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.
6 comments:
Wow, I've watched many movies and I've never picked up any hidden messages, but doing this project has really made me re-evaluate my choices of allowing my children to view and what they are going to learn from them.
Nice post, thorough, and you cover all the requirements. Some grammatical errors and issues with sentence structure. This film is not blatant like some others, but there are definitely a few issues. With any film, we need to talk with our children about entertainment versus what life is really like.
Good job! although I don't think it has anything to do with how smart the children are. A lot of what we pick up is unconscious. You did a good job. This was a favorite movie growing up and you made some great points. As far as how skinny is portrayed and that is the only beautiful thing really opened my eyes! Because the evil being in that movie, Ursula, is not skinny and has a deep voice and wears black clothes. Thanks for sharing!
Going through this class has definitely been an eye-opener with evaluating books and films in a whole different perspective! Your blog certainly picked out the top 2 things I found to be of issue, the racism against humans and the stereotype/sexism of how girls should look and what 'beauty' is. I've watched this movie a million times and let my girls watch it! You captured the one statement from the King which perfectly defines what we are learning about, with the racism, in which he begins his statement with "They are all the same...". The movie definitely expresses beauty as being thin and pretty and that what you say does not matter. That's a really poor image to show young girls who are still developing a sense of self and beauty. I still like the movie, but it definitely makes me realize some things I probably should have conveyed to my girls when they were younger.
I thought you did a very nice post and enjoyed reading your take on this film. The little Mermaid was one of my favorite movies as a child and today my two daughters enjoy watching it was well. I never thought about Ariel as a human teenager and I thought that was a good comparison and you made the point like most teenagers, she was unhappy under the sea. I really liked how you described that this film sends messages about how beautiful and thin Ariel is and she actually was ok with giving up her family for a man. I know it’s interesting when we actually are looking for specific things how much we really find out. I too would recommend the movie, still one of my all-time best Disney films and my 3 year olds love the music and the whole “under the sea” idea.
Hi Andrea
wonderful film critique. I have never seen this film but I would like to see it. I agree with you about if I was as a child I never thought about stereotyping in this film. This film is look so attractive and emotionally and shows children how they decided by-self and have their own life with happiness. Thank you for sharing
Post a Comment