Reevaluating The Little Mermaid before Disney horks up another live action remake

happy pride month.
and don't underestimate the importance of... preorders. static.macmill...
Yes, we meant Joan Crawford, not Collins. Dunno how that happened.
2:59 part 2: something, somthing feminism
7:50 part feminism something.5: Ariel's voice
9:49 part feminism.something something: Ariel's character arc
11:31 part four: True Love (TM)
15:08 Part something: character arcs
20:41 number 6: Adaptation & the Gays
25:06 part something: The disney version is gay AF, too! (just, you know, not in the same way)
Twitter - @thelindsayellis
Patreon: / lindsayellis

[@BloodyBraces]

Why is everyone more concerned about Anna marrying a man she just met instead of the fact that Anna was so emotionally damaged she was willing to marry the first person that was nice to her

[@shaunbarrie2263]

HONESTLY

[@Starfire861]

There’s also the fact that Anna is a literal princess… Marrying a near stranger for political gain is something actual princesses did.

[@gvendurst]

THANK YOU! People give her way too much undeserved flak. It's not that she meets a man and immediately wants to marry him. What she really wants is someone, anyone, in her life because she has been practically alone in the castle for who knows how long since her parents died. Getting married is just the way with which she intends to achieve that goal, and she doesn't have the luxury of taking her time. In her song, she even explicitly states it: "For the first time in forever, I'm getting what I'm dreaming of: A chance to change my lonely world, a chance to find true love. I know it all ends tomorrow, so it HAS to be today. Cause for the first time in forever, for the first time in forever nothing's in my way!"

[@sentientmarshmallow4644]

I never thought of that but oh my god you’re absolutely right

[@MononokeLynn]

I think Cinema Therapy talked about that in one of their videos.

[@MiguelGonzalez-du8de]

When I was a kid I saw Ariel's lack of voice in a completely different way. I thought it was teaching kids that even disabled people can find love, and there's no difference if you're mute, deaf or have any other disability.

[@babyblue3717]

That is such a wholesome reading. I love it

[@theeKPOPlover]

My little brother thought the same, it made me really happy to hear that!

[@briannalee1998]

Yes! And that communication can be nonverbal. Plus, Eric didn’t fall for Ariel because she couldn’t talk (that was actually kind of a turn off for him) he fell for her because she was funny, daring, kind, and adventurous. He fell in love with her personality.

[@lucyandecember2843]

This what i allways found so weird about the discourse. Like, Ariel doesn't lose her personality just cause she doesn't have a voice, personality isn't defined by your voice lol

[@Polomance862]

I like this idea of it too. Ariel was mute, and Eric learned to love Ariel past the fact she couldn't talk. Her personality, energy and soul shined through her actions. Disabled people can find love. Ther's many people who are blind that still find love and shine through. I'd dare say that a disabled person gets to see the most genuine people through their other senses that we fail to capture.

[@LetMeExplainStudios]

Please make a video about why you think The Great Mouse Detective is the greatest Sherlock Holmes movie. I am endlessly interested to hear what you have to say.

[@MysteryDisc]

Eyyyyyy a crossover episode!

[@jurney15]

Hi Rebecca :D

[@victorlannister5606]

Same!!!!!

[@roguebantha7324]

Or that The Rescuers Down Under is the best movie with "down under" in the title. Quigley fans fight me!

[@fan.of.feet2310]

SENPAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@loganrenfrow2544]

It just occurred to me that in her "I want" song, she literally doesn't mention Eric once. Even the name is misleading, it's called Part of Your World but that line isn't actually in it, instead she says part of THAT world. She doesn't allude to romance at all, for that matter. It's all about exploring what's up there and finding out what they know.

[@cthulhutheendless1587]

Holy shit I’ve always been hearing it “part of YOUR world,” probably because of the title and because it’s been a few years since I watched the movie. But it makes so much more sense that Ariel is obsessed with human things, in her human treasury, and not just one guy

[@darthestar8791]

Yeah, plus she hasn't even MET Eric yet

[@phastinemoon]

It only turns into “Part of Your World” in the reprise after she rescues Eric

[@Aisha_Luv]

I've always known this, and hated people who critised the little mermaid, as she was my favourite from the 2D era.

[@1aundulxaldin]

It's kind of easy to think of Ariel in the same terms as one who spends a great deal of time online on social network sites like Twitter, Reddit, and the like; someone who's never properly interacted with anyone outside of the safe zone. They feel like they're missing out on all the amazing experiences they could have had, and the whole romantic feelings bit is just an excuse.

[@RandomMaster123]

I don't know how people completely missed that Ariel was a nerd. After all, she fell for Eric after hearing his flute medley of all 17 Pokémon theme songs.

[@dubbingsync]

17? I think we’re up to like 23 theme songs at least by now. But I’m willing to admit I could be wrong.

[@fruitygarlic3601]

7 veganias

[@greenredblue]

Wow. You sound like... two horses

[@zam5487]

It's... 8 right?

[@frogwhisperer2067]

Ariel! I guess ya never had a Leg to stand on!

[@ContraPoints]

It’s really hard to pass as having a soul If you’re danish

[@miss_elaineous_]

According to 23andme, I'm about 5% soulless.

[@szs2785]

Ily

[@roxyamused]

I was for sure hoping someone would mention the soulless danish and it happens to be the lady that helped me find mine. lol

[@MysteryDisc]

We can't all be cinnamon rolls

[@paconotaco]

Correct

[@Citadel1221]

The perspective of someone who was a child during the Disney renaissance: Disney movies were adventure movies with consistent female leads and it was like a drink of water in a desert.

[@ViviButter]

This is so true

[@hanananah]

Exactly. I liked Belle because she was intelligent and didn't hesitate to take action when she was needed. All the parodies and bad faith interpretations aren't saying anything new it's still just "you're stupid for liking this feminine thing". They changed the reasoning to appear more "woke" but it's the same old shit.

[@horace6851]

The first movie I've ever watched in the theater was The Lion King. I will never forget that day and I will be forever disappointed because no other movie experience lived up to that yet.

[@josephschultz3301]

I'm a guy and Belle from Beauty and the Beast was one of my idols as a kid. Granted, I loved to read and still do, but she was also just so earnest and outgoing. Meanwhile, I was afraid of my own damn shadow xD .

[@Skye_Writer]

YES! Why can't the criticical people of NOW understand that back THEN we were not looking at these ladies like, "Oh, so to have true love, all I have to do is ___." and thinking that was the lesson we took from it? I adored Ariel's sense of wonder about the world, Belle's and courage, Jasmine's sass, Mulan's inventiveness, and just EVERYTHING about Esmeralda. These ladies were the STAR OF THE MOVIE THEY WERE IN. As an adult, do I look back on Snow White and think she's a little warbly and little too naive? Yes. But then again, she's 1) a product of her time (and the time in which the movie was made), and 2) she's only supposed to be 14 in the story and was played by an 18 y.o. Ok, so she cleans the house and cooks the food to get the dwarves to take her in. That is not unusual. In the 30's children were expected to be as helpful as possible around the house, and many of them worked outside the house at the time. We were in the Great Depression, after all. She was written in a way that would appeal to kids of her time, with character traits that they identified with. Does that make the story any less enjoyable to me in the here and now? No. And if anything, that movie taught me to NEVER ACCEPT CANDY FROM STRANGERS. Lol! These movies are taken from FAIRY TALES that have been passed down for HUNDREDS of years. They are not meant to be doctoral thesis material. Are they simplistic stories containing just a handful of characters outside the protagonist in order to keep the story streamlined? Yes. Are many of them missing the lead character's mother because, at the time, many mothers died in childbirth or shortly thereafter from complications? Yes, OF COURSE...women's medical care wasn't really a thing back then. Then again, medicine in general was a rather iffy science, and it's no wonder Snow White and Cinderella lost both their parents. And speaking of the parents trope, they need to quit saying that all the princesses have no parents. Aurora still had both of hers, she just did not know it. As for the rest of the princesses without a mom, they are all Disney Renaissance and later characters: Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Elsa & Anna. And I would argue that Elsa & Anna DID have BOTH parents for most of their lives, which is what screwed Elsa up so badly with the "conceal, don't feel" mantra. Ariel and Belle are, again, fairy tale characters written in a time when women had a high mortality rate from childbirth, Pocahontas' historians never bothered to learn who her mother was (a Native American female who was not the leader of her tribe have any attention paid to her by colonizing white Europeans? I'm *shocked.*)

[@connbarry1656]

I love how Frozen thought it was being soooo radical with "lol falling in love with the first guy you've ever met after one day is dumb", only to replace it with "falling in love with the SECOND guy you've ever met after a COUPLE of days is totally fine" They couldn't have just stayed friends, nope.

[@Nemamka]

This comment deserves recognition, because YES

[@starcherry6814]

Christoph was really getting on my nerves 🤣

[@caramel9154]

the second guy had more chemistry with other guys

[@stevethepocket]

@@caramel9154 And a reindeer.

[@RTU130]

Right

[@andrewbloom7694]

Also worth noting that Ariel actually saved Prince Eric's life at the beginning, which is a point against the "helpless princess who needs a man" idea as well. *Eric* was the "damsel in distress" there.

[@g.Raider]

And how much and far he goes to save her in return. For all of the ways their relationship could be underdeveloped, they're already one of the most equal Disney couples: one of the first princesses and princes to keep saving each other.

[@sxatcychan1988]

That would explain why fanfic writers are hung up on genderbent versions of the story.

[@froghermit9852]

Mansel in distress

[@ZigealFaust]

To this day I forget Ariel is a princess because even though I dislike her (Team Ursula) she never sticks out as the princess she's so blatantly displayed as. Even if it's thrown in my face every 5 mins, I somehow forget that due to her character as a whole.

[@Toshimi1043]

She saves him twice. The second time is when Ursula is about to zap him but Ariel yanks her hair to throw off her aim, so Flotsam and Jetsam get 'sploded instead.

[@mgormley7530]

"Ariel gave up everything for some GUY" says someone who ignored the entire "I want" song before she even met the guy and how she was introduced risking her life for a fork.

[@darwinxavier3516]

IKR if anything she's more of a diehard weeaboo hunting down new anime to watch because she's just so enamored with Japan.

[@anarchomando7707]

@@darwinxavier3516 I can see it

[@ferithss]

@@darwinxavier3516 diehard weeabo quitting her job and moving to Japan before even learning the language

[@SoWhosGae]

@@ferithss Legit

[@videogamenostalgia]

that fork was pretty lit tho

[@adrivoid5376]

Why did everyone just decide to ignore, “bright young women, sick of swimming, ready to stand”. Ariel is foolish in her goal but shes 16. She is a determined and enthusiastic researcher who also fell in love. Her father had to learn to let his daughter go, and learned that being so harsh pushed his daughter into the wrong hands. Very real story. But I also really like early princesses (Snow White was my favorite growing up), they had simpler characters but it doesn’t mean they aren’t good stories and I like seeing them get their dreams. Better then these live action remakes where they are all emotionless or sarcastic- or in trying to ‘fix plotholes’ in movies with magic make them more complicated and nonsensical

[@oliveb5768]

Yes! Ariel is introduced as an anthropologist, she collects and studies human things and that’s what part of your world is all about. Her enthusiasm is so palpable and I love that about her.

[@LordSandwich97]

Yes! I think there's something powerful simply in the intense yearning it expresses. Boundless dreams

[@Torlik11]

And as you say, she's 16! Of course, she's going to fall in love with the first interesting guy she meet and believe he's the love of her life. Just like with Romeo and Juliet, if it wasn't for their familly forbiding them to see each other, they would get over it in a couple of weeks.

[@literaIIyshy]

Wasn't the original lyric "proper young women" or something of the sorts?

[@U1TR4F0RCE]

I definitely worry about if big companies have gotten an idea simple characters or stories are bad. Aristocats is my favourite Disney movie and it’s great even though the only changes are exposure to other types of music and Thomas O’Malley going out of his way to help save Duchess and the kittens

[@Kumaclaws]

I love the girlboss critique of Jasmine being “she’s pressured into marrying a man” when her entire character arc is persuading her father to give his blessing to marry the man she actually loves

[@mikeyjamieson4715]

In the very first scene we meet her, one of the things she says is "Father, I hate being forced into this. If I do marry, I want it to be for *love*." Hell, one of her most iconic quotes is "I am not a prize to be won!"

[@CLee288]

I would actually say that Ariel does have an internal conflict, if a weak one. When Ursula talks about her becoming a human, Ariel hesitates, saying, "I would never see my father again." Her internal conflict is her broken relationship with her father. This is resolved when her father himself turns her human and changes his rules, allowing the mer people to come to the surface to visit her. She gets to have both her desires. Her last line in the movie is not about Eric, but rather, "I love you, daddy."

[@acecat2798]

Good point! Personally I wouldn't say it's weak so much as not dwelled on. But while her relationships with her sisters are definitely undeveloped and the overprotective dad plot is a bit overplayed, there is something very meaningful in Ariel's hesitation to cut ties completely even after Triton had a rampage that destroyed a collection years in the making. I've definitely been there (in a way less extreme way). Speaking of which, that "I'm being cruel to be kind" thing from a parent as they trample their child's identity is another thing that _really_ lends itself to an LGBT+ reading.

[@darwinxavier3516]

@@acecat2798 I was a child of the 80s and 90s who used toys, tv and other childish things to cope with crippling low self esteem and social awkwardness, and had a father figure storm into my room to tell me I had to get rid of all my things and grow up. So I definitely related to Ariel's trauma as her dad destroyed her stuff to force her to conform to expectations. It was only years later that I realized Ariel was a total geek and loved her even more.

