Malcolm Gladwell Takes Down “The Little Mermaid” | Revisionist History

Malcolm Gladwell is taking down “The Little Mermaid” in a 3-part series on his podcast Revisionist History... whether these girls like it or not.
Don't miss Brit Marling, Jodie Foster, Dax Shepard, and Glenn Close in Malcolm Gladwell's reimagined ending to the Disney classic only on Revisionist History: podcasts.pushkin.fm/revisionis...
CREDITS
Produced by: Ghost Robot (ghostrobot.com/)
Director + Editor - Alex Markman
Writer - Mark DePace
Cinematographer - Sam Wootton
Executive Producer + 1st Assistant Director - Kacie Barton
Producer - Sarah Nadeau
Production Manager - Dan Fabi
Sound Mixer - Daniel Sheppard
Swing - Filipp Penson
Hair + Makeup - Jamie Bednarchick
Prop Styling - Jenna Ipcar, Justin Medley
Camera Op - Alex Markman
Production Assistant - Lucrezia Alcorn
Color Grade - Benny Karas
Sound Mix & Music - Andrew Ben Miller
Players
Malcolm Gladwell
Naomi Burgess
Cora Dallas
Madylan Hong
Ellery Marmur
Ayla Rahim
Merrill Schaefer
Dan Fabi as the Intern
ABOUT MALCOLM GLADWELL
Malcolm Gladwell is president and co-founder of Pushkin Industries. He is a journalist, a speaker, and the author of six New York Times bestsellers including The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, David and Goliath, and Talking to Strangers. He has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996. He is a trustee of the Surgo Foundation and currently serves on the board of the RAND Corporation.
ABOUT REVISIONIST HISTORY
Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.
Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past-an event, a person, an idea, even a song-and asks whether we got it right the first time.
ABOUT PUSHKIN INDUSTRIES
Pushkin Industries is an audio production company dedicated to creating premium content in a collaborative environment. Co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg in 2018, Pushkin has launched seven new shows into the top 10 on Apple Podcasts (Against the Rules, The Happiness Lab, Solvable, Cautionary Tales, Deep Cover, The Last Archive, and Lost Hills), in addition to producing the hugely successful Revisionist History. Pushkin’s growing audiobook catalogue includes includes the bestselling biography “Fauci,” by Michael Specter, “Hasta La Vista, America,” Kurt Andersen’s parody Trump farewell speech performed by Alec Baldwin, "Takeover" by Noah Feldman, and “Talking to Strangers,” from Pushkin co-founder Malcolm Gladwell. Pushkin is dedicated to producing audio in any format that challenges listeners and inspires curiosity and joy.
STAY CONNECTED
Twitter: / pushkinpods
Instagram: / pushkinpods
Facebook: / pushkinpods
Website: www.pushkin.fm/

[@shelterit]

Just listened to the podcast episodes on this, man, sitting here crying! Thanks, Malcolm, beautifully done and long overdue. And I LOVE Britt Marling, what an incredible surprise! What a stellar cast! I'm overwhelmed and grateful, just had to send a little thanks your way...

[@BubbleGumzKorner]

I've been waiting for this for months. He said awhile ago he dedicated 3 whole episodes to this subject.

[@M3ta1]

Lol Malcom Gladwell should consider a career in comedy bc he's quite funny in these types of situations.

[@pippigreenheart]

Just listened to the final episode. I feel the tears coming. You are the best, Malcolm!

[@beethovensfidelio]

“Never seen ‘Silence of the Lambs’?” 😂

[@GrammarMamma]

Look, kids… there’s a very serious issue that we need to discuss right now. this is so good!

[@Lexifer54]

Hahaha I love this. Why is this so hilarious to me? The way you feel strongly about the Little Mermaid, I have problems with The Princess and the Frog.

[@aliceang6380]

I love this so much!!

[@JakeLuke308]

That was awesome!

[@ibh1001]

Brilliant!

[@scurvyelephant333]

Is that the Swindled guy at the end??

[@mikethimmesch8716]

Malcolm trying his best to break the Stockholm Syndrome and these girls aren't having it

[@andrewsmithingell6730]

Hilarious premise, perhaps on par with Drunk History?

[@M.OK138]

Holy crap this is so exciting

[@diegobarrazas]

Hahah amazing!!

[@JJW410]

Malcolm does comedy pretty well, this was fantastic!

[@coquitlamfalcons3976]

Bravo! Bravo!

[@rogerpatry5167]

That was fun

[@dirkrossey558]

no comment

[@ossapinhosfazemhumah]

thats a comment

[@PushkinPods]

Malcolm Gladwell is taking down “The Little Mermaid” in a 3-part series on his podcast Revisionist History: podcasts.pushkin.fm/revisionist-history-lm3?sid=yt

[@mikegreville6567]

nice!

