I won’t front, The Little Mermaid was my favorite movie as a child. As soon as I saw Ariel in that purple-shell bikini, I was hooked. Hell, I even had a Little Mermaid iPod case for a while. But, I eventually fell out of love with Ariel and nearly forgot about the entire movie. That is, until I saw this pop up on my Twitter feed this morning:
I can’t stand for this. “Kiss the Girl” is a classic Disney ballad that has inspired boys of all ages to gather the courage necessary to, well, kiss the girl. Cancel culture has gone too far. It’s one thing to cancel Joe Rogan or J.K. Rowling, but to cancel “Kiss the Girl” is the same as canceling the confidence of every prepubescent boy right before their first smooch. How could you cancel something as innocent as that? Sure, I’m a little biased as I stated earlier, but this song has been so clearly overanalyzed. I understand trying to shake things up a bit for the remake, but The Little Mermaid is such a quintessential Disney film that it probably isn’t wise to veer too far from the path.
Will I be watching this new Little Mermaid? Yes. Will I leave the theater in protest as soon as “Kiss the Girl” begins? 100% yes. Even though Disney has been a little too snowflakey for my liking, I will always stand by my one true love: Ariel. Remember, no matter what anyone says, don’t be scared, go on and kiss the girl.
