Actress and singer Paloma Faith, best known for her work in the show Pennyworth, lambasted Disney’s live-action remake of their beloved animated classic The Little Mermaid, charging it teaches women a bad lesson in dependency.
In a now-deleted Instagram post Metro caught with a screenshot, the English performer said The Little Mermaid teaches young girls to give everything up for a man.
“As a mother of girls I don’t want my kids to think it’s ok to give up your entire voice and your powers to love a man,” Faith said. “WTF is this shit. Not what I want to be teaching next gen women at all.”
Faith did, however, praise actress/singer Halle Bailey for her performance as Ariel.
English entertainer Paloma Faith performs on stage during the Coronation Concert on May 07, 2023 in Windsor, England. (Chris Jackson/Getty)
“I think Halle gives a good performance and it’s great casting,” Faith said.
As most of America already knows, The Little Mermaid tells the story of the teenage mermaid Ariel and her desire to become fully human after falling in love with a handsome prince.
When her father protests and forbids Ariel from ever becoming human, she turns to the sea witch, Ursula (played in the film by Melissa McCarthy), who then makes a Faustian deal with Ariel to make her a human so long as she can win the prince’s heart in just three days and if she gives up her voice forever.
Similar to criticisms of Belle in Beauty and the Beast, feminists have long expressed displeasure with The Little Mermaid, arguing it sends mixed messages about female empowerment.
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 6, 2023
Somewhat recognizing this, Disney attempted to quell some of the potential woke backlash to the live-action remake by issuing politically correct changes to the songs “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”
“Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid will woke-ify the songs ‘Kiss the Girl’ and ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ in an attempt to make the numbers more feminist and #MeToo friendly,” Breitbart News reported.
Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken told Vanity Fair that the changes were to correspond with people’s modern sensitivities.
“There are some lyric changes in ‘Kiss the Girl’ because people have gotten very sensitive about the idea that [Prince Eric] would, in any way, force himself on [Ariel],” Menken said.
“We have some revisions in ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ regarding lines that might make young girls somehow feel that they shouldn’t speak out of turn, even though Ursula is clearly manipulating Ariel to give up her voice,” he added.
When updating ‘The Little Mermaid’ for today’s audiences, there were a few songs that needed a revamp.
“There are some lyric changes in “Kiss the Girl,” Alan Menken tells VF. “We have some revisions in “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” https://t.co/X0YPyjjeUA
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) March 31, 2023
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.