[@cloud_and_proud]

Are you sure she didn't say that last line to Eric? ;P

[@lukexsc]

Oh wow! I never thought of that. Honestly, that makes the trans interpretation stronger in my mind.

[@swanpride]

I think it is very shortsighted, to use one lens and then judge the movie based on if it fulfils some random requirement. Here is why I considered Ariel a good heroine: swanpride.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/honoring-the-heroine-ariel/ (and yes, I was there when pop feminism started to ruin Disney, I have fought for years against those lazy criticisms). And the movie itself was a milestone, weather one likes it or not: swanpride3.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/the-little-mermaid-when-disney-went-broadway/

[@connbarry1656]

Why would Jasmine bring up "Daddy issues" when the original Jasmine never had Daddy issues herself? Her conflict wasn't with her father himself but with the law forcing her to marry against her will. Apart from that her relationship with her father was pretty good.

[@mirai2275]

In all fairness that is kind of a big issue lol

[@jazzfan1994]

@@mirai2275 And (if I remember correctly) at the end it’s shown that her father can just change that law no questions asked. Why couldn’t he have led with that?

[@serianangel2667]

Yeah it wasn't a situation like TLM where the father was a controlling asshole. The Sultan was just doofy and half brainwashed (since Jafar clearly liked to scramble his brain as needed). He was trying to do right by his daughter, and he obviously let her have veto power. He didn't punish her for siccing Raja on that prince, even though he was clearly fed up with it.

[@ValenArtsAnimation]

And that's one of the many reason why i'd like to pretend that the Ralph Break the Internet movie doesn't exist

[@MollyFC]

@@jazzfan1994 well he was being hypnotized by Jafar so maybe he literally couldn't?

[@jackiebee2103]

This isn't remotely the point but I've always hated "ending up as a nurse" being framed as some kind of awful fate and failure of feminism. Like my very difficult job that pays me enough to be totally independent "doesn't count" because most of my coworkers are also women or "caretaking" is feminine or whatever. It's gone away a little since covid (in favor of people being weird about it in other ways), but, like, one time in college I asked a language professor for some guidance on an essay because I hadn't had to do any literary analysis in like three years (since, you know, nursing students don't get asked to do that very often) and as soon as I mentioned my major he was like "now don't sell yourself short, you might not always be just a nurse". Bleh.

[@rattyeely]

It's weird how people treat nurses as like...failed doctors, instead of a separate but still important job

[@tai9705]

my brother is trying to get into med school and the main takeaway he's gotten so far even after doing great on his mcat is that "anybody who studies enough can be a doctor, and its not even that hard and to be honest they are paid too much to mostly just subscribe people pills they dont rly need and send them straight home" like...goddamn. but then when u compound that with the general disregard for nurses up until only very recently, it adds another layer of bullshit to it. lbr, nurses do twice as much work as doctors for half as much pay, and while yes they do less schooling and are less specialized. i have no doubt in my mind that nursing being primarly staffed not just by women but specifically women of COLOR is a bigger factor in the way its regarded as a somehow "lesser" profession. so yeah anyone who wants to be a nurse is imo not only a hero but making a pretty sound investment in their future cuz u know one thing u can never have Too much of? healthcare professionals! and at least if nothing else this pandemic has proven that. (and ya they do make more money than alot of other female dominated professions, thats nothing to sneeze at)

[@mindyp7256]

One of the new ways I've seen people be weird about nurses is this idea that nurses are all the girls who were bullies in high school and they choose nursing because of a sick need to have power over vulnerable people. Like... what? Maybe this isn't a new thing but it was new to me, and after seeing it multiple times on twitter I was so confused. You wouldn't last long as a nurse if you were in it just for a weird power trip. I'm not a nurse but the disrespect nurses get is mindboggling to me. Good luck surviving in a hospital with no nursing staff.

[@angelsartandgaming]

I don't get why people treat nurses like this failure job when I literally owe my life to nurses and doctors!!

[@starlight8554]

@@tai9705 nurses don’t do “twice as much work as doctors”. I went to nursing school and then transferred to medicine (I’m in final year of medical school now), and they’re two VERY different jobs. But nurses are horribly overworked and underpaid and they deserve much, much better. As a WOC with a mom who was a nurse, I know how important the job is, but no need to minimise how hard doctors work to uplift nurses. Both jobs are v v hard and the real villains are the people who run the hospitals (the government) and underpay us all, with constant budget cuts and other bullcrap. I know this was a long reply but it just hit a nerve lol.

[@annasmith6090]

Aladdin and Jasmine waited out 3 movies and a tv series to get married... it's actually hilarious

[@lilithmotherofmonsters6055]

Damn, I didn't even know there was on rafter the second

[@caitmonroe9349]

I read your comment while Ursula was on screen and my brain totally misfired and saw "Aladdin and Ursula waited out 3 movies and a tv series to get married." I just sat there for a minute, completely baffled at how I could have missed that wild crossover.

[@musicamaxima]

King of Thieves is pretty good as spin-offs go. And Rhys Davies dad!

[@magicwandstudio3141]

@@musicamaxima his dad hot!!

[@geniehossain3738]

Like at the start of Aladdin and the King of Thieves there’s a whole song about how they’re “finally getting married”, and then they still have to wait till the entire end of THAT movie to actually get married!

[@JelloApocalypse]

"You're tellin' me... I'm losin' to a BIRD!" *The Return of the King*

[@caiomesquita268]

Now let's hope for "see how I glitter"

[@jeremy1392]

This was my favorite clip and the way Lindsay uses it is masterful

[@al112v4]

Didn't she disliked that movie?

[@zeppelopod]

“Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man.”

[@lemondolt_9094]

@@cn2673 jesus dude, let it go already

[@KennethHolmDahlin]

As a Person Of the Danish Persuasion, I reject the notion that we do not have souls. This is a misnomer and we need to correct this. Most Danes do in fact have souls as we have stolen them from the Swedes. Please correct this misconception in a future episode.

[@amanda_2406]

as a swede i find this very offensive

[@concettasorvillo3719]

Ahahahah I was in Norway for a while a year ago. Do norvegians have a soul or they have stolen it from Finnish?

[@Ildskalli]

Nah, you people stole those souls from PRUSSIA. And suddenly, everything makes sense...

[@Randina42]

As a Norwegian I can confirm this. They stole the souls from the Swedes while we stood and watched

[@lucyandecember2843]

Man this why we had to spearate from you guys, you're all crazed soul thiefs T-T But, wait a minute! Our royal family has danish origins.. is this why our first king said yes to be our king, is he trying to steal the souls of Norway?! Curse you Denmark!!

[@fadeintodusk595]

The argument of "Belle's only asset is her sexuality" is so funny to me because it misses the point of the movie entirely. It's the villains of the movie that would make that argument: Gaston and the town only value her for her beauty, the Beast earns her compassion because he grows to see beyond that.

[@cthonisprincess4011]

And the way that the Beast earns her affection is by supporting the things she enjoys and improving himself to be a better person for her.

[@lordflashheart3741]

The funny thing is, the same applies to Gaston. Him, more than anyone, is only liked, admired and appreciated because of his sexuality: He's the big, burly, masculine, manly-man and that is all that the town sees him for. The difference between him and Belle is of course, to Gaston, this is all he is and wants to be, which pretty much means he can't possibly be a decent human being. You know, unlike Belle and indeed the Beast.

[@feezlfuzzl564]

I'm not sure it's fair to say they only value her for her beauty. They think she's odd because reads and wants to travel. I think they would value more "ladylike" behavior too, if she exhibited it. They're kind of stereotypes.

[@caradanellemcclintock8178]

I also see the stockholm syndrome argument but hes mean to her for a total of like five minutes she stands up for herself he gets angry then he gets over himself there is no gaslighting before the halfway point of the movie he is trying to be a better person which is the whole point. Belle at no point in the movie ever reacted to his bad behaviour with ah its ok or I deserve this treatment she lets him know his actions are not acceptable ever.

[@anni1348]

@@caradanellemcclintock8178 The stockholm-syndrome argument is the stupidest argument i ever heard. She never sympathizes with the beast because he is an abusive asshole. She makes a deal with him to save her fathers life. And the rules the beast is trying enforce on her is she ignoring, she's going into the forbidden area of the castle, she's not eating for dinner with him and shes not staying at the castle and running away, when he has emotional outburst after he found she was in the room with the rose, even tho beast tried to force her to that. Belle actually just always responds to the beasts behavior fairly, when he is aggressive and mean, tries forces his rules on her, then she's rejecting him, when he saves her life from the wolves she saves his life from dying in the snow, when the beast is mean and complaining then shes mean as well, when he's kind and supportive, she's kind towards him as well. The beast learns to see beyond Belles external beauty, learns to love her for her personality and supports her interests in books and her love for her father, so he changes himself for the better as an internal motivation. Gaston and the whole town reduce Belle on her external beauty. The point is Gaston is pretty on the outside but ugly on the inside, but no one sees that because of his external beauty. Gaston on the other hand would never change himself, he sees Belle as another object to pocess, he doesn't care about her interests or her personality, he wants her just because of her looks because he's as superficial as that when it comes to himself as well. He views himself as the handsome, big, manly, hyper-masculine man. Funny thing, but actually you could argue that Gaston and Le Fou have an abusive relationship, where Gaston is constantly (physically and mentally) mistreating, manipulating and using Le Fou for his own benefits, while Le Fou sugarcoats Gastons abusive behavior and admires Gaston no matter how bad he gets treated by him.

[@Romanticoutlaw]

"disney princesses are making our daughters into barefoot preggo kitchen-bound non-girlbosses" has the same but opposite energy as "metal music/horror movies/video games are making our kids violent"

[@daniel_rossy_explica]

you forgot anime.

[@GigaDonk99]

@Mirabella Hollundria You become a brony

[@RTU130]

Yep

[@hagelslag9312]

@Mirabella Hollundria Yes, we turn into sociopathic killer moms who run their own business selling demonic music to children. Haven't you seen?

[@jacktadash]

I'm going to get you. After Dragonball Z.

[@VioletxVelvet]

I remember the early 2000's Princess Discourse, especially when it came to Cindarella. Like, "Why didn't she just stand up for herself?" "She should've been proactive, and not wait for a man to save her!" Firstly, life in an abusive household isn't that easy. If she were kicked out, where exactly would she go? But besides that obvious point, she didn't "Wait for a man to save her". Going to the ball was a way for her to enjoy herself, get out of the house, and stick it to her stepmother and stepsisters. And as it turns out, seeking friends and help outside of your social circle is a good way to escape a bad situation. All that discourse surrounding Cindarella was Reaaally victim blaming, posing as feminism. edit: Coming back to this after a few months, and wow! Thanks for all the upvotes and positive feedback! y'all are lovely

[@z-nab27]

This is such a meaningful take on the original story!

[@nadiacalembe1546]

Cinderella is my favorite. Despite being in an abusive situation, she remains kind, graceful and all that good feminine shit that people love to hate. And I believe it's the only live action that was improved upon and not ruined for all eternity

[@JackedThor-so]

That's a legitimately good take! !

[@robinyoung3924]

People miss the point of Cinderella so obtusely. The moral is basically that karma exists - Cinderella remains a good and kind person and so is rewarded for it, whereas the stepmother and sisters internal ugliness is ultimately punished.

[@ourrsquaredpi]

Plus Cinderella was plenty proactive when her stepmom imprisoned her in their attic then she tried to escape with the help of her wit and animal friends. She was the one who called after/approach the prince when he just gave up on his mission to find her. The live action missed the point of this scene and instead had Cinderella be passive and singing about being ok with the whole situation.

[@JoCat]

not that I thought you'd ever stop, but it's still nice to see you keep going thank you for making the things you do Lindsay

[@originalityize]

Its the JoCat! So happy to see you here

[@InRealTime769]

Lindsay attracts all of the best KZbinrs

[@katiebrobst6901]

ENGAGEMENT

[@nicolaskiergras9322]

OH HI THERE! Wasn't expecting to see you here Jocat!

[@kevadu]

Even sword and shield users love Lindsay

[@EdKauffmann]

I feel like most people misread "Sleeping Beauty" because they assume the titular character is the protagonist, when really it's 3 feisty old magical ladies who are the heroes of the story - they're the ones working against Maleficent's magic, who sacrifice their magic to protect Aurora, and the ones who rescue Phillip and arm him against Maleficent. Aurora and Phillip are both pieces in a chess game, destined to their course at the start of the story by the entangling of their betrothal with Maleficent's curse - granted, Phillip's eventual role is far more of an active one than Aurora's passive one which sucks, but they both are beholden to this destiny and have a part to play in the REAL high-level conflict between the fairies and Maleficent's competing plans.

[@maggie5990]

Thank you! I’ve been saying this for years and people still dismiss the movie. Hell my favorite part in the movie is where Flora is telling Philip how to fight and he follows it

[@Chibinotsan]

I never like the s b story, it was mostly for the general reinterpretation of the medieval aesthetic that appealed me when as a kid. The love story wasn't the point, the fairies bothered me, and so did maleficeng bc I thought she had no reason to be mean. But the whole princessish vibe, forest charm, the castles and the sleeping scene where everything is bluish, oh gosh, I was soooo much into it as a child. I still love to re-watch it and think how bad the story is (I still can't endure the three godmothers) but enjoy the sceneries, landscapes and the movements of the animation.