[@unclegeorge7845]

Not quite David and the big guy but still fun.

[@pamelapark202]

Absolutely hysterical! I laughed til I cried!

[@Satan-Christ]

Ursula is an unappreciated anti-hero. I brought this up to an 18yr old the other day. I was asking them what their favorite movie was and if they had ever thought deeper on the plot. Their pick was little mermaid. I took them on a mental ride and inverted the narrative. Little mermaid is one of my favorites to invert!

[@lesliehahn4056]

Mr.G. May be your best yet.

[@EdgarTheMexican]

"Look Mr. G..." Can we just have fun and enjoy a movie, why do we have to cancel everything due to serious overthinking Hahaha

[@VictoriousByDivineRight]

Logics real father

[@beethovensfidelio]

THANK YOU! The problem is that the film starts out with Ariel being curious and interested about the human world, but then all that gets shafted once Ariel falls in love with Eric, as if to say pursuing romance is more important than pursuing knowledge. To quote Gaston, *”It’s not right for a woman to read. Soon, she starts getting ideas, thinking…”* Why couldn’t Ariel have knowledge AND a rich husband? I wish the film had Ariel really applying her knowledge about the human world and asking questions to get some answers. Sure, she got to explore Eric’s kingdom and learned that people operate puppets with their hands, BUT that sequence lasts only a minute, and the rest of the movie is more devoted to getting true love’s kiss. Maybe instead of the sequel having Ariel be a hypocritical mother who prevents her daughter Melody from exploring the ocean and embracing her mermaid heritage, they should’ve focused on Ariel exploring and learning during her honeymoon with Eric because you never stop learning. Heck, Eric should’ve loaned Ariel his library. At least the TV series rectified this issue by having Ariel be more exploratory and actually applying her “knowledge” about the human world. Ariel’s “I Want” song is called “Part of THAT World”, and her reprise is called “Part of YOUR World” (the latter in which refers to her desire to be with Prince Eric). Sure, Ariel always wanted to be human prior to being with Prince Eric, but, if it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have gone to Ursula, so I think that’s why people tend to say “She gave it all up for a man” because the movie seems to base her desires all around HIM. Eric may have been the inciting incident, but to say that her desire to go on land wasn’t in anyway shape or form motivated by Eric, even a bissel, is intellectually dishonest. This blog article pretty much sums up my thoughts: bibliophilesreverie.com/2014/03/16/unadulterated-rant-sunday-disney-edition-why-i-think-the-little-mermaid-is-anti-feministanti-humanist/

[@robertsullivan4773]

The girls were adorable 😍 💕 💖

[@devonboutwell4756]

Your care for animals is a dumpster fire. Betta fish (Siamese fighting fish) need proper filtration and heat to survive properly. Having the betta fish in those conditions teaches these kids (and everyone else) animal cruelty is ok. Also, having those ragged rocks in the bowl will inevitably tear the fishes delicate fins, leading to infection. Animals are not a prop, sir.

[@yestheycan]

😂

[@ibibiotoiayinklee3480]

Lol

[@brucestaples4510]

Four down. How old are these kids, and was this scripted?

[@L33PL4Y]

It's very obviously scripted.

[@lucimarapacheco5076]

Love Revisionist History, but they destroyed Ariel's story here. She didn't become weak when she transformed herself into a human. She is the bravest princess, she left her world and everything she knew, she is an explorer, she is learning the ways of a new culture and risked everything to follow her heart. Ursula is a despicable witch who exploits people's weaknesses to steal their souls and make them slaves so she can keep doing her magic and gain power to her own benefit. Everyone is warned about her, and they look for her because they want an easy fix for their trouble. Even if she (Ursula) could one day become good, she wouldn't change from one second to the other. Then you forgive her for everything she has done without any consequence and or repair, giving a pass to anyone who wants to do bad, and then justify their behavior by becoming a victim of society. Little Mermaid is not perfect, but inspires us to explore, to lean on new ideas, and world views, and to get out of our safety nests. It challenges pre-concepts and teaches us to fight for what we think is right and keep questioning the law. Laws are also imperfect and not always fair. I also loved that in her most vulnerable moment, Ariel had her friends to count on and despite her lack of skills or her voice, she figured out a way to make it into the ship and save her beloved prince from Ursula. Lastly, Ariel's father reconsidered all his judgment and hate towards humans to see his daughter happy and their love united two completely different group of people.

[@ChemaGonzalez43]

Sad to see Malcolm appears to be taking a left turn.

[@L33PL4Y]

Break your binary political ideals. The world is much bigger than that.