DIRECTOR'S CUT: Therapist Reacts to THE LITTLE MERMAID
Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright take a look at Ariel's relationship with her dad King Triton, her developing romance with Eric, and her concerning amount of hoarding.
Comments (7)
Watching this in 2025, I wonder what the reaction would be to the live action version.
Hi, so late to this party. I think I wrote this on YT, but here it goes. I watched this as a little girl 376 million times and my take away was that the prince was actually in love with girl with voice. The one mute was cute, but he wasn't really into her. And it's only when she recovers her voice that he's truly engaged with her. And the witch ensnares him with Ariel's voice, wich is sginificant to me. So I always looked at it like "you have to have a voice to get a partner and it has to be your voice". On this being the best preince, I'm on board. The atraction is superficial, for sure, but there's a lot of great green flags: kind with pets, mingles with the crew, plays an instrument, has some skills around the ship. So, yes, superficial yet, but plenty to fall for in there that's good. And I just love that he dives in the sea to rescue her. And some poeple like best that Ariel kills the witch on the live action, but on the animated versions, that gives points to the prince, because he's using his sailor skills to defeat the witch. I could change the end to not marriage cause it doesn't seem time has passed, or mayb a 2 years later and then we go into marriage after they manage to get a nice relationship. And now, I have a 6yo and I tell him stories at night, as my father used to do to me and this was the first story I could narrate from scratch, cause I knew all the scenes. So when I narrate the little mermaid I add my perceptions and say thingss like "and they were boyfriend and girlfriend for few year and then the married, had children and were quite happy ever after" or "and his father, that loved her very much and didn't know what to do, destroyed all her things" or "and when Ariel got her voice, the spell broke and Eric ran to her, because she had her voice now and was truly Ariel" I do recommend to watch this with the kids and ask them what they liked, didn't like and so on.
I love your points! I also think it's not fair to say Ariel does nothing; she *does* save Eric, she redirects Ursula shooting the bolt of lighting that would have killed him. Eric saves her after she does that, and the fact that he saves both of them is what endears him to Triton and convinces him that humans aren't all bad. It's actually a very important moment for the story. (Plus he's not just kind with pets, he full-on swims back to rescue his dog from a burning ship after all the humans are safe.)
It's always interesting to rewatch something that you enjoyed as a child again as an adult. As a child, I never picked up on the subtext. As an adult, I cannot unsee it all now. The music is still great, but this is not my favorite Disney movie of all the options to watch. Thanks for covering this!
LOL ... loved the end :) Yes, 47 year old here, so have seen The Little Mermaid MANY times. The music WAS the movie. I could belt out any song (and did) many times over. When our daughters watched this we said to them, "BAD decision, Ariel" while simultaneously singing "He-he-he, Hou-hou-hou" for all it's worth! Here's a fun Scuttle tribute (Kiss the Girl) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RZE0hCcNFiA
Hey disagree VEHMETLY with you Johnno. I still don't see it that way and I find that reaching. It was always a grass always greener interpretation based off separate people. She wanted a life she...I am gonna say Adored and Idolized. Which should be a harmful message. Despite her being the bridge not a great message. Can we get in update?
Update: your point is also valid. - Jono