Next up in defending the Disney princesses is Ariel, all by herself because there is a lot to be said about "The Little Mermaid." Ariel can be seen as the silliest Disney princess at times, with lines such as "Daddy, I'm 16 years old!" and basically the way she acted for the entire half of the film where she could not speak. Yeah, Ariel's not really the brightest princess, and she's often not seen as the best role model, but I don't think she's given enough credit.
The first big deal with Ariel is, the fact people say she is telling girls they need to change themselves for a man. If you think that, I think you missed the entire first 20 minutes of the movie and "Part of Your World." Ariel has not even met or seen Eric at this point in the movie, and she is desperate to get to the human world. She wants to be where the people are, to experience life as a human with legs and feet. There is no part of the song that ever references wanting to be a human in order to fall in love or get a prince. It's the same case that was in "Cinderella." Just as Cinderella always wanted to go to the ball, Ariel has always wanted to be a human.
The second aspect of Ariel changing her appearance is that Ariel doesn't really change her appearance at all. Lets look.
Ariel still has the same hair, eyes, face and upper body. The only real difference is that in the blue dress image, she has legs and feet and in the mermaid image, she has a green tail. Ariel in no way changed her fundamental looks. She changed what was required of her to change to be on land, and again, if given the option to become human before Eric even came into the picture, Ariel, I assume, would have taken it.
"But Daddy I'm 16 years old! I'm not a child anymore!" This is the second one that gets us up in arms about Ariel. Consider this, yourself at 16, wanting something that your parents will not let you have and not understanding why. I laugh at this line, because I'm 20 years old, and I feel like a child sometimes, but when I was 16, I definitely felt this way.
I think sometimes we forget how old Ariel is in the film and what it was like to be 16. I think that Disney hit the nail right on the head. 16-year-old Ariel makes rash decisions, goes against her father and has to face the consequences of her actions, just as any other 16 year old.
Okay, so I've explained why Ariel's not so bad, but how is she a good role model? Ariel sees what she wants and goes for it, and she was the first princess to do so. She takes getting a prince into her own hands and doesn't sit around waiting for one. (If you think I think that way about the original three though, allow me to direct you to my first princess article). Ariel has passions and she explores them, she even helps her father get over his prejudice. Yes, she makes some silly mistakes along the way, but she faces the consequences for them. It's not even until the very end of the movie, when her father gives her that sparkly dress and legs that she even gets Eric.
Ariel is one of my favorites; I dyed my hair red to look like her. I'm obsessed with mermaids and that started with Ariel. Yes, she's a little silly at times and makes careless mistakes, but she's 16, and she's trying. Ariel is realistic, in the way that a cartoon mermaid princess can be, and I think that's beautiful.
