Oct 22, 2025
I had already thought about this a while ago, but the main reason a character like Ariel is highly criticized is the fact that she is a teenage character at her core. Every single thing about Ariel screams the teen experience, including the desire to be seen and treated as a capable being and not just a poor little child. The movie itself brings this up at several points. If there is one thing people absolutely HATE to see is teens actually ask to be treated with the same respect they would if they were an adult. The filmmakers watched dozens of teen media for a reason. They wanted to depict how society treats teenagers and how they feel.
#ariel#disney#the little mermaid#meta#disney meta#fiction#media#txt#people making fun of ariel for saying “i'm 16 years old. i'm not a child anymore!” prove why teenagers feel the way that they feel#the “sexism” component is secondary tbh. the main reason is her being one of the most teen characters disney has ever created#people always shit on anything teens like but not adults#if you notice there are other disney women who do similar stuff as disney but they are NOWHERE near as criticized#like you got tiana being willing to leave everything behind for naveen as a freaking frog or jane leaving her home to be with tarzan in the#middle of the jungle or megara literally dying for hercules. all of them do similar crazy shit as ariel yet none are anywhere near as#criticized because they are seen as more mature. ursula herself is proof of that#people rarely talk shit about ursula in fact people congratulate her on being ambitious and strong-willed but ariel??? oh nononono#had ariel been more mature (literally and figuratively) people would have been more understanding of her#i know the primary issue isn't gender because the same criticisms thrown at her are thrown at anakin as well#who has been called a bratty whiny aggressive bitch who deserved nothing goof#good**#and why? because he actually behaved like a teenager. he was dealing with the same bullshit as ariel: NOT being listened to#now luke gets away because of his development in the original trilogy but people forget what a whiny mf he was#that's why she says DAUGHTERS why she says bright YOUNG women. she is referring to girls like HER#all teenaged girls who have ever felt misunderstood and overprotected by their parents
