A lot of good movies have a lot of bad messages at their heart. Subtext is everything. At least that is what the Twilight furore has taught me.
GeekDad has a list of ten harmful lessons we can learn from popular movies…
The Little Mermaid
It’s OK to completely change your physical appearance and way of life for the person you love, even if he makes no sacrifices at all (from The Little Mermaid). This movie has the single most appalling ending of any Disney movie ever made, which is a shame because, apart from that, it’s a great film. I just cannot comprehend how anyone could make a movie in the late 1980s with this message, which is not exactly subtle: Ariel gives up her home, her family, and BEING A MERMAID because she loves Eric so. And he gives up … nothing. Yeah, that marriage is off to a great start.
Have you got any bad life lessons that aren’t there? Other than the standard “crime pays” message that comes from a rollicking gangster comedy, or the “always side with the underdog alien robots because they’ll triumph against the odds” message that comes from both Transformers movies.
Comments
That's not quite right. Ariel was always fascinated with human stuff. She wanted to be a person before Eric came along.
BTW what's with your font?
Meh, far better to read the original Little Mermaid. Then she gives it all up… for nothing.
My recollection of the Little Mermaid was that it had a sad ending, showing the futility of giving up everything of value for a dream. Like the Three little Pigs where the first 2 got eaten. In a bid to be politically correct and not scare little children the message has inverted to promote the foolishness that the original was meant to warn against. Now that the first 2 don't get eaten it promotes a welfare mentality; you can get away with being lazy because there is always someone you can bludge off when you need.
[…] I passed horrible and scathing judgment on the Little Mermaid the other day people leapt to the poor thing’s […]