[@JG-rf1bl]

Right? And those remakes completely miss this! Seeing what they did to Fauna, Flora, and Merryweather made me so sad.

[@BubblegumLightsaber]

I actually didn't particularly like SB at first for exactly this reason--I thought Aurora was the MC and was like "why is she barely in the movie" and then I read somewhere to think of the three fairies as being the MCs. So I rewatched it with that mindset and liked it a LOT better. I mean, it was the same movie, but that perspective shift changed my opinion of it drastically.

[@seanhunkins3508]

When you get right down to it, Sleeping Beauty is a story about why you should never take sides in Seelie vs Unseelie politics

[@MysteriousC]

The Little Mermaid was published in 1837. It hasn't even been 200 years. The mermaid is STILL in purgatory :(

[@l.tc.5032]

That poor woman.

[@sebastiantrias1529]

And that not including that if a child cries, it add another day to her sentence.

[@MysteriousC]

@@sebastiantrias1529 whaaaat? I hadn't heard that part, that's just unfair :(

[@nathanielsantos1706]

:(

[@Rakso5809]

@@sebastiantrias1529 but if a child laughes it reduces a year, so maybe she's in heaven now because so many laughed because of the movie...

[@awkwardukulele6077]

Honestly, “princess critique in 00’s was just hating things teen girls like, but for adult girls” was such a spicy take I had to pause the video and come back after I calmed down. This is exactly the stuff I subscribed for.

[@davidmhh9977]

It's also a liberal feminist twist on the "wage gap is just because women don't work hard enough or lean in" argument.

[@awkwardukulele6077]

@@davidmhh9977 BRUH WAIT A MINUTE YOU GOTTA POINT THERE 🙀

[@theoremipsum]

Lindsay discussed this same thing during her apology to Stephenie Meyer video. As a guy who was in middle school during the Justin Bieber / Twilight era (and was definitely part of the opposition during the time), it really struck with me. It's such an obvious fallacy, but it's one we seem to continually fall into.

[@professorbutters5201]

@@davidmhh9977 Dude, Barbara Ehrenreich, whom she trashes, literally wrote a book on that exact thing. I think the quotes are pretty cherry-picked.

[@dcscruz2970]

People hate on things teenage girls like.

[@user-hi4xi2rp8j]

Interviewer : So what's the key to your success? CEO : Well, I played a lot of Bob the Builder when I was little.

[@StarlightPrism]

I always felt that much of the anti-Disney Princess discourse was disingenuous and largely fueled by "these characters are pretty and they wear pretty dresses so they're bad role models" rather than a genuine analysis of the characters. The whole idea that anything stereotypically feminine is bad, and adults projecting their own insecurities and ideas onto little girls. The popular narrative was that the Princesses were all passive, personality-less damsels in distress, and maybe you could argue that for the first few ones, but with Ariel and the later Princesses that definitely wasn't the case. Really, I think it's all a testament to how people are so much more critical of female characters than male ones.

[@rochellerodriguez6431]

I think you're right and there also is this strain of "girl boss" pop feminism that hates the idea of romance for some reason. Like even in fantasy it's impossible for some writers to conceive of a heterosexual man who is supportive of his partner's career and or goals ergo: women's empowerment only means going it alone. It's fine to depict other paths to fulfillment besides romance but lack of romance doesn't equal more feminist actually.

[@PatchworkDuckie]

the cherry on top of this all is cinderella. in the original disney film, once she is trapped she fights back and uses her brains to get her mice to help her. in the remake, which they outright claimed to be "more feminist", once she is captured she swans about singing in her literal tower til a prince helps her! you cannot seriously call the old adaption "unfeminist" while pulling that, its completely disingenuous.

[@Igorcastrochucre]

Recently there has been a pushback against this because this reading can constitute actual victim blaming in the cases of Cinderella and Snow White.

[@k.morningstar7983]

i feel like it felt safer and more accepted to critique the facade and low hanging fruit than the deeper, more meaningful system that underpins all of it. and it just segued into bashing female bodied persons yet again, but in a different way. because, of course it did, unless it just wants to re-paint with a wide fucking brush over diverse and complex issues

[@nahte123456]

In fairness at least that requires some thought, do most people even know the names of all the princes? Like when has anyone said anything about Eric from this movie, positive or negative?

[@christergoode6465]

I would argue that Ariel *does* have a character arc: Making peace with her super controlling father and realizing that despite their hard feelings, he really does love her. Sadly, this argument is limited to subtext, which is a real shame.

[@faffolite]

In musical she saves herself

[@BrcRosa]

Yes. I rambled on for a long time agreeing with you and talking about the different things that shows the development of their relationship. Then it disappeared. The father daughter relationship during rebellious teen years and learning to both grow and accept yourself, accept your kid and let them go to lead their own lives is a huge part of this movie. Empty nest syndrome and being completely lost when it comes to knowing the right thing to do when it comes to being a parent is not new. The topic is dealt with really well in this movie. It's 4 am. 🙄

[@SoulsCalling777]

Yes! That’s the part that always gets me. This is more a movie about a girl and her father, than it is about finding a guy

[@TalkingVidya]

I think we are in an abusive and toxic relationship with Disney Yai

[@ramenresistance1547]

Oof for real

[@missanne2908]

It was different for those of us who grew up before the Disney renaissance and VCRs. Being a child in the 60s meant the only full-length Disney cartoons I saw were 101 Dalmatians and the re-release of Cinderella (I'm not counting Mary Poppins since it was mainly live action). I don't remember merchandizing being a thing then, and exposure to Disney depended upon the studio's willingness to re-release films, which didn't happen very often. I grew up knowing the difference between Grimm's and Disney's Cinderella since the Grimm version was the one I had access to on a daily basis.

[@kidkangaroo5213]

Go outside

[@carmenb826]

Que demonios haces aquí Fred?

[@Miskamouskamikumouse]

I wanna leave this relationship and im staying with my mom for the night.

[@hellixodev]

Honestly, I feel like a lot of people ignore certain lines or don't really remember how the plot is forwarded in the older Disney movies. I've watched Cinderella multiple times the past two weeks, and I can say similar things to this video. Her entire character is that she can make the best out of horrible circumstances and she stays kind and gentle. She takes care of the mice / other animals, and even wants to get along with the cat. It's because she stays positive and kind that the mice return the favor, by helping her get out of the attic when the shoe arrives and making her dress when she's busy. I think the most important thing to realize is that, while the stepsisters expect the Prince to fall in love with them at the ball, Cinderella just wants to go have fun, which is a luxury. It's not explicitly stated, but one could assume that the Prince pays attention and falls in love with Cinderella because she isn't entitled or wanting to be with him because of his status. She doesn't even know that he is the Prince until she hears that he's looking for her the next day. The Prince doesn't "save her" at all, it's more like she is rewarded for being a nice person instead of bitter and cruel, like her circumstances and the people who she lives with are to her. Sorry for the text wall, I love this video and I'm so glad to see you post again Lindsay! Stay strong. :)

[@frostfang1]

Yea, if people look at it like Knives Out is a modern Cinderella retelling, they might see what the theme of Cinderella really is.

[@kassandrasiqueiros5969]

Yesss! It bothers me so much that people belittle Cinderella's character so harshly and incorrectly. The moral is to be kind and life will repay you in some ways. But people are obsessed with overlooking the deeper meaning and just being like "oh she was waiting for the prince to rescue her" when in fact, she wasn't.

[@jjj7790]

A lot of these films, at least before the "subversion" era, didn't stray very much from the original tales in terms of being morality plays. Much of the criticisms that the "subversion" era is responding to seems more in response to the Disney's brand identity, specifically the Princesses line, of the 90's and onward rather than responses to the films themselves. It's a bit disappointing that people can't judge these films individually as on effort of the people who worked on them at the time, for the audience at the time, instead of just having everything meld together under the identity of the brand.

[@Author.Noelle.Alexandria]

@@jjj7790 Except Disney himself said she was always one of his favorites because of how kind she was even hen things got rough. He died long before the Disney Princess line started.

[@JacquelineViana]

Let's not forget that people blaming Cinderella for not fighting back are basically doing those "why didn't you stand up to your abuser?" we see in real life. Sometimes it is not that simple to break out of a situation such as this. Just the fact that Cinderella chooses to stay strong and not let this horrible situation break her spirit makes her some A+ role model in my opinion.

[@user-vw2jq3to5e]

My mom is an ardent feminist, and she loves Little Mermaid. I was always confused as to why since I bought into the “film is sexist” pop feminism articles. She said that Ariel spends the film pursuing her sexuality by getting a man - all in defiance of her strict controlling father. But in the end, she gets the man and her father learns to accept her independence. It’s pretty feminist without being so obviously on-the-nose like the current Disney films. And it’s also a nice message of how fathers should not control their daughter’s sexuality/romance.

[@JonathanXLindqviust]

We can always find patterns in just about anything, especially if we want to. That said far be it from me to ever deny someone a reason to enjoy something they enjoy, as long as that reason isn't detrimental to them- or humanity at large. Of which why in being feministic I do get tired of so much media hampering women's and humanities ambitions.

[@shis1988]

The sexism in Disney Princesses is greatly exaggerated. Especially since Little Mermaid.

[@dr.science_0177]

I hate the little mermaid because of the prince. I pretty much hate almost every Disney characters except tangled, Mulan and the Princess and the frog

[@SevenEllen]

Plus, the father learned not to be racist towards a people he believed were evil. He wasn't wrong about the fish-eating part though ... Yeah, that got swept under the rug, huh? I wonder how they're going to address that in the live action movie? Make Eric a vegetarian?

[@jasonblalock4429]

What I like about Little Mermaid is how much agency Ariel has. She's entirely in control of her own story through 90% of the movie, at least until the very end when Ursula goes nuclear and Ariel's totally outmatched. Which is kinda rare, when you look at how many other Disney princesses/FeMCs spend their movies being controlled or pushed around by other people.

[@escabasket153]

Yes! I hate when feminine traits are seen as “inferior”! Feminine traits are an important part of the human experience, equally important to the masculine experience. Jobs that attract more women should also be paid well.

[@L0rdOfThePies]

Yes! Girls are being taught liking pink and being feminine is generic and wrong, but theres nothing wrong with being pink and pretty if that's how you feel! ^^ we're blaming girls for making not like other girls shit but when a girl is masculine y'all love to drill into her brain that shes different -.-.

[@elizabethliz146]

​​@@actuallyimnotreallysureyet6360Yeah, I don't hate feminity, but I want more variety in how female characters are portrayed. Enchanto artist had to fight for Luisa have a more muscular frame. I want characters that spread across the spectrum with how masculine and feminine they are in different ways. Arcane is one example of this is the animated show with a wonderful variety of women characters it's an adult show, but it wouldn't be hard to take notes.

[@Los499]

All jobs that contribute to society's well being should be paid vastly more, which will only happen when the workers of the world stop letting the ruling class divide us up into competing identities, ethnicities, nationalities, etc., and instead realize that despite our differences all workers have a common interest in overthrowing our common foe, the capitalist class, and reorganizing society on the basis of universal social equality, international solidarity, and socialism.

[@AnastasiaBelova27]

there's no such thing as feminine traits, it's just gender stereotypes to assign some traits to men and some to women

[@jondoe7036]

@@Los499 Yup, sooner we'll recognize we're all whores under the same boot, the sooner we can decide what we should do about the pimps whose foot the boot is on.

[@mininabs]

Instead of encouraging women to go into higher paying fields as a way to decrease the pay gap, maybe we should try to make sure that those in healthcare, hospitality, etc are actually paid a decent wage. The leap of logic to go "women are being paid less cause they choose the wrong fields, just make them go into X field" is so back asswards and only perpetuates class issues.

[@QueenBee-pb6bt]

Exactly, women don't chose badly paid jobs, badly paid jobs are so because women choose them

[@WasLilChrisnowbigish]

@@QueenBee-pb6bt Its because the jobs women go into are jobs which is hard to quantify value. Take for instance childcare, the vast majority of people working in this sector are woman, so lets say we double the average wage of childcare workers. Well guess what you have now doubled how expensive it is to receive childcare are we now better off?? The problem is far deeper and complex than "meh sexism"

[@AllisonMiller30]

I’m going to 💯 agree. I was a cna and I’m making the same as I was working in a gas station that I was being a cna

[@thedorkettereads6052]

And there's a way to bring up that the wage gap has two facets (paying women less for equal work AND societal pressures for women to go into underpaid professions) but the takeaway shouldn't be "so they need to be Bob the Builder," the takeaway should be a reflection on how maybe patriarchy is WHY those professions are underpaid.

[@koboldcatgirl]

@@WasLilChrisnowbigish If men were expected to do childcare it would be socialized by now. Actually, scratch that: There's a reason men aren't expected to do childcare. There's a reason child care has never been properly paid, whether it's done by professionals or stay at home moms. Our economy is designed to expect half of its essential workforce to work for free. If it wasn't socially expected for half of the workforce to be homemakers, for free, with no incentive except social obligation, capitalism literally wouldn't move. Men in power want Americans to have babies but they don't want to pay to care of them, or, well, be expected to take care of them themselves. If I said we should raise the wage of teachers, you wouldn't say, "oh so you want poor parents to not be able to afford education?", because it goes without saying that we wouldn't expect parents to shoulder the load for that.

[@liva.2513]

It always bothered me that people accused Ariel of leaving the ocean "just for a man" when her fascination with humans preceded her crush on Eric.

