#post-id: 2784-02-30
#original-date: 10.03.2008 Mon
#original-time: 2:30 AM
#original-day: 2784
#original-host: WinXP Prof SP2 (Build 2600)
Sp I just realized that in The Little Mermaid, Ariel gives up her voice just to be with some dude she finds attractive. I’m sorry, but what the fuck? Sher should have been like “Hey Prince Eric, down here in the water, check it out, im half a fish, but im pretty fucking awesome…so you can take me or leave me and we’ll figure out how to get me some legs from there.”
А вот коммент.
It is a good sentiment, and it captures one of the big problems with the Disney Princess brand and mentality. (Stop by your local Disney store--they market this princess thing big.)
In all fairness, though, Ariel sort of a peripheral princess. (Jasmine, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty are the big three.) I think there's a reason for that.
Ariel gives up her voice, but Eric is only half the deal. If you remember, Ariel wants the hell out of the water long before Mr. Dreamboat comes along. He's the straw that breaks the camel's back, but unlike most of the other Disney princes, he isn't entirely an end in himself.
So we can have our Little Mermaid cake and eat it too. :-)
Ещё...
Also, Eric the prince falls in love with Ariel's voice. He doesn't recognize her when she's silent but leggy. And when Ursula turns up in disguise with Ariel's voice, Eric falls in love with her (admittedly, it also seems like he's been hypnotised).
Ariel's bargain with Ursula is that Ariel can get her voice back if Eric gives her a "true love's kiss." Since Eric doesn't recognize or love the silent stranger (he only remembers the voice), it turns into a catch-22. Trading away Ariel's voice turns out to be a very bad bargain.
On the other hand, in the spirit of longing for land that Gavin pointed out, Ariel's voice was kind of a mixed blessing to begin with. Ariel is a beautiful singer, called upon to perform with her sisters and generally act only as an object of aesthetic attention. The one-dimensional emphasis on voice stifles her other traits, especially her kookiness and curiosity. (Which are other traits that women usually and sadly sacrifice to appeal to men.)
On this reading, Ariel is sort of like Gloucester from King Lear, who couldn't see before he was blinded. Nobody, especially Triton, the king, listened to Ariel when she had a voice. You can only hope that by the end of the movie, when Ursula's been defeated, and Ariel is reconciled with her father and reunited with Eric, that there's been some kind of Hegelian synthesis of her physical, musical voice, and the essential/ideal notion of "voice" -- her squeaky, quirky voice that she indulges with the undersea treasures, Flounder, the seagull, and her other friends -- which resolves this problem.
We'll rehabilitate this fucking thing yet.
А некоторые не могут ни чего сказать даже имея голос, кстати... Эммм...
#music: Shoujo Kakumei Utena\Utena Movie OST\Fiancee ni Naritai (Symphonic Instrumental)