The Little Mermaid

I chose to do a film critique on the movie “The Little Mermaid”, originally released in 1989. The Little Mermaid is a movie about a very rebellious mermaid teenager who falls in love with a human. Animals and humans can talk in this movie. As a child I remember thinking Ariel was so pretty and she could sing amazing. I wanted to be a mermaid. I thought it was cool that tridents could blow things up. I am not sure children learn much from this film, it is more of entertaining. I guess if a child is smart enough he or she would not be taught a good lesson. Throughout watching the film, I recognized some lessons that are being taught, some racism, and some stereotyping.
One thing that is typical of a teenager is being unsatisfied with his or her life. Ariel wants a different world, she is not happy with the life she has with her family. She makes excuses for everything. She does not take responsibility for her actions. There are certain parts of this movie that teach children it is ok to be disobedient, and to talk back. Ariel is disobedient, when her father reprimands her and tells her to go to her room; she goes to her secret room full of human things. Sebastian is sent to watch over her and to make sure she listens to her father, but instead he does not tell the king of her secret collection room and follows her when she goes to Ursula to become human. Sebastian says, “We will keep this from the king I won’t tell him and you won’t, and I’ll be in one piece”. Helps keep secrets from her father. Sebastian stereotypes teenagers when he says to King Trident, “Teenagers, you give them an inch they swim all over you”.
The image of being thin a beautiful is portrayed in all characters of this movie. Ariel is this amazingly skinny, beautiful girl who can do whatever she wants, and in the end she is rewarded. Eric is a handsome, fit young man. The message being taught to children is that everyone is thin and beautiful.
In this movie, all the sea creatures are “racist” against humans. Sebastian says, “I told her to stay away from humans; they are bad, they are trouble”. When the King first finds Ariel’s secret room of collections he says, “They are all the same, spineless, savage, harpooning fish eaters”. After the film pretty much gets you to be on the sea creature’s side, it brings you to the human castle and one of the first scenes is in the kitchen with nothing but dead fish and crabs!
If Ariel chooses to be human, she will be away from her father and sisters forever. She is ok with choosing a man over her family.
After doing some research on the internet, I found out some more things. According to the website, http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_the-9-most-racist-disney-characters.html, “a Jamaican-sounding crab teaches Ariel that life is better "Under the Sea," because underwater you don't have to get a job.” This is clearly shown in the song “Under the Sea” lyrics; “Up on the shore they work all day, Out in the sun they slave away, While we devotin', Full time to floatin', under the sea”. This teaches a person that under the sea is better, and you don’t have to get a job. Ursula offers Ariel a way out for her desires. She states this clearly in the song she sings,” "You'll have your looks! Your pretty face! And don't underestimate the importance of body language!"
In conclusion, there is a lot more to this movie than children realize. The way this movie portrays humans is that they are bad, and slave away everyday instead of enjoying life. The movie paints the picture that everyone is skinny and beautiful. Ursula makes a way for Ariel to get out of the life she lives and follow her desires. If as a child I could watch this movie and love it, and not think of all the stereotyping and racism, I would definitely recommend the movie.

The Colours of Us

I chose to do an analysis on the book, “The Colours of Us” by Karen Katz. This is a story, read by a child online who is not white. The story is about a little girl who goes on a walk with her mother and she talks about each person and friend they see and the color of his or her skin. Her mother describes the mixed colors and compares it to something a child would understand, like French toast. Each character in this story is depicted as different individuals who come from different cultures. There is no cultural information, just describes the different colors. As far as power in this story, I would say the mother has the power. She is uses it in a good way to describe to her daughter each friends color. After each time the mother explained the colors mixed and related it to something in the world, there was a good illustration of what this child would look like. Each individual in their own way with their own mixture of colors. Karen Katz wrote this story and illustrated it. The only voice heard is the voice of the child. The mother’s voice as well as each individual described voice is missing. These pictures definitely portray race and culture. The illustrations may portray a stereotype by the color of their skin. I would recommend this book to others. It is a great way for children to learn the different colors mixed to get their friends skin colors.