[@reasyrandom]

Plus, she only actually considered it when her father started blowing her stuff up, purely out of spite. As sympathetic as Triton may have been, he was still abusing her.

[@sakasusuk]

@@reasyrandom YEAH. He was very controlling! If he didn’t do what he did, I doubt Ariel would run away on a whim

[@jasonblalock4429]

My favorite analogy is that she's basically a human weeaboo. She's the mermaid equivalent of the anime-obsessed kid who finds an online Japanese boy/girlfriend and then moves to Japan to chase their dream. The exact person they meet probably doesn't even matter; they were just looking for an excuse.

[@lutherheggs451]

@@reasyrandom I don't think you know what abuse is.......Blowing up trash in a cave is definitely not abuse.... But then again IF we wanted to go by the actual story, it was extremely painful for her to walk on land, as if knives were being driven into her legs and, he rejects her at the end practically driving her crazy that he ends up wanting nothing to do with her....IF Im remembering correctly also she attempts to murder either eric or his bride in their sleep because of the rejection.

[@ApequH]

Yes! It wasn't just Eric, Eric just happened to fit her true wishes well! Ariel always wanted to get out of the ocean and see "more" of the world.

[@S...O___S...]

Hey Lindsay, you probably won't read this considering the biblical flood of comments this video is sure to to attract, but I just wanted to say, thanks. Thanks for not giving up. And thank you for not giving up on us. This content means a lot to a lot of people, maybe even more so now. So, thank you

[@sarahwatts7152]

This is exactly what I wanted to say!

[@feeshcapades]

Took the words right out of my keyboard.

[@Camicube]

Absolutely this!

[@Alex-ki1yr]

++++

[@TheHyena42]

Right on

[@MidnightDarkness666]

Since watching Little Mermaid after my Autism diagnosis, I find myself loving Ariel's non verbal part, when she's out enjoying herself in the town etc. I see so much of myself when I'm non verbal and excited. I'm not the only one, my partner noticed the similarities the first time we watched it together.

[@SamRandolph]

I'm glad you're talking about this too, as a person with ADHD I feel like Ariel has *huge* neurodivergent energy in general. She's highly curious and inquisitive, everyone considers her to be super weird because of her unconventional behavior, and she even has a special interest/hyperfixation!

[@PunchandJewelee90]

@Sam Randolph Ariel also hyper fixates and tends to forget occasionally, which is a common ADHD trope

[@pinkestelle558]

As a person with autism I also identify with it, I notice myself being very quiet sometimes and expressing little emotion but ariel makes me feel as though its ok to do that and I dont have to mask all the time and sometimes I can just relax and let the mask slip So its nice to know im not the only one who saw that correlation

[@BB-ed4om]

As a person with anxiety and depression I agree. Sometimes you just have to be beautiful and not talk.

[@Vooblebooble]

Had an extremely similar experience myself. The bit where Ariel goes from disappointed she can't speak to Eric to visibly elated cause she thinks "wait, I could just mime it REALLY hard!! Then he'll get it!" never fails to make me laugh for that exact reason. Same girl, same

[@charisleighmusic]

I heard a story from an interview with Jodi Benson that a little girl in a wheelchair met her and said she loved Ariel because she also didn’t have legs. Jodi listened and talked to this little girl for a bit before they had to part ways. I always like that story.

[@misterbndr]

Ursula is a genius feminist villain. She says that the most important asset a girl has is her looks (and body language), but she actually knows that a women's voice is so much more powerful (not just because Ariel's voice is super sweet). That's why that's the thing she takes away.

[@scoopitywoop]

She even sings to Ariel "yes, on land it's much preferred for ladies not say a word" when trying to convince Ariel to sell her voice

[@Jsa460]

Yup. Ursula is hands down my favorite disney villain, always has been. She knows EXACTLY what she's doing by manipulating Ariel while minimising any outright lying about the specifics of the deal. Sure she cheats, but Ariel never thought to read the contract and make sure she knew the rules before signing (albeit largely because of Ursula's pep-talk song.) She's clever and powerful outcast who has a goal and goes up against the king of an entire kingdom by identifying and hitting his weakest spot. (And beats him too. If Eric hadn't intervened, she'd be ruling the seas as she planned.) She is well aware of the power of words (obviously, she sings to Ariel to convince her to forget her doubts and sign up) and that her voice is far more powerful than her looks alone, so she cleverly takes it away and uses it against her. Think about it, she could have asked for anything, and she demands her voice. I also love the way she seems tooutright mocks societies perceptions on what external appearence you need to be happy. Such as the part where she sets up two merfolk together by changing their external appearence so they'll accept each other as partners, but they're still the same people underneath and could have been together at any time without having to pay her price which dooms them both. There's a message of be true to yourself, and don't judge by appearences in there as well.

[@Eloise_Please]

I don't think it's feminist to manipulate a young niave woman and exploit her in order to gain power... she's definitely an awesome and intelligent Disney villain, though!

[@icedbergamot]

@@Eloise_Please I'd say Ursula's more so a "feminist" in the sense that she embodies more feministic values, but she's ultimately the villain since she uses those qualities for her own selfish gain Like how modern "feminists" do smear campaigns on people who have differing politics & views to the point where the victims of these campaigns lose their "voices" thanks to the selfish actions of these "feminists"

[@Cloverfr]

Ursula is an AMAZING villain, but this whole attaching the word feminist empowered morally wrong women is uh.... idk, icky, it reminds me the "if you take away the killing puppies Cruela is a great feminist icon!"

[@huleyhugb809]

Moral of the story: “It was buzzfeed all along!” 🎵

[@Ze_N00B]

Add that to the good ones.

[@CaptainCJ97]

Those sons of bitches

[@Eviltwin531]

OK, did anybody else say that to the tune of the Agatha Harkness melody?

[@darwinxavier3516]

Fuck buzzfeed. Their takes are so sensationalized and cringe.

[@boy_wells9339]

@@Eviltwin531 i know i did

[@cozmicclockwork1136]

5:40 love how a "feminist" organization see's the gender pay gap and blames women for it.

[@minhthuvu611]

I'm feminist and I don't blame women. But you will not blame the society for treating women like trash

[@tsrenis]

​@@actuallyimnotreallysureyet6360 that's just blaming women with one degree of separation

[@j.h.agonzales7936]

The consensus of feminism during that time was feminine women=bad or 'weak'. Masculinity and Femininity are very different but both can have amazing benefits to society that are very much equal in strength and effectiveness. Of course it doesn't mean women can't do masculine things or men can't do feminine things, but it's like cooking with 2 different elements, water and fire. Both are equally important but work differently and are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I've never labeled myself a feminist partially due to the racist origins and bad chapters like this. (Literally only 1 Disney princess had a man save her if you watch the movies closely, the rest either got lucky, saved themselves or had friends help.) But yeah I wish feminists of that time would draw attention to the fact that femininity is treated as inferior and women are pressured to be tough masculine girl-bosses to be respected. (If all female teachers, nurses, CNA's therapists, nannies, social workers, cleaners, cooks and artists went on strike human society wouldn't last 3 days) And that's not accounting for the labor that stay at home moms take on which if translated to a salary, would be worth about 140-180,000 annually. It takes a LOT of mental strength to be kind, patient, empathetic, hopeful, positive, gentle, creative and loving. Yet those feminine traits are seen as less important than masculine traits like strength, endurance, bravery, humor, ingenuity and tenacity. I dunno shit is wild. Glad feminists are doing much better now than when I was growing up but hope it doesn't go back to the problematic stuff.

[@BB-ed4om]

@@tsrenisthat’s a word game, you can’t “blame someone” by blaming someone else with one degree of separation.

[@BB-ed4om]

@@tsrenis”school didn’t teach me algebra” is a secret code for “I didn’t take initiative and learn algebra on my own at ten years old.” This is my fault with one degree of separation you see. Stupid school. I mean stupid me. You just don’t know how to blame someone through someone else secretly.

[@ztslovebird]

Howard Ashman fought tooth & nail to keep “Part of That World” in The Little Mermaid. Disney execs wanted to cut it because they thought “kids are dumb, kids have no attention span, kids will want to leave during this number.” Ashman countered that the melody was literally the core of the movie as well as Ariel’s character arc.

[@officert5147]

It is Depressing how little faith Disney seems to have in kids' ability to understand complex themes or pay attention to anything. Kids are really smart, if you give them opportunities to be

[@jp3813]

Notice how "Go the Distance" & "Reflection" are shortened in Hercules & Mulan respectively.

[@ChrisConnolly-Mr.C-Dives-In]

And both growing into your own person and growing into a relationship requires you to enter into another world, and leave that which is familiar to you.

[@FunnymanTimmy]

Blame the Petty Asshole for that...

[@anniedangerface]

I was 5 years old when the film came out and even I got it. There are deep themes in it, yes, ones I couldn't fully grasp. But the idea of feeling like there's something you want and can't/don't have, of feeling like you don't fit in, of having interests different than those of your peers - young kids can get that to a certain extent. Bless Howard Ashman and his beautiful mind.

[@Jupiter065]

Ariel is a weeb who wants to move to Japan, but can't speak the language

[@Darkaos_5]

fits surprisingly well if you really think about it XD

[@phastinemoon]

I hate that you’re right

[@eagletanker]

Yeah that seems like the theme the author was going for. They had anime back in the 1000-1900 C.Es right?

[@friendlyneighbourhooddegen4739]

This made me cackle, omfg where’s the lie 🤣

[@that_dam_baka]

Oh, Frick.

[@nenja3625]

"Mermaids, like the Danish themselves, don't have souls." *laughter from Norway

[@AnT508]

As a Swede, I think there is an inaccuracy in Lindsey's description here. They don't turn into SEA foam when they die: they turn into BEER foam. Or "turn into" is perhaps a bit vague: they ingest so much beer that their entire being is turned into a beer-based solution. They then collapse into a puddle, which naturally has a lot of foam due to the sudden agitation. Fun fact: this is also why nobody can understand Danish! As their throat is the first thing the beer contacts, it will dissolve before anything else.

[@jaywhangmakes]

Imagine Lars von Trier was hired to make The Little Mermaids remake.

[@kaninoop]

Who has a soul nowadays?

[@MrTheWaterbear]

Laughter from the only Scandinavian country which doesn’t have any famously incredibly fairytale authors? Okay, bro. I’ll just go bury myself in the anthologies of H.C.Andersen ;)))))))

[@Superibis.]

Damn, the drama between Scandinavian countries tastes a lot better than what we have in the Latin world xD

[@cogitae]

Lilo & Stitch has one of the best off-screen romances, if not the most realistic. Nani and David's love story is one of the most bittersweet and lovely relationships and it was a /rare/ case, about an older teenager/young adult who had to give up her dream of becoming a surf champion to raise her enstranged little sister while trying to keep her from child services, and David (hinted to be her rival as well as her best friend) were on an on-off thing where they want to date but he understands she can't because of how much weight she has on her shoulders. And even then, even if he and Nani can't be together, David is there as an older brother/parental figure of sorts to little Lilo and helps Nani to look after her. He literally steps into the guardian role alongside Nani through the movie and the sequels and also in the animated series, and I think that is so sweet because he and Nani bond over Lilo's needs and despite them both being so young, they look after her and enjoy whatever little time they can share alongside her.

[@pillbugm8914]

Lilo and Stitch will always be the superior "sisterhood" movie in my heart.

[@KimMinerLitton]

As a parent, something that has pissed me off about the "Princesses=Bad" discourse is because my son loves princesses and is treated by my woke friends as a precious cinnamon roll (I mean, he is) but if my daughter were to like princesses I'd have to "worry about the messages she's getting." But my son is receiving the same messages but it's okay because he's rejected some gender norms? While Disney is of course not immune to criticism, I've just found the princess hate as yet another way we teach little girls that things they like are "frivolous" and "bad."

[@fossilfighters101]

+

[@Author.Noelle.Alexandria]

My daughter was born in 2009, and was right in the thick of the Princess = BAD, Pink = BAD bullshit. I had people accusing me of forcing pink onto her, forcing princesses onto her, etc. She loved those things on her own. But even girls who liked them on their own were accused of being brainwashed and shamed. No one has a problem if cars and blue are forced onto boys and they’re praised for wokeness if they like pink princesses, but heaven forbid a girl likes wearing pink princess dresses.

[@m.w.3264]

Yeah, it seems like there are some people who have gotten the idea that getting away from the constraints of typical gender roles is really that we just need to completely invert them, instead of doing away with them entirely, rather than a total rejection of the idea that your tastes, interests, job, and basically everything important about you doesn't have anything to do with your gender. Masculinity and femininity are pretty hard to define concepts, but they -definitely- have nothing to do with whether you're into football, knitting, arson, or musical theater.

[@capsjukebox]

What bothers me about the anti-princess stuff is that can’t stuff for kids be for kid’s without adult meta textual garbage getting slathered all over it?

[@KaijaSchmauss]

I couldn't agree more. I was born smack dab in the middle of the Disney Renaissance (1992), and grew up loving Disney princesses. Enough that I had a Mulan backpack when I was in Kindergarten, which I had picked out myself. It had nothing to do with gender stereotypes. I was too young to have any understanding at all about things like that. I just found characters like Ariel and Belle to be relatable and interesting.

[@Hollyberrystreats]

The thing about Frozen's "You can't marry a man you just met" is its so damn dishonest. Anna's a princess! Royals married people they didn't know all the time. ANNA'S ACTUAL JOB IS TO MARRY A STRANGER!

