From: dan@churchy.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Dan Parmenter)
Subject: Re: The Little Mermaid #4: Submerged in Horror
Organization: /home/fsg/dan/.organization
	<56474@cup.portal.com><DAN.92Apr3144443@wombat.gnu.ai.mit.edu>
	<57078@cup.portal.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 22:10:33 GMT

In article <57078@cup.portal.com> Peter_A_David@cup.portal.com writes:

>   The conclusions that academics came up with for "Mermaid?"  Oh, that it was
>   misogynist.  That Ursula suffered from penis envy for Triton, symbolized by
>   the sceptre.  That Ursula's hangout was designed to look like a womb and
>   Ariel was symbolically seeking out a mother figure.  That the movie implied
>   that women are nothing but sexual figures or dangerous.  That sort of thing

Hmm, not at all my interpretation of the subtext.  

My interpretation was along the lines that Ariel's desire to become
human was tantamount to say, undergoing cosmetic surgery to resemble a
WASP.  An old theme in children's stories, the desirability of
changing races.  In Hugh Lofting's first "Dr. Dolitle" stories,
"Prince Bumpo" predated Michael Jackson by years by undergoing a
treatment to make him white, and thus resembling the prince in the
fairy stories he loved so; however, in the original version of "Little
Mermaid", the princess sufferred terrible consequences for her
decision, and the moral of the story (as dramatized by that wonderful
old Japanese Little Mermaid cartoon which stuck to the original)
seemed to be that changing races was generally a poor idea, even for
love. 

The Disney version shortchanged that message - Ariel suffered only the
loss of her voice, and ultimately triumphed over that.  No sea foam
for this chick of the sea.  Sadly, the Disney versions of fairytales
and children's books, no matter how good they are (Snow White and
Pinnochio are among the finest achievements in all of animation) seem
to eclipse the interpretations of others, and in the case of Little
Mermaid, the new version of the story completely changes the meaning
of the old version, which survived for however long it did.  Of course
change is an inevitable part of the folk process, but it seems sad
that the prevailing story aesthetic is the Disney version, where
stories cannot end tragically.  That Disney aesthetic is now sealed in
the hearts and minds of little girls everywhere, and perhaps shall
continue to be for generations to come.  The precedent is depressing,
it's only thanks to Shelly Duvall that anyone remembers alternate
versions of "Snow White" etc.  But at least with Disney's "Snow
White", the alterations were all done within a superior aesthetic
sense (perhaps Disney's own - the current Disney aesthetic is a
perversion of Disney's own already occasionally fascistic worldview).
The changes made sense, the meaning of the story survived.  Even
"Beauty and the Beast" triumphs in this regard, as it maintains the
essence of the original story, and actually manages to enhance aspects
of it, while remaining true to the story and even to preceding
film versions.  B&B will not replace people's memories of other
versions, it is a welcome addition to the canon.  "Little Mermaid" on
the other hand is a cultural bulldozer, erasing all other versions.

Jorge Luis Borges wrote a wonderful story called  _Tlon, Uqbar,
Orbius, Tertias_ about a mysterious book of the history of an
alternate earth that slowly but surely begins to enter people's
memories so that they start belieing in the fake version of their
world over the real version.  The Disney vision seems to sometimes do
that, at every level, from the sanitized theme-park versions of world
and domestic cultures and pre-selected "photo opportunities" to the
way they make movies and used to make comics (I admit, they've
seemingly improved vaguely in the comics department, and no, I don't
necessarily buy all of what Ariel Dorfman said in his Marxist account
of disney Comics _How to Read Donald Duck_, but he had a few points,
and he grudgingly admired Barks, so hey!).

And if I hear "Under the Sea" one more time, I may well commence that
Tri-state Killing Spree.

Anyway, I don't intend this as any criticism of any of your
associations to "The Little Mermaid".  And I admit, some of these
interpretations are a case of "reading too much into something", but
there's something to be said for finding subtexts and getting into
some of the unconscious symbolism that seem to just cry out in Disney
movies. 

- Dan

--
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| Dan Parmenter       |"When I saw you, you looked so surprised           |
|                     | the oceans flowed in your blue-grey eyes.         |
|                     | We stood and gazed through hot summer days,       |
| dan@gnu.ai.mit.edu  | so tell me, how does it feel?" - Spacemen 3       |
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