Re: Authenticity (Patreon)

There seems to be many critical discussions on Disney's Little Mermaid (2023) (not the original animation, but a live action film) noting that its "Woke" re-interpretations (whatever they are) contradict what they expect out of a Disney fairy tale female protagonist.

However, this point actually reminded me of the sense of wrongness when I (as a young kid) watched the initial animated version, which was caused from the fact that the 1989 movie has serious reinterpretation of its own, mostly relating to how the story ends. As many of the wise audience know, the real Andersen fairy tale had a gloomy and somewhat fatalist ending, where Ariel couldn't win the heart of her Prince and thus must perish. She was given her last chance for survival (i.e. if she stabs and kills the Prince she lives...what??), which she obviously hesitated to carry out, and the rest is history.

So in my view the recent argument on authenticity falls short, and even more, it should be noted that Hans Christian Andersen was a...(continues)