[@kaykeunil]

That’s hilarious I hadn’t even thought of that

[@8bitdiedie]

It’s heavily unlikely that Elsa and Ana’s parents knew each other for that long before marriage too, but the movies don’t criticize their marriage either.

[@Sixty_2]

@@8bitdiedie I don't remember if they visited the Northuldra more than once, but Elsa and Anna's parents became friendly and were literal children when the first met. Royals get married pretty early but not when one of them isn't exactly royal. Excepting some kind of scenario where she ran away and came back years later disguised as a different obscure royalty, they had quite a bit of time to get to know each other.

[@katieowlpower]

the irony there is in Disney's quest to #realism, they accidentally enacted something very unrealistic, since arranged marriages for royalty were just how government functioned. Though arguably one could argue they don't exactly set Frozen in a distinct period, but that's also an argument for the everything-soup of their #realism making no sense.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

There is a difference in context. The country (Microstate? It's never clear.) is not i a position where they need Anna to make a political marriage. If anything, Elsa will be the one arranging a marriage for herself. The queen will vet her sister's prospective partners, but only so far as it relates to Anna's position as the heir in the case Elsa doesn't have children. In this case, Anna is saying she wants to marry a person she just met at a party. Elsa doesn't know who this guy is, or where he came from. Anna only knows the bare minimum - which includes that he's incredibly far down in his own line of succession and thus not an advantageous political union. And he could've lied about that and been Prince Ali-ing it up. It's a very realistic take for Elsa to refuse because there's a difference between "a man she just met" and a completely unverified stranger, which is what we have here. All that aside, Arendell clearly isn't worried about making political unions at the moment. It's not something they need to do as evidenced by Elsa's casual acceptance of Kristoff (a complete peasant) and even their own grandparents' acceptance of their parents' union. Hans needs to use marriage as a political tool and is calculating about his choice. He would've taken either. Anna's circumstances don't have that limit. Marriages of passion did occasionally happen even among the rich.

[@catherinelempke8451]

Literally Ariel's arc is that of a freaking weeb who actually manages to go to Japan and marry for citizenship before her tourist visa expires. Tale as old as time.

[@Jedislayer19]

lmao

[@ZgermanGuy.]

I am for starting a Petition to make this a full animated Disney movie

[@AE-ld9ck]

I laughed too hard at this. Thank you. 😂

[@UOweMe]

YESS

[@FairyGodFather125]

That nearly killed me. So painfully true...

[@effera]

The point about the "heroes" of the story not being the ones the story is actually about can also be applied to The Sleeping Beauty: yes, Aurora "doesn't do shit except for sleeping until her Prince comes to save her", but if you really look into it, Philip is not really that proactive either (he has a song with Aurora, he gets captured, he doesn't do shit until the fairies come to save him, and even his victory against Maleficent is mostly due to the fact that the fairies were backing him). To sum up , the Sleeping Beauty is less about the prince/princess dynamic than about the (petty?) feud between the fairies and Maleficent, and these four *female* characters are actually the ones carrying the entire plot. Also, Sleeping Beauty is one of my favourite Disney coz it's visually a f■cking piece of art, it is one of the most beautiful work made by the studios, I could spend gours just staring at how exquisite every background is 😭

[@alexp.d3689]

thank you for saying that

[@anna02229]

The most memorable thing about rewatching it as an adult was realizing how much the look was inspired by Renaissance art except, like, in a 1950s color palette. And I think you're spot on about the real conflict.

[@magicwandstudio3141]

"To sum up , the Sleeping Beauty is less about the prince/princess dynamic than about the (petty?) feud between the fairies and Maleficent" thats why we called it "Fairy" Tale 😁

[@starryeyes999]

also, sumn i wanna add, sleeping beauty is the most unapologetically princessy princess film

[@saraperpetua1093]

yeah

[@KylieZtv]

Ariel is such an archeologist and I’m sad that the movie glosses over it as the plot focuses more on her and Eric. It’s a given but she literally had a whole song about her passion.

[@joeysingingchannel]

The movie doesn't gloss over it. She visits the bird who gives her (wrong) insights about the artifacts she finds and then later on in the movie she finds out what some of them do when she lives among the humans.

[@sbel6626]

She is still an archeologist and a scientist throughout the movie. She follows the scientific method. Hypothesis: This small trident is for combing your hair Experiment: Comb hair in front of humans and test their reaction Results: Humans laughed at me when I tried to comb hair Conclusion: The small trident is not a comb and my hypothesis has no basis

[@grutarg2938]

I know want to read a journal article by Ariel after her 3 day cultural immersion.

[@fightingfaerie]

@@sbel6626 she does still try to comb her hair with a fork later before bed. But could be they didn't tell her what she was supposed to use instead. Maybe if she saw a comb on her nightstand instead of a brush she might've recognized it. (I believe we see her or her sisters using a comb looking object earlier in the movie. But it looks different, like its make of coral or something)

[@anarlote5658]

@@grutarg2938 Wow that seems like a really cool idea for a novel, where the story could be framed as the anthropological research journal of the little mermaid and told in diary entries, and the last chapter can be the published journal article.

[@leventemucsi9547]

"Mermaids, like the Danish themselves, don't have souls" What did the Danish do to you

[@searchingfororion]

IKR? They're delicious. Especially the ones filled with strawberry and cream.

[@swan7128]

@@searchingfororion oh my god i

[@searchingfororion]

@@swan7128 ?

[@Bucketheadhead]

They didn’t allow me to walk across the road without a green light telling me it’s permitted. Wtf is that about? I’m not American.

[@sionan7937]

@@searchingfororion this comment had me howling 😂😂😂

[@codenamemango9701]

The fact that people latched onto Ursula's manipulative argument that silencing Ariel makes her hotter "The men up there don't like a lot of bather. They think a girl who gossips is a bore."

[@LilyCat2399]

Ikr she's literally the villain. Of course she would say that.

[@sarinabina5487]

@@LilyCat2399 ^^!! this

[@ValenArtsAnimation]

It almost as if Ursula was the villain of the story and the thing she say was meant to be wrong

[@bemusedbandersnatch2069]

I always found that line intriguing. Like how _does_ Ursula know that?

[@swanpride]

Yeah, the point is that she is wrong. She is the villain after all. What is actually happening is that Eric enjoys Ariel outgoing nature, because she is "talking" even without a voice. Nothing about sitting silent in a corner.

[@PureMagic101]

I’m so scared to see how they’re gonna try and girl boss-ify her in the live action remake

[@dleopardxlswondrousmusings9053]

It might leave some speechless.

[@Emily-ye1rj]

Maybe she has an idea for a small business selling artifacts?

[@jonnyboy4289]

Im worried that once they girl boss Ariel in the live action remake, in response to her being a damsil in distress, people will end up loving the remake more the original and the original will be erased, wiped out, abandoned, forgotten, history.

[@PureMagic101]

@@jonnyboy4289 The original story is still remembered and talked about. I’m sure the animated one that holds a staple in the history of animation itself will still be remembered just fine, even if people do end up liking the new one more.

[@dakotamabry1645]

Prince Eric was a far better person and character then the original prince .. the original prince essentially said she was stupid but pretty because she was mute and obsessed over the person who he thought saved him . The prince was an means to an end but its the only person she could get to know , she viewed him as her friend on her quest fir a soul and that's what was really sad

[@JimmieHammel]

My sister identifies with the little mermaid because she uses a wheelchair. For her, Ariel is a symbol of strength in the face of adversity. Ariel goes from legless to voiceless but never gives up on herself.

[@bmwkmx1]

I never considered that. Thanks for the illumination. All best wishes.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@bmwkmx1 Fun Fact: Ariel was originally going to be voiced by Melissa Fahn, but Disney knew that she sounded too young even for Ariel.

[@orangeslash1667]

@Larry Islington I'm not joking. Thats what it was on Disney wiki.

[@orangeslash1667]

@Larry Islington Oh never mind.

[@nmgg6928]

Thats really sweet and a lovely way to look at it

[@butchdeadlift10]

No one really examines Disney movies as art. They examine them as a half remembered dream and a cliff note 30 years out of date and then look back with only confirmation bias for that cynical/nostalgic read.

[@GallowglassVT]

You could say that about animation/formative media in general. Using the things that shaped our identity as younger folks and how they "cause issues" for us as working adults is a great way for those driving la discourse to ignore the systemic issues that actually cause those problems.

[@Firegen1]

Accurate. And a million half assed podcasts vanish like dust in the wind.

[@butchdeadlift10]

@@GallowglassVT "formative media". Love that term. Gonna start using it. Also, I feel Disney as a company gets more flack than its competitors. Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka, and even all the Dr Doolittles get a sense of humor with their critiques while hot garbage like Anastasia, Quest for Camelot, Shark Tale, the minions, and so many get the benifit of being ignored.

[@SpiderandMosquito]

That is honestly the wokest thing I've read about Disney movies and perfectly concise way to sum up the problem with the discourse surrounding them holy shit thank you so much I now can actually "that wholesale if you will allow me because... well yeah I already said the because

[@kostajovanovic3711]

@@butchdeadlift10 Anastasia is hot garbage now?

[@casper3105]

the amount of damage the "buzzfeed girlboss feminism" has caused is unforgivable

[@littlechickeyhudak]

I saw something a while ago talking about how it inadvertently, sort of, kind of but not really but also yes really, caused the alt-right pipeline by giving the Ben Shapiros of the world a way to criticize feminism and paint the entire concept of fighting for equality and civil rights as something that is inherently ridiculous or illogical. I fell into that shit for a while too in high school and I honestly don't think I would've if it wasn't for buzzfeed and their brand of feminism.

[@Spongebrain97]

@@littlechickeyhudak yeah it literally created the red haired pop feminism stereotypes that the right still clings to and bring up in arguments. My response is usually "dude have you actually ever known a feminist like that? Get your head out of 2013".

[@NeoNovastar]

@@littlechickeyhudak exactly same!

[@warishakhan9339]

Feminism is just about equality and giving women choices. But girl boss feminism kind of misses the point

[@ihvojd]

Actually anything Buzzfeed did or still does is cringe worthy

[@YourCreativeDreamer]

1:43 Hmmm interestingly enough, I’d be inclined to argue that it is actually Belle’s resoluteness that changes the Beast- not her sweet nature. She never gives into telling him what he wants to hear or responding the way he would want her to, but rather, she stands her ground until he changes

[@margaretgibbs6673]

Exactly. He learns to respect her as a person before he falls for her.

[@jenlennon6614]

Perhaps its actually both of those things! Her resoluteness combined with her kind nature meant that the Beast had to work more on himself because she wasn't gonna take his shit. Belle had limits and standards and to truly learn how to love her and be with her meant learning to respect those boundaries as well as her autonomy as a thinking feeling human being.

[@animeotaku307]

@@jenlennon6614 This! People bring up Belle refusing to take the blame for Beast’s actions, but I also remember the look on his face when she thanked him for saving her life. You can tell that no one’s ever said anything like that to him before and when he says “you’re welcome,” there’s not a hint of smugness. Just him auto replying while processing this development.

[@thatssohygge]

Every time Lindsay has an excuse to use the "I'm losing to a bird!" clip in a video, a stone gargoyle gets his wings.

[@fossilfighters101]

+

[@Ram-h8dnism]

Ariel is so charming that if it hadn't been for Ursula's interference, she would have completed her contract before the deadline. And that's with no voice.

[@erikabautista7072]

Literally!!

[@ApequH]

She was able to communicate her personality without speaking, and he liked her without the superficial part he was first drawn to (her singing voice)

[@sadtitties222]

So freakin' true! Ursula even had to begrudgingly admit that "Ariel was better than she thought" (after calling her a tramp, lol). Even when she became mute (it would be nice to have a canon mute princess though), Ariel is just too damn charming and cute that no one could resist her, haha.

[@alexcat3121]

In Frozen, the metatextual criticism stuff was a bit awkward, but I think it made sense with Anna's character arc. Being locked up alone in a castle, it is understandable that she would be so excited to meet people that she falls for the first guy she meets, even if they are completely incompatible.

[@PopfulFrost]

Honestly, yeah. Even though the "metatextual" part falls flat, that entire joke still works simply because that's the kind of naive and excitable person she is. She's been isolated from the person she should be closest with, and seeing her latch onto the first person to show *any* interest in her is both comical and sad.

[@cmdrpickles]

@@PopfulFrost The character has a *massive* codependent personality type, it’s no surprise that after years of isolation she latches on to the first person who seems to actually give a damn about her.

[@darkmyro]

@@cmdrpickles Ignoring anna for a moment( but I will come back to it), I feel like the prince kinda comes off one dimensional in Frozen, cause you learn everything he said about himself was a lie and he only wants the crown cause he's the youngest of 7 brothers. I mean anna has character, but Hans is like "evil cause want power, yo" I don't think the sequel fairs much better cause it's basically "Racism is bad" and the characters don't learn that their history was bad until like 2/3rds through the movie so it rushes to the end after the revelation. Like I think the frozen franchise excels more at the character interaction than at the villains. Like I don't feel the villain reveals were bad, but they would have hit so much harder if say Hans would have had a song like " if only someone loved you, but I don't" or something like that. The musical stuff is supposed to heighten the emotion and I feel like that would have been warranted there. You could have easily done something similar in frozen 2 to the bad guy song in Pocahontas where it's about " they're different" or you could have made it about the demons of the past haunting us today. It's a little heavy-handed, but I feel like the songwriters they have for the frozen movie could have come up with something better, and again it's about heightening the emotion. what I'm saying is that while anna is at least fleshed out enough to actually ponder her isolation and how it affected her, You can't really do that with the villains of the frozen films. Idk I feel like an extra few minutes or another song explaining their motivations wouldn't be a bad thing. Heck, the villain songs are usually the best songs in Disney films.

