The Invisible Narrative of Ariel

WALT DISNEY

Disney Movies play a huge roll in many people's lives. Disney Movies usually keeps us entertained and fills our lives with joy. Also the audience that Disney mostly implies there movies to are to children. The movies keep the children happy and wanting to be like the characters in the film.

In addition, The characters that are In Disney Movies are usually portrayed to be innocent. But, in many movies made by Disney, the characters demeanor and characteristics present a hidden role, which is not seen by children or maybe even adults. The behavior and characteristics of the Disney characters include implicit stereotypes of gender and race where it may contribute to an individual's perspective on the world.

The Disney Movie that will be the focus of this Article is "The Little Mermaid." The Little Mermaid's characters have stereotypes that are embedded in them, that many people may or may not see. Usually the audience of Disney is children, so they are not to fond to stereotypes.  The stereotypes that are embedded in the characters are

Racial, gender, and social stereotypes. Each and every one of those stereotypes is implanted in the main character Ariel.

Ariel, a mermaid, is a reflection of the many stereotypes. Ariel is the princess, which is known to be beautiful due to her long silky hair, huge colored eyes, red lips, and a tiny nose. Also she has a slim body and overemphasized breast, which we depict in our society of being beautiful. These represented attributes are a cliché to beauty.

Ursula and Ariel

Even more, the physical aspects seem to be really important, which is shown when Ariel meets Ursula, the evil witch. Ursula is dark skinned, ugly, and fat. They make the evil character have negative characteristics that aren’t viewed as beautiful. This creates a racial stereotype where Ariel is viewed as beautiful because her skin tone is white, compared to Ursula as ugly because her skin tone is of color. This is profoundly racist and this is viewed to children. This depicts their views in our world at a young age. Children are introduced to racism without them even knowing, and I could say adults as well. These statements and physical appearances of Ariel seem to teach young children that she is the definition of beautiful. So, what if an individual does not have any of those aspects of “beauty?” Then that individual will feel like they are not beautiful, it will cause her to have many psychological emotions about themselves. A child who watches this may even prioritize their physical aspects as a proposition.

Moreover, Ariel then disrespects her father and gives up her voice to become human, so she can be with an attractive man. This act during the movie signifies the importance of how this can mirror gender roles to objectify females. Ariel sacrifices the respect for her father, her voice, and her being a mermaid, to just be with a man. This is totally objectifying women and clearly giving manthe power to change woman in any way. She changes her whole life around for aman, which portrays that she is lower than him.

Furthermore, the act of Ariel persuades the audience of the youth to believe that making huge sacrifices for love is allowable. Ariel has the aspects and characteristics of many invisible narratives that we may not see, unless we have the knowledge of it or we focus on her physical appearance.  Ariel is a stereotype of race, gender, and social norms. She makes herself as a woman to be inferior to men.

With that being said, there are invisible narratives everywhere, just make sure your child is not viewing them or they may embed themselves in that norm.