SUNDAY, JULY 07, 2024
Esmina Martins
Penned by the Dutch writer Hans Christian Anderson and originally titled as ‘Den lille havfrue’, ‘The Little Mermaid’ that we know today was wildly different to what the movie had portrayed it as. Flounder and Sebastian both did not appear in the original and the little mermaid’s father had not forbade her to go to the surface. In fact, it was a tradition for every mermaid that had come of age to visit the surface once every 365 days before returning. Another little detail about the original fairytale is that the prince ‘did not love the little mermaid romantically but instead he loved her as he would love a little child, but it never came into his head to make her his wife’.
There is a lot of details absent in the film; the feeling of knives cutting up the little mermaid’s feet with each step she took; the fact that she lost her tongue, not her voice; that her appearance never mentioned red hair; and that, at the end of the day, the fairytale was indeed meant for children despite its ‘dark’ themes. The real objective of ‘The Little Mermaid’ was for the protagonist (who’s name was never given in the book) to recieve an immortal soul. Mermaids became sea foam upon death but human beings had souls that lived on and this is what she truly desired. Her love for the prince, though real, was not the only reason she wanted to be human—something that Disney did not incorporate into the adaptation.
Likewise, Mulan was an animated film that got adapted from the legend of Hua Mulan who was the focus of the poem, ‘The Ballad of Mulan’ that also recieved a lot of international acclaim but, in China itself, the film wasn’t as appreciated. The live action subsequently flopped across audiences. Disney has a habit to repeat this method, having borrowed from the Grimm’s fairytales and also from real historical figures such as Pocahontas which did not bode well among more pedantic consumers.
After it’s publishing, ‘Den Lille Havfrue’ received all sorts of criticism; some due to the fact that it did not end in tragedy and some because the little mermaid didn’t get happily married to the prince. The animated film, in contrast, was very positively accepted but still came with its own fair share of criticism. In 2018, new criticism for it cropped up due to increasing feminist awareness and the implication that giving up your voice for a man to reach a happyending would be harmful to young girls shared by popular stars like Keira Knightley and Mindy Kaling.
Disney classics are some of the few book to movie adaptations that actually did well, despite borrowing tales from history to create the Disney princess phenomenon; The live actions that followed—not so much. Before the release of ‘The Little Mermaid 2023’, the Lion King had been criticised for its CGI and inability to embody the expressive facial expressions supplied by the cartoon version.
“I feel like so many authors with amazing stories and they are beating the the same dead horse for the 10th time. I already know the story and they don’t even change anything to make it their own. The Little Mermaid was average too,” remarks 24-year-old Dielle Lobo from Aldona. On finding out about the criticism of Halle Bailey, she replied, “I liked her. She’s the only part of the movie I liked. Her look, her acting, her vibe and voice were all perfect. There were many other things worth criticising about, in my opinion.”
Reviews for “The Little Mermaid” in Goa’s Inox theatres are mainly negative criticism from anonymous contributors. Some reviewers claim to have not watched the film but have reviewed it for one star on the sole dissatisfaction of the casting of Halle Bailey as she does not imbue the original Ariel by not having the iconic red hair.
The director of the 2023 film adaptation, Rob Marshall, had given his statement that he chose Halle Bailey for her exquisite singing voice and her ability to embody the character best out of everyone that auditioned.
“A lot of book to movie adaptations don’t do well, but this time, it’s not because of that. I think there’s backlash about picking a person of colour for the main character and I think that’s not valid. She’s a mermaid. Her skin colour doesn’t matter for the story,” 25 year-old Sinead Vaz comments. Originally from Taleigao, she is currently finshing up her master’s in film studies in Amsterdam. “But I do think that Divine, the drag queen who Ursula was based on, should’ve had more homage paid them. I do understand that it’s disney and they toe the line of keeping everyone as an audience, but Divine was the inspiration for Ursula.”
While Melisa McCarthy herself was free of criticism, her make-up artist was crticised for diluting the iconic drag make-up that inspired the character of Ursula in the first place. “The make-up artist was not queer but most importantly, they didn’t understand the importance and history of drag make-up. These movies are just money-making ventures and it’s Disney—their budget’s massive. It’s a lot of new-age tech and I appreciate that, but this remaking era is something I don’t appreciate because it mainly banks on nostalgia and not on what people actually want.” Sinead also adds that, despite all that, she is still excited about the upcoming Barbie movie.
“Almost every scene had this dynamic panning camera work kind of overused but since it’s a fantasy movie with a lot of CGI with amazing visuals, it works I guess,” says 22 year-old Saurabh Sangodkar from Porvorim, having done a BFA and specialised in film making (audio visual). “But when you have seen something, you have certain expectations from the adaptation. You are not always happy about the changes, regardless of its actual impact on the outcome. Of course, there are people out there who dont take it well, but I think the criticism the movie is getting for starring black mermaid is because of that. Maybe if the whole thing was a new movie entirely, then it would have been more successful, like they did for Spider-Man with Miles Morales.”