[@michelottens6083]

Yeah the wry meta-jokeys and pop critical theory of current Disney is nothing too special or world-changing, but it works about as well for these princess movies as the saccharine courtly romance did for the older ones, or the "strong female" stuff in the Jasmine/Mulan times. They're hyper-expensive, mass market, infantilized fairy stories, and for that they're mostly remarkably fine. This is not to dismiss them as case studies for serious critical theory.

[@serpentmaster1323]

There are actual attachment disorders like this - when you don’t get enough social experience as a child, you may not be able to tell that you’re nit actually in love. If the media tells you your happily ever after is marriage, that primes you to try to get into even relationships.

[@RobertKoch-rg7iy]

"See mermaids, like the Danish themselves, don't have souls" Jesus Christ, that took me by surprise. Well played, Lindsay.

[@vicbaez]

In highschool a shy meek classmate did a presentation of "why disney princesses are good role models, actually". After highschool he came out, became a beefcake and became the most fabulous person I ever met. I wish I was a as confident as he is.

[@acehealer4212]

Your friend sounds awesome

[@itzelarredondo4569]

I wish him the best

[@KaijaSchmauss]

I hated the "Disney princesses are bad role models, actually" discourse so much at the time, and you perfectly articulated why. To say that Ariel only wanted legs to be with Eric is to completely ignore her "I want" song. The entire point of it was that she wanted to experience life on land because it was fascinating to her. Eric was an accessory to that, at best.

[@swanpride]

I know!!!! Especially since I myself mantain that the Disney princesses are something great. I mean, you can count the movies of other western animation studios which feature a female protagonist on one hand (anime is a different matter). While I am often annoyed about the way the Disney princesses are marketed, the movies itself offer so much more.

[@liliks14]

no , not an accessory , a bonus . remember , Ariel was a dreamer, not a rad fem ;)

[@hello11197]

It goes back to Lindsay’s Twilight video. People just love shitting on everything little girls enjoy.

[@Vexxa_]

i feel like people's criticisms about the films came from fuzzy half-memories impacted by the general attitudes in regards to how the company "disney-fies" fairytales rather than people rewatching things and thinking "oh no" like you would with dumbo

[@thunderbird1921]

I actually think the older princesses are more inspiring than many of the newer ones. They often overcame obstacles by sheer determination and nearly unbreakable spirit, even in the worst of circumstances. The newer ones usually either wrestle their way out of it by fighting or simply rebelling. That's not always possible unfortunately.

[@LordSandwich97]

The thing that makes the Little Mermaid so, so compelling to me, must be the same reason Mary Poppins is: as a kid, I often felt that my dad was too harsh on me and didn't listen. The idea that it's me who would have to be the one to change... I still don't agree with. But to see these dads change, now that's cathartic.

[@christopherbennett5858]

Yeah, the "child who is subjected to parent's wrath for minor things needing to change" always irked me. The parents causing these outbursts realising how awful they've been though, trying to change and, in Triton's case, even subjecting himself to the consequences of the deal because, whilst Ariel signed it, it was his actions that made her swim into Ursula's vicinity,

[@Fesquishety]

I never liked the Little Mermaid much as a kid but I always felt like this too. Understanding that the film is Triton's story and that HE is the one that needs to change really made me appreciate the film more, even if it's not my personal favourite.

[@TheSongwritingCat]

Yes. I do think Ariel has a character arc during the movie and grows more mature as she gets a real taste of consequences. But she just becomes a little more responsible while Triton is the one who has to recognize that he was wrong.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@Fesquishety Ariels apology to triton was going to be slower, but because Katzenberg wanted a climax the apology was rushed.

[@Kfroguar]

The beautiful non-disney animated version shown is a Russian version called Rusalochka (1968) in case anyone else was entranced by it.

[@sweetsnejinka9411]

Yes, thank you!

[@screamingseal1137]

it's gorgeous, i wish more people knew about it

[@MrMuel1205]

I'm only a short way in... but is the hot pop feminist take really boiling down to, "We need more CEOs and less nurses?" Because putting aside feminism for a moment, but it seems to me one of those occupations is useful to society and one isn't. And the useful one ain't the one we pay more.

[@alorapendrak9752]

As someone who's currently working in a nursing home where we are constantly short-staffed this a damaging message, we need people in care professions whether its kitchen labor or nursing because these positions are already looked down upon and the people hired often skip out a week later or four days after their hired because they have its not worth of trying for this mentality.

[@helenanilsson5666]

I think it might be a remnant of the 90s girl power era? Off the top of my head, I recall that the brand of feminism of that era had a lot of focus on girls being allowed to be bossy and "masculine" (but in a sexy way of course). It was rarely about getting boys into the "soft" professions, instead women would gain power by infiltrating the inherently powerful masculine professions.

[@autumnox2174]

"Put aside empathy and accrue capital!" more or less. Healthy!

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

I mean, a CEO is also a little useful. Generally that person does have to take some important decisions for their company.

[@mastermarkus5307]

It's a very neoliberal view of the world: some degree of social progress, but always sticking to capitalism!

[@reed1159]

This. All of this. The only thing that bugged me more about "Little Mermaid Discourse", was the insistence of some people desperately grabbing for hot takes that, "Ursula was good actually! She made a deal with Ariel and gave her a chance! Ariel was in the wrong!" While completely ignoring that in the text of the story, Ursula CHEATED. After seeing that Eric is able to fall in love with Ariel despite losing her voice, she deliberately sabogages them and uses Ariel's voice to trick Eric. But I guess we need to justify our like for villains somehow, because if we like someone in media who is "bad" we must also be bad.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah. As much as people bring up the "why didn't Ariel just write" angle, she did a damn good job anyway. She would have won the bet easily, if Ursula hadn't gone all out in trying to sabotage her. And, of course, it wasn't about Ariel either way - it was about getting leverage over Triton. Ursula cheats specifically because Ariel was far more competent than she'd expected.

[@melvv18]

Also Ursula, set her up for failure. Her intend was to get to Triton by using Ariel.

[@skibobshipoddlypop]

She should've won in my book, Ursula as the hot brunette woman laughing maniacally to her own reflection in the mirror and desecrating images of angels is like my dream woman

[@taiasoncole8148]

Same with the Gaston discourse about how he was actually the "good guy"

[@TheSongwritingCat]

@@skibobshipoddlypop Yeah, Vanessa is iconic.

[@lamefoxlass7803]

In Cinderella’s defense, it was a “come have a chance to marry this goddamn prince” ball. Marriage was the point of the thing.

[@shinylilfish]

Although, it seems like she wanted to go to be a part of the family, and have a good time.

[@blablablubb7623]

Also, it's not like her situation could get worse. She had the choice between staying in an abusive houshold or marrying a rich stranger that actually seems like a decent enough guy who wants her around badly enough that he personally visits every woman in the kingdom. So like, the prince was her first way out in a long time and even if he isn't as great as she thinks he will probably be better than the alternative

[@alexp.d3689]

Not really ,Cinderella tells us to be hopeful even if at times it seems impossible ,take chances and every opportunity that gets presented to us ... The whole thing with the prince was incidental .She went to the ball for a night of fun ,since it could might as well be her only chance at seeing the palace in person ... The lack of independents that the character has is do to the psychological manipulation she suffered as a child at the hands of lady Tremain ... It was either be a servant ooooor starve on the street ... In Cinderella context matters ... the core premise of the tale is rooted in a no longer existing reality ... Back in the day servants were forced to obey their masters and had no agency over their own lives,and fairy tales were influenced by the eras in which they were writen in ... To make Cinderella a 21th Century tale it's extremely difficult and most modern re-tellings have her being sassy and outspoken towards her stepfamilly which combined with the modern setting and her outspoken personality makes her look dumb for staying there ... Juxtaposed to her having low self-esteem and being completely dependent on the step mother after having suffered many years of psychological and maybe even physical abuse ... Those who complain about her not escaping the stepmother's grasp are ignorant and blame a victim of abuse for not standing up for her self while completely ignoring all the psychological factors at play ... Yes ,it's a fairy tale ,but there is a reason as to why it has stood the test of time ...

[@Antifearn]

She just wanted to go to the ball as a brief escape from her toxic step family. Because she was still diligent and warm-hearted for so many years, she deserved to live someplace where she felt loved and could be a literal princess. Cinderella had little desire to marry a prince in the beginning.

[@lunav8026]

The Take did a really good video analyzing cinderella from a feminist lent.

[@kyokisaru]

"I wish they taught shopping in school!" is frowned at by Lisa but honestly, is a valid thing they should be teaching. At least in regards to making financially responsible choices/money management and credit card use etc.

[@MechanicWolf85]

You don't need a specific class for that, hell there's a lot of KZbin videos that can do that, also doesn't like collage teach that already?

[@kyokisaru]

@@MechanicWolf85 There wasn't anything like that when I was in school and so what if there's online information? It's clear that not enough people look into it so it'd probably be more productive to have a structured class on the topics while people are in school. There's a lot of other life lessons they should be teaching too.

[@c6q3a24]

@@kyokisaru Budgeting and household economics is literally just very basic math.

[@kyokisaru]

@@c6q3a24 But in a specific context and people's minds tend to complicate it since it, y'know, involves money vs just math concepts. So teaching it in the right context helps people understand and apply it more accurately.

[@Mintpepperoni]

In the context of that Simpsons episode I think the audience is supposed to understand that "shopping" = "a mindless consumer activity" in that line, hence why Lisa frowns. In the 90s, there were classes under the name "home economics" or similar, that taught about money management and the like, I think those types classes are still around today but under different names.

[@kirstenirwin9084]

I feel like the remake is going to take away everything that makes Ariel interesting to make her perfect and boring. It's like women in Disney now can't have any flaws or show any emotions beyond smiling.

[@jonnyboy4289]

Oh really. I was concerned that the remake would surpass the original and the remake will replace the original and the original will be forgotten because of the critisims the film has been gaining over the years and I was worried the remake would fix these problems.

[@milksweet6038]

I gave up on the remake when they cast Melissa McCarthy instead of a drag queen for Ursula 😂

[@sbel6626]

@@milksweet6038 Should have been Patrick Starr

[@hello11197]

It makes me appreciate Sofia Coppola more and more. She had movies where the characters were lost, vulnerable, confused, scared, everything. She made movies where you saw yourself, not just a bunch of girl bosses.

[@perpecedecelequex]

@@jonnyboy4289 It doesn't have to surpass the original to replace the original, nostalgia will do that. If children's first exposure to the tale is a remake then that will become their "original", and the "original" is most of the time if not always regarded as the best. It's happened with tons of remakes throughout the years.

[@rileypickett778]

That meme claiming Belle's asset is only her sexuality when the ENTIRE POINT THEY KEPT HAMMERING THROUGH THE VERY FIRST SONG IN THE FILM was that she was a brilliant, clever mind in a misogynistic town that WANTED to reduce her to only her beauty made my brain hurt. The Beast wasn't even smitten with her beauty like the rest were, he just saw her as a way to break his curse but then falls in love with who she is as a person. Those are the type of "hard-hitting" and "snappy" braindead critiques that can only come from the very same dense and shallow pool of people the film was making fun of, and naturally and completely in character, the point flew past them at mach speed. Anyway, glad to see you back at it. You're one of the very few content makers that I actively look forward to hearing you spill your thoughts on anything for hours.

[@kstar1489]

Yeah it’s ironic that a lot of the criticism of these films for being sexist often came from very sexist places

[@fightingfaerie]

He does say "She's so beautiful" but really only to compare to himself: "And I'm a monster." so how what a long shot he thought it would be for her to fall in love with him. Then of course he gets to know the brains behind the beauty and falls in love with that.

[@MarzipanCat.]

Well there is a difference between what a movie wants to be and the messages it actually conveys, and we shouldn't deny that there are many problems with the movie. For example, when Belle and the Beast meet, everything suddenly becomes about how the Beast can get the girl and the characters are concerned if it will be possible for Belle to love the Beast - and it is never once questioned if the Beast would be able to fall in love with Belle, never, even though they didn't know anything about her at the beginning and the Beast's inability to love is his main character flaw and the very thing that got him cursed in the first place. And let's not forget the curse goes two ways: It's not enough for someone to love him, he must love that person as well. This is also striking as Belle is clearly able to form meaningful relationships and everyone in the castle knows this, or else she would not have sacrificed herself for her father. Why is no one concerned if the Beast will find it in him to love Belle and why is everyone concerned about Belle perhaps not falling in love with the Beast? Beeeecause she is pretty and he is ugly. The Beast even says it himself: "It's no use. She's so beautiful, and I'm so... Well, look at me" lol. And none of the characters oppose this, even though they are framed as knowledgeable in matters of love, they hold the Beast accountable for Belle's behsvior towards him and tell him he needs to make her look past his appearance.

[@flamemasterelan]

@@MarzipanCat. Because whether or not the Beast can grow to love her doesn't matter for their circumstances. The curse that turned him into a beast and all his servants into furniture doesn't care if he falls in love. Their salvation comes with Belle's feelings. For that matter, it doesn't really matter for the audience. Belle is portrayed as the total package - beautiful, smart, kind, and compassionate. The Beast is portrayed as being at the lowest point he could be. He doesn't have his good looks to fall back on, his castle has long since fallen into disrepair and he's given up hope. The question isn't "will the Beast fall in love," that's a given. The question is how the Beast will win Belle's heart when he seems to have so little to offer.

