is she’s SUPPOSED to be wrong. They’re teaching kids to be dumb and not use their critical thinking?? When I was a kid I knew I couldn’t trust Ursula and anything she says. Let kids think!!

[pilar]

"Eric doesn't ask Ariel's consent to kiss her" it's statements like this one that shows just how little some people care about the truth and how they just want to complain about something. In the animated film ARIEL tries to kiss him first and Eric actually pulls back, then at the end of the song they both go in for the kiss at the same damn time.

[helenarichard]

So in the animation Ariel wore a stylish sail, a blue corset dress, a stunning pink ballroom gown, a sparkly silver dress and the cherry on top: an angelic white wedding dress. In the live action she just wears the same blue rag all the time and these ankle boots?! I thought she wanted to be part of the human world? Then why didn't she care about the clothes?

[sallymote-yaffe]

"Kiss the Girl" was originally sung by Sebastian because Prince Eric was too shy or reluctant to kiss her and, of course, to break the curse he needed to kiss the girl. There was never a question of him forcing himself on her so the whole idea is ridiculous!

[ojyochan]

I hate that they took those manipulative lines from Ursula. They're how you know she's the VILLAIN🤦‍♀️

[sylviek]

Ariel wanted to be kissed by Eric. Not only did she love him but her very existence depended on him kissing her "before the sun sets on the 3rd day" and her friends who sang "kiss the girl" knew this. It was obviously a welcome kiss, no coercion whatsoever.

[DJRazorgirl]

It's absolutely crazy what they did to Ursula's song. I was a kid when the movie came out and even I knew Ursula was lying. 🙄 This is proof that youth today (and many adults) couldn't think their way out of a paper bag.

[Trish_Carmichael]

It's sad how they are considering romance toxic. Eric and Ariel love story is super sweet.

[TheImprovised]

In the original, Eric was the only one that needed consent. Ariel was putting out every signal to be kissed. That's just nonsense.

[kyotoai]

My only issue with Halley Bailey is they didn't make her hair red enough. Wouldn't have been difficult at all. Unforgiveable. Melissa McCarthy is solid gold brilliant as always.

[mayaplatt]

Personally I loved in the original how both Ariel and Eric save each other at different points in the story. I think it demonstrates a healthy relationship much more than the other Disney movies, both parties have their strengths and help each other where they can. It's not one sided, it's equal and I love that

[Clau]

Ariel saved Eric's life and then he saved hers. Not only he got to return the favor but with that gesture he proved to king Triton that not all humans were bad. But alas, the live action film took that away :(

[Fanny-gege]

Even at 8 years old I understood Ursula was lying to Ariel by telling her men don't like women who speak. That she said that just so it would actually be MORE difficult for Ariel to communicate with Eric. Looks like children are smarter than some adults.

[betwana]

The casting of Triton and his Miss Universe pageant of daughters made my family laugh out loud.

[casszheng]

I agree that when Halle was singing behind that rock, I couldnt see “love” in her eyes for the prince. Instead, she looked like she was an assassin 😅

[TheElvesFaithful]

The only reason Ursula mentioned body language and men "not liking a lot of blabber" was because when Ursula asked for her voice, Ariel was hesitant and unsure, so Ursula was trying to convince her that men *prefer* silent women, manipulating Ariel into thinking not having a voice wasn't an issue and that she could easily win Eric over with just her body language alone.

[chrissymc]

The changes for the "modern world" didn't make sense for the story overall. Ariel saves herself right? Eric saving her was important because King Triton hated humans and didn't trust them. Due to Eric saving his daughter, he understood that maybe he was wrong and not all humans are the same.

[constantina]

If anything Eric was the one being manipulated to kiss Ariel. He was hesitant at first and the song was to give him a little push. Besides Ariel's body language spoke louder than words! Girl really wanted her kiss😂

[rachelkutos]

My 5-year old's favorite princess is Ariel, so we mainly watched the movie for her. She said she liked it a little bit and she likes the cartoon better. I share her opinion. I kind of liked that the sisters represent the different seas, but it took away from the character of King Triton. In the cartoon, he comes off as a really loving and gentle family man. Because his daughters all look differently, I would conclude that he had different baby mamas, so he came off more as egotistical rather than loving. I think it would have worked if they were all adopted because humans killed their parents. I was willing to look pass that though and actually liked the movie. I thought the cast did a great job, Halle's version of Part of your World was amazing, and despite the change in lyrics and missing lines, Melissa was a good Ursula. HOWEVER, they ruined the movie for me by having Ariel kill Ursula instead of Eric. To me, it was vital for the relationship of humans and merpeople that Eric kills Ursula - a human saving mermaids for a change. Ariel might have her dad convinced that humans are okay, but would other mermaids just blindly follow? Prince Eric is one of the best Disney princes, if not the best, and they took away his biggest contribution. It was too forced. Also, the interaction between Eric and KingTriton at the end of the movie was very cold. The way the king said "Eric..." came off as contempt (probably because he did nothing) instead of respect. On a positive note, I think the star of the movie was Sebastian, and I don't mind "Scuttlebutt." The movie is also good enough that I wouldn't mind if my girls want to watch it again, I would just have to skip the big fight scene. Although so far, they've declined every time I ask them if they want to watch it again. But they've watched the cartoon a couple of times since we've watched the live action one.