[@JesseColton]

The queer-coded villains montage didn't include "See how I glitter" 😭😭

[@Darlos9D]

We see it. We see it in our hearts.

[@closetmonstar]

UNACCEPTABLE.

[@Eviltwin531]

There's a Legally Blonde "is he gay or European" joke I can make here, but I can't quite put it together.

[@Eris_Norregard]

@@Eviltwin531 Wait, what was the context of that sentence? Who said it to whom? I haven't seen Legally Blonde in years :D

[@Eviltwin531]

@@Eris_Norregard It was from the Broadway musical. The scene in the courtroom where Elle realizes the pool boy's lying about having an affair with Brooke to frame her because he's gay. It got expanded into a musical number debating whether the traits that made her think that were because he was... well, gay or European. There's a recording of it on here somewhere (it's really charmingly silly.)

[@xenotundra3346]

I love that tiana, moana, mulan, repunzel and merida are just conveniently out of shot for the 'neither do we'

[@jbvader721]

Merida: "That's me mother! She a bear! The trailer was very misleading!"

[@whatzittooya8976]

​@jbvader721 "Eye came eer lookin' for justice! Instead, Eye foun' treachery! Prepare yurself foh WUUUAAARRHGH!!"

[@i.7525]

wait fr merida's entire movie is about the mother-daughter relationship....

[@wallacewizard3934]

The dejected, "fuck-it-whatever" tone of this vid is just such a vibe.

[@skyboxmagee8038]

truth

[@Ganychan]

"Something something noun modifier... feminism"

[@nightowlanna1069]

+

[@Carewolf]

Unfortunately combined with being really wrong, I was wondering if she was being sarcastic through most of the video.

[@wallacewizard3934]

@@Carewolf yo u gon elaborate on that?

[@fran4636]

I think they kind of hinted at giving Eric more of a personality with him being a prince, literally the heir to all kinds of land, but wanting to be a sailor. The whole “you need to stop being a second rate sailor and focus on your land and people,” combo with Ariel deserting her kingdom to be on land. It was kind of almost there.

[@siarlotlloyd9416]

I like the theory hes a retired adventurer dnd style XD

[@TheTentacledMenace]

The 2000s backlash informed a lot of my “not like other girls” attitude I had as a young girl, and I’m so disappointed by myself that I fell in that stupid trap instead of just embracing the camp and unabashed femininity. Also thank you for the “everyone in the ocean can come!” That was great thank you.

[@stephanieleblond3495]

i was like that too. i mean my idol was avril lavigne so it tells a lot...lool (not that there is anything wrong with avril lavigne ).

[@wiktoriakos2597]

Don't be ashamed that society told us that femininity was bad and we won't be valued as women, as who we are, unless we become one of the boys.

[@arigadatred5395]

As much as I'm glad o t h e r g i r l s can feel more comfortable with femininity nowadays, it always makes me feel a little more alone every time I read a comment like this. Your femininity may have caused you some pain, but it ultimately was what was expected of you. It's what's expected of me, too, but unlike you, I don't actually want to be that way. Everyone saying they realized they actually like femininity grows a seed of doubt in my mind about who I am. Maybe I actually just want to look down on other people. Maybe I do like pink, and skirts, and boys. _Other girls_ seem to, after all. So these movies still make me uncomfortable. Maybe feminine women don't notice, because they're fine where they are. I'm glad for them, but maybe they shouldn't be the only ones to determine when something is wrong. It seems like all this "not like other girls" discourse ignores that the "other girls" _are actually the more privileged party in the situation._ I hope all girls can have solidarity with one another, and stop worrying about all this. Anyway, sorry for this long comment you didn't ask for. Just needed to put it somewhere, I guess. Have a good one.

[@wiktoriakos2597]

@@arigadatred5395 We are young and is a major part of growing up, I still don't know who I truly am. And do not feel ashamed of who you are, fem or not you are valid and amazing. Take care of yourself ❤️

[@morganwegner7303]

@@arigadatred5395 I hear you, but also, as a girl who is also not very feminine, part of the problem with the "not like other girls" narrative for me is that it inherently defines "girls" as "feminine" when in reality, MOST girls don't perfectly conform to the ideals of femininity. Gender is complicated and very few people express it in identical ways, even when they share a gender category. Even girls who do have traditionally feminine aesthetics often diverge in other ways (hobbies, taste in media, sexuality, etc.). Are all of those girls also "not like the other girls"? Who are these "other girls" none of us are like? And what is this weird definition of "girls" that excludes so many girls? Basically, "not like other girls" defines "girls" too narrowly. It prevents you from understanding women as individuals rather than archetypes -- yourself included. You don't have to like pink or skirts or boys to be a girl. Lots of girls like these things, and lots of girls do not like these things. All of them are girls, and all of them have taken way too much shit for what they do and do not like. The way I see it, I am a girl; I am not particularly feminine; therefore, girls aren't inherently feminine. I do not have to conform to any definition of "girl" -- the definition has to include me, or else it's an incorrect definition. And there are plenty of other girls like me.

[@goobholder]

The mention of "bob the builder" is also really weird in that article. Bob the builder is not a big time billionaire CEO? He's got a trade job and works for a living like teachers and nurses do. It's such a weird correlation and the ideology behind it shows that class is not being considered in favor of some shriveled up and outdated non-intersectional feminism

[@UnisRapper]

No no you dont get it! Bob the builder is clearly a feminist Icon and if more women simply watched it the less sexism there will be!!!!

[@dhsf5937]

I remember that he is only a ordinary builder.

[@Kfroguar]

I had never realized Bob the Builder was British, don't know how I didn't pick up on that as a kid.

[@Andrani]

I think the only Disney princess with even a ROUGH time frame for marriage was Princess Jasmine and Aladdin - They went through three movies and an entire TV show before they got married, and that was even a line in the opening song OF the third movie - "We're finally getting married!" and other people going "They're finally getting married!" - Literally several real-world years between the end of the first movie and the start of the third. Which was also the heaviest subversion of "Married so fast!", because they also showed their relationship further develop over the show. Also, Princess Jasmine was definitely not a Damsel in Distress in any of it, which somehow critics of the "Waiting for a man to save me" thing also missed. (Heck, she kicked off the cross-over OF their plots by sneaking out of the palace in the first place, she has agency in her own story in a hell of a way matched by few other princesses - Mulan and Merida come to mind as the closest to the same level of self-agency I see in Jasmine)

[@Starfire861]

There’s also Rapunzel and Eugene! The movie implied it took a lot of asking before they got married, and the show expanded on this even further. They were a couple for at least a year before getting engaged, and they both tried to propose several times before they found the right moment.

[@claragrica]

Some times I think people want something too obivous, too literal... I rewatch Alladdin recently and there is such a subtile part that shows how Jasmine is independent that is when Alladin is putting a board so she could walk through the other side and she sundelly jumps there the same way he did. All the time it is shown how she is capable of the same things as Alladdin and she gets really mad at him when she discovers that he thinks that can fool her. What else do you need if the story is not about her actually, you know? People want a lousy song, not good scenes, is that it? All those shots showing how smart, athletic and brave she is are not enough?

[@ArmednotTriggered]

@@Starfire861 Rapunzel and Eugene have a ton of relationship growth in the series too.

[@Kahtisemo]

@@claragrica Adding to that, I love how when Aladdin first describes Jasmine to Genie, he starts with her being funny and smart and beauty only came up when Genie suggested it. And while she is pretty, the thing that first caught his attention about her was her hood fell and he can see her headpiece. And while he was taken by her beauty that jewel is probably what alerted him that she was someone who didn't go there often and rushed in to protect her, but it only seems once they started going through the back alleys and he admits she seemed kind of helpless, I think that point of her making the jump to show she can keep up with him is when he started to open up to her as someone who might understand him. And she may have just been impressed at first, but when they were at his place and it struck her that he could relate to her on some strange level, was when she let her guard down. But even then, she didn't go all in like he did, she tested him a bit at the palace even though she seemed to recognize early on he was the boy from the market. There's a slow mutual respect between them that's built over time and I love them. ❤

[@pedroxqui]

Yeah, Ariel's "I want" song is about living in the land... the hot prince is just a bonus

[@liltiger3]

Eric is a goal in line with what she's wanted all along. Hell it's not even because of Eric that she goes to Ursula, it's her abusive father destroying everything she holds dear that drives her into the arms of the sea witch.

[@julydaydreamer404]

@@liltiger3 Exactly! She is in love with Eric, but when Flounder shows her the statue, she goes daydreaming about meeting him, etc, but not making an effort to do so. Just after her father destroys her collection, she is sad and the eels take advantage of that to bring her to Úrsula. You can even say that the reason why she goes along in the first place is more to piss off her father!

[@VidWatcher01]

I people that all the time when they claim she changed for Eric.🤦🏿‍♀️

[@otterzrkuhl]

For real! She never even mentions Eric or falling in love in the song.

[@GeneralKenobi75]

Ariel is basically an amateur anthropologist. She collects and studies items from other cultures and wants to get to know the people from them better.

[@BigBossBernie]

That's how you spot quality journalism: "All Disney princesses are either captive or in a coma, waiting for a prince to save them". Which applies to Aurora, who was cursed with eternal slumber until pure love saves her and Rapunzel, who was kidnapped by a witch. Ariel was neither kidnapped nor comatose, her deal with the devil a form of rebellion against her father (the patriarchy); Aladdin's Jasmin also questioned her father insisting on her marrying a prince (rebellion against caste system). Belle, not even a real princess, sacrificed herself for her father and Mulan proved that women can be soldiers as well. Disney princesses did just fine as symbols for self agency until Disney decided to cash in by revising, redconning and reinterpreting them.

[@Jim4815162342]

Snow White was also in a coma, but yeah. It's weird to think of how much they spaced out princesses before the Disney Renaissance, and how few there really were. Snow White in the late '30s, Cinderella and Sleepy Beauty in the '50s, Maid Marian (if you want to count her) in '73, Black Cauldron maybe (I didn't see it), then Little Mermaid. They doubled the number of princesses in their line between 1989 and 1999. Which reminds me, why is Kida never included in the Disney princess lineup?

[@LokiWyrm]

@@Jim4815162342 she’s not included because her movie wasn’t financially successful enough. The line up is exclusively the made the mouse enough money crowd

[@bpsara]

@@Jim4815162342 Atlantis didn't make as much money as they wanted at the time or something like that. Who knows what other reasons there could've been tho

[@Dachusblot]

But that doesn't even apply to Rapunzel either. Yeah she was captured in a tower, but she wasn't "waiting for a man to save her." She already wanted to leave, and it just so happened that Eugene showing up was the inciting incident that made her finally go for it. So... basically like the Ariel situation again where she already wanted to become human way before meeting Eric.

[@appelofdoom8211]

@@Dachusblot Also remember she knocked Eugene the fuck out and basically makes him take her to the lantern festival as a guide. Pretty sure that's the opposite of waiting for a prince to save you.

[@Rakso5809]

The original had nothing to do with feminism. It was Anderson telling his own story. He was in love with another guy who choose to stay closeted and have a straight marriage and rejected him, but he let it go, didn't expose his crush as gay but wished him well on his wedding day, and lived as a lonely single gay guy till he died, pining for his love who had chosen a life in hiding. That's why they had to move the statue of the little mermaid away from shore, it was constantly vandalized by homophobes after the truth about Anderson's sexual orientation and the meaning of the little mermaid came out when Anderson's personal letters got published.

[@mikakestudios5891]

"We got married too quickly "? Just how long do people think it takes to organize a royal state wedding....

[@katie7748]

I should not have had to scroll this far to find this comment holy shit

[@severussnape8040]

Let alone the courtship procedure.

[@superlolgal555]

Commenting on this comment for the comment algorithm.

[@professorbutters5201]

In a fairy tale? About a day. Look, that's the way it works in fairy tales. You can just go along for the ride and enjoy it. You don't have to retcon it. That's sort of the point.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@CJCroen1393 Maybe there was a time skip when Triton gave Ariel legs????

[@kaylarosemary936]

"just wait until the forest animals unionize" OH GOD that would be such a good horror fic

[@JM-gd3hr]

The Birds...and the insects and rodents and canids and felines and amphibians and reptiles, etc.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

They call a general strike until their demands are met

[@riley8385]

Horror for Disney, at least. Full support to our furry comrades.

[@crayonburry]

Who will be the class traitors among the animals? I’d very much like to know

[@DahVoozel]

Creatures small and trodden, the Woodland Alliance calls you to REVOLT!

[@zsofiaznajkay5208]

It's a revelation to me that it's Triton who goes through the arc of the movie, for more than one reason. 1. Ursula even says this in the third act- to Ariel. Something along the lines of "it's not you I'm after. I have bigger fish to fry" or something like that. Basically stating that I'm not really your antagonist, and this is not really your story. 2. The 'animal sidekick' thing- you know, animal sidekicks representing some aspect of the character's inner being- your analysis made me realize that Flounder is Ariel's animal sidekick, and Sebastian, the more active one, who actually does things, and goes through a journey, and changes his mind in the third act is Triton's animal sidekick. He sends him after Ariel. In a way, he represents Triton throughout all of the movie when he is not around. And at the end he is the one telling Triton that he always said that kids should be free to do what they want, or something like that.

[@zsofiaznajkay5208]

also: Sebastian is Triton's court composer and conductor. He is supposed to compose the music to the glory of Triton's reign- and Ariel is supposed to use her voice in that. And instead of doing that, she gives it up to join that other world she wants to be a part of.

[@jaclynfairhead5848]

Wow I love this insight!!

[@123Yellowberry123]

@@zsofiaznajkay5208 Damn, that's deep

[@auldthymer]

I've always love Flounder muttering "I'm not a guppy."

[@PeterDancer1]

You said that Ariel doesn’t have the hero’s moment of hesitation before embarking on her journey, but she does. Ariel does have a moment of hesitation before she embarks on the hero’s journey proper, she hesitates to consider the fact that she’ll never see here friends or family again.

[@jbvader721]

And if I recall correctly she at first refuses Flotsam and Jetsom's offer to see Ursula after Triton destroys her collection. But after some well timed symbolism (a piece of the Eric statue), she changes her mind.

[@GotFridged]

Death, taxes, Lindsey plugging the "I'm losing to a bird" line in every damned video. And I'm here for it.

[@NINI-xc6my]

im actually convinced that she starts her creative process with this clip and builts the video around it.

[@victorianmelodrama]

Thank you for making this video! I am so tired of these lazy pop-feminist hot takes that blame Disney movies for patriarchy. It's not like misogyny is reinforced throughout a woman's life by, I don't know, friends, family, social media, music, and "grown-up" movies.

[@briannalee1998]

Omg yes! Plus people like Disney because the movies were made with heart, soul, and stories that resonated with people. The older Disney movies became mythology and that’s why children love them and why they stick with people as adults.

[@vanessachloe8323]

Yes I can like disney princesses and be a girl boss, the two arent mutually exclusive ideas And when I earnt the money to go on an extended overseas trip, which I paid for with my girl boss dollars, I did in fact make a stop at disney land and I saw the princesses in real life as an adult... and even took photos with them

[@pocketsizeforyourtravelcon3325]

Fun fact: Ursula in the Latin American Spanish version of The Little Mermaid is voiced by an actual drag queen named Serena Olvido. Edited to include Spanish after Latin American for clarification

[@K-kandyRoseYT]

This made Ursula 10 times better for me!

[@ludvigrasmusen2722]

Spanish Latin American version*

[@justpotato8119]

WHAT? I had no idea thats awesome!

[@pocketsizeforyourtravelcon3325]

@@ludvigrasmusen2722 correct, I will edit to clarify. Thank you!

[@anyjen]

I love her version of Ursula even better than the original. It's amazing.

[@Ailacatailu]

I read the original Hans Christian Anderson story and was surprised with how inspiring it was. The mermaid and the prince are very clearly an abusive relationship. He literally is described as treating her like a little pet. She follows him voicelessly until her bare feet are soaked in blood, leaving bloody tracks that the Prince doesn’t even notice. In the end, she lets him go to marry another girl and she turns to sea foam. I thought that was the end, but she then meets a bunch of other spirits and she travels around the world as a spirit, doing good deeds for 300 years until she is immortal. As a woman who escaped an abusive relationship and has been treated very much as a sex pet, I loved the story and found it inspiring.

[@nrauschermusic]

It’s really hard to put into words how much I love Lindsey’s essays. The research, the different framing devices, the analysis, the delivery, the editing, and the humor is all so damn good. So many writers try to use the lens of the world to understand art but Lindsey uses the art as a lens to understand the world and I think that’s what sets her apart and makes her and her work so wonderful.

[@blarg2429]

Well said.

[@Phryxil]

Hard to put into words, but you captured exactly what I wanted to say. Thanks.

[@liltiger3]

The loss of the Disney Villain over the past decade really is awful. Ursula, Scar, Hades, etc. are just as iconic if not more so than the protagonists in those movies and add such a fun element to the films. Hopefully Disney one day goes back to them, it's been over a decade since Tangled and Mother Gothel graced our screens.

[@directorforplastic7929]

I know this technically doesn’t count as he only has one scene, but I feel like Tamatoa from Moana is the closest we’ve gotten in the past few years.

[@BigAmericanGirlFan]

It says something that the MCU gave us our first real glimpse of the return of the classic Disney villian with Agatha Harkness even if she was technically a twist villian (At least, her personality remained in tact before and after the twist unlike some others)

[@acecat2798]

Dr. Facilier probably had the last true banger of a villain song, but Mother Gothel had some of the best subtle menace. ~Don't forget it! You'll regret it...~ and saying "I love you most" to Rapunzel's _hair_ are such good, chilling details.

[@DuelaDent52]

Robohand from Spies in Disguise was surprisingly great, but that was only Disney by technicality.

[@annejeppesen160]

😳 it's been a decade??) I feel old, very old

[@themaazmaaz]

The betrayal in Frozen was actually really important to me and I think it sends a good message. In children's media, a false love out for personal gain is usually made obvious to even young viewers, showing them cackle as they narrate their selfish interests from the first moment they were introduced. Frozen illustrated for millions of young girls that a partner can seem perfect and like a whirlwind true love that transcends all, but when you are at your weakest they exploit you worse than your worst enemy. Abusive relationships are very common. So many kids are indoctrinated with this notion that the heart knows best, trust that starcrossed true love, but it's that attitude that often keeps people in violent and dangerous relationships because they still love their partners. It teaches that love can cause you to overlook the warning signs and make you vulnerable.

[@TheKingNaesala]

I'd be in complete agreement if Hans had had more development/signs/etc. to frame what was going on. Sure, people can reveal who they are at the last second, but that doesn't make for a compelling narrative. It's very clear Elsa was the villain, and then they rewrote her to a misunderstood protagonist and had to come up with a villain. I think it would have also helped that scene if her later savior wasn't Olaf, who doesn't really understand that he's making a sacrifice, and instead had been Weasleton. He's jokingly, obviously referred as villainous and silly to start, but he's after their wealth. If he had saved her and been like "I have no desire for you to die! ...you're one of our best trading partners" or something it would have cemented a lesson of not making judgement calls based on initial appearances, which ties in to Elsa's main struggle.

[@obiwankenobi9141]

I think the problem with Hans was (though I do agree with that message) he seems like he was just turned into a villain just so the writers could get their “appearances can be deceiving” message across (and so they could have a 3rd act surprise villain) it never seemed like he was supposed to be the villain.

[@caoisekamay1175]

@@TheKingNaesala I used to disagree with people who made that criticism of Hans needing more development, until I read a book called "A Frozen Heart" by Elizabeth Rudnick that's basically a novelization of the movie published by Disney, except it's told from the alternating perspectives of Anna and Hans. In the book, we get to see Hans' perspective as a neglected child in his Kingdom and how it parallels with Anna's experience. In the beginning he isn't even framed as a villain, just an entirely sympathetic person. But over the course of the story, we see how corrupted he gets by his desire to not just escape his home kingdom, but to rule another one. His fall is also more impactful when juxtaposed with Anna's storyline. They started at similar points, but his story is about his heart getting colder, while hers is about her heart learning how to love. That book is MUCH better than the movie, and it made me realise how much the film suffered from wanting a twist villain. If they had developed Anna and Hans with equal importance from the beginning, Frozen could have been the greatest Disney movie ever.

[@A2forty]

I would be fine with the Hans turn if Kristoff wasn't there. I dislike the troll song because the ending is tricking someone into marriage. I dislike that Kristoff is set up as a counter to Hans. However this does not distract from the message of familial and friendships being true love. It is not Hans that is the problem but the very milquetoast and obvious love interest Kristoff. Edit because I am an idiot lol.

[@anarchomando7707]

@@caoisekamay1175 neat

[@broadway331]

There was a TikTok pointing out that Ariel hits a lot of the hallmarks of ADHD, especially in girls. As a woman newly diagnosed with ADHD, I definitely see it and why I liked Ariel as a child. Vivid daydreaming, collecting stuff, hyper fixation, forgetting important events, a lot of it is there.

[@fiercearmadillo6850]

Whoa. Mind blown.

[@PunchandJewelee90]

As someone who has ADHD (and is even named ariel lmao) I can definitely see your point!

[@saraperpetua1093]

uu

[@BB-ed4om]

As a human with arthritis of the spine, it’s easy to see that she exhibits these symptoms with the way her spine actually mutates into a fin at the waist which is very flexible. All too common with spinal arthritis.

[@UsulPrincess]

I am African American. I cannot stand how Tiana is “not like all the other princesses.” She was Girl Boss tokenized; Ambitious ✅ Socioeconomically disadvantaged ✅ No nonsense and boring ✅ NOT lovesick ✅ Workaholic ✅ I didn’t want that. I wanted her to be like Lottie. Even she has a character arc of sorts. Forced to work to the point she has no identity outside of that damn restaurant. With complete indifference towards Naveen-A glorified bum who got promoted to hired help in her restaurant. This steals the “magic” from kids. Which makes for an underwhelming film. I just wanted a fantasy like the rest of the traditional princesses.

[@Rikrobat]

It’s a shame too because you see that sense of whimsy in Tiana-she tries believing in the hope of wishing on a star. But the logic council keeps appearing to tell her “wishing on stars isn’t real; this isn’t for you,” which isn’t a good message to offer. Why can’t Tiana have that sense of hope and magic too? Thank you for sharing this interpretation-I hadn’t considered it before. I hope you still have that whimsy.

[@Igorcastrochucre]

It's weird that the lesson she has to learn is not hustle and stop to smell the roses, while in a narrative where she is actively punished for not working to the bone, until she lucks out with a prince and an aligator bodyguard.

[@k.morningstar7983]

something more like *Moana* would have felt a lot better. certainly entertaining, at least. it is insulting that Tiana is the most boring of the canonized "princesses"

[@ktownshutdown21]

They were so scared of fucking up the first black Disney princess that they threw in EVERY "positive trait" they could, but even then still ended up sidelining her in her own movie, because it's Naveen that really has the character arc and the personal connection to the villain. Even Mama Odie's song is kinda funny since that spells out the themes of the movie, but then when it gets to Tiana it's like "...yeah...um...well...so what your character needs to learn is...", as if even they knew that this character felt out of place in this story, LOL.

[@RyanStorey1231]

And the whole "first black Disney princess" thing is undermined by the fact that she's a frog for 90% of the movie.

[@ComedyPAB]

"Mermaids, like the Danish themselves, don't have souls." Fantastic.

[@TheGadgetPanda]

I believe this was established at the first Council of Nicea in 325 ad. It's been a central tenet of Christian theology ever since. On the whole, Danes take a quiet pride in their soulless nature.

[@Laslus_]

me, brazilian, thinking: "I cant believe turkey has it but we dont." Lindsay: "I know brazilians, i know" I FELT SEEN

[@roreah]

Let's start a "Lindsay Ellis" Orkut community. It's the most brazillian way to interact with her

[@JacquelineViana]

Sad and Brazilian

[@carmenzubiate6866]

I was like: OMG LINDSAY NOTICE USSSSSSSS. PS: using a meme from Brazil really warmed my heart

[@enzoaugusto1577]

É agora que a gente diz "BR PORRA"

[@cuppiesaur]

SIM!!!

[@glitchwalker5422]

I went into this thinking how sexist The Little Mermaid was. I came out close to tears remembering, as a kid, I related to her more than any of the male characters in any other Disney film.

[@SamRandolph]

Me too... She was always my favorite. Remembering the scene where her dad destroys her collection always makes me want to cry. >_

[@RemeberChester]

I think it was Geena Davis who said that she didn't banned her kids from watching the Disney Princesses' films, instead, she watched with them and asked them questions about what they were seeing, like why do you think she decided to do that?, etc. And I honestly love that approach, you teach kids to think critically, sympathize with the character, and understand the story better. It is so easy to critique the princesses through this meta-lazy- pop femenist-lens and not thinking of them a an element from pieces of art that have context and subtext. It is incredibly insulting for people to think that girls will only get the "men=happiness" message out of these movies and therefore ruin their lives, when in reality what they like are the princesses themselves and their personalities, I know I did when I was younger.

[@otterzrkuhl]

I think Kristen Bell does that too. And I agree it’s a good approach to let kids think while still enjoying a movie.

[@sarahwilton4754]

“Mermaids, like the Danish, do not have souls.” - Lindsay Ellis, 2021

[@cliffarroyo9554]

But... she's right. Have you ever seen a Danish soul? I rest my case.

[@sandpap3r]

There are only two things I can't stand in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures... and the Dutch.

[@BelenSophie]

💀

[@RapidCityJM]

Can confirm

[@peema10]

I can only speculate as to what drove that but perhaps she has Hamlet PTSD.

[@jackbyrley6441]

"little girls pretend to be nurses while their brothers pretend to be bob the builder" Uhhhh do they know what nurses make compared to construction workers???

[@themysteriousone33]

Yeah, don't nurses make an exponential amount more than construction workers? I was confused by this too.

[@sbel6626]

Also why the fuck is it a bad thing to want to be a nurse?! It’s not like nurses have been especially important these last few years OH WAIT

[@Samantha_yyz]

Or the years of schooling and everything! And then if they become a nurse practitioner!! But nope, that's just caregiver work and it's doesn't deserve respect >...........>

[@8181k]

And it's not like there's a chronic shortage of nurses in pretty much every nation on earth.

[@jameswaldron5320]

@@themysteriousone33 lol not in the UK. Nurses are very underpaid and builders/tradies get paid extremely well!

[@mitchelle.3559]

"Ariel is the reason for the wage gap." And the cut to '🎶I want more🎶' Has me rolling omg