I have loved Disney’s The Little Mermaid for as long as I can remember. I loved the music, the characters, and the story. Part of Your World is still my go-to Disney karaoke song. I became especially sentimentally attached to The Little Mermaid at age nine, during my tomboy phase, after my great-aunt Debra gave me a Little Mermaid diary. She said that it reminded her of me because I had red hair, loved to sing, and wanted to be something I wasn’t (again, tomboy phase). I love the childhood nostalgia I experience when I watch The Little Mermaid, now as an adult. But, as an adult, I’ve noticed a few things about the film that I hadn’t during my childhood. And I have to admit that I am disappointed with some of the messages, the parenting, and the horrible logic occasionally demonstrated by the characters.
The following is an example of poor parenting and poor logic taken from a scene at the end of the film, right before King Triton restores Ariel to a human form to be reunited with Prince Eric. I have recorded what is actually said in the scene, and in italics I have included how I interpret some of those lines when they are spoken.
King Triton: She really does love him, doesn’t she, Sebastian?
She really is infatuated with him, isn’t she, Sebastian?
Sebastian: Well, it’s like I always say, your majesty; children got to be free to lead their own lives.
Well, it’s like I am about to say for the first time, your majesty; teenagers with little life experience and who prove their lack of good judgment by selling their voice and soul to a witch in order to physically changes their bodies for a chance at attracting a man she has never met, should be free to make their own choices. Sure, if you hadn’t gotten involved she’d be a sea slug in the witch’s lair or the entire ocean could belong to someone evil. But, hey, let her make her own choices.
King Triton: You, always say that?
Sebastian: <looks charming>
King Triton: Well then, I guess there’s just one problem left.
Well, if I am to use the same caliber of logic as everyone else, then I ought to assume that infatuation is love, and consent to what my 16 year-old daughter wants rather than consider what is in her best interest. But there is still one drawback that I’m willing to admit to.
Sebastian: And what’s that, your majesty?
King Triton: How much I’m going to miss her.
I am going miss my teenaged daughter after I change her into another species, send her off to marry a stranger I know virtually nothing about (and with whom she has never had a spoken conversation), especially since I will probably never get to see her again since we will live in different ecosystems.
Is it just me, or is King Triton not thinking this through very well?
It is interesting to consider how at the beginning of the film, King Triton’s disciplinary style was rather harsh. Okay, extremely harsh. He yelled at her and destroyed all of her valuables. His parenting style in that exchange could be characterized as authoritarian (high control, low warmth).
However, by the end of the movie, as illustrated in the scene transcribed above, his parenting style has changed to be permissive (low control, high warmth), authoritarianism’s opposite. Neither style is particularly healthy. According to research, children benefit most from parents who are authoritative. In this style, a parent has a high level of control, alongside a high level of warmth.
It is reasonable that King Triton, after recognizing that his authoritarian approach elicited rebellion and acting out, would want to change his strategy. And logically, he would want to do the opposite of what had failed. Unfortunately, he still wasn’t acting in the better interest of his child.
Think about it. He just changed his sixteen-year-old daughter’s physical appearance and gave her his blessing to leave home and marry someone that she met three days ago and has never even had a real conversation with. This is not healthy parenting behavior.
Similarly, many parents make the error of acting opposite of something that they know didn’t work–perhaps it didn’t work with another child, or perhaps it was hurtful to them when their parents used a particular parenting strategy or style with them. So they swing from one extreme end of the pendulum to the other. They wisely avoid doing what they understand doesn’t work, but end up inflicting a different flavor of hurtfulness by going too far in the opposite direction. There is a need for wisdom and balance, rather than reactive, oppositional, or guilt-driven responses.
I realize that it would have made for a lame ending to the movie, but it would have been better parenting if King Triton and Ariel had had a heart-to-heart conversation and if there had been consequences associated with her reckless behavior. Those consequences should not have been destructive to her property or their relationship as was the case in his earlier reaction. But to have no boundaries leads to no safety.
Take-away lessons:
- Don’t adopt a parenting strategy of “always do the exact opposite of what hasn’t worked”
- Strive to be an authoritative parent.
- If your sixteen-year-old wants to marry an older man she just met, don’t finance and host a wedding the next day and then send them off to live on the moon. It’s not good parenting, no matter what Disney movies might say. Just because something makes a good story, doesn’t mean it leads to a happy ending.
Waxing Strong 
Keep in mind that Eric was 18 years old, and by the end of the film, he proved that he was indeed a worthy partner for Ariel. He was not some “older guy”; I understand why you would say that given that he looked much older than 18; he looks nearly 30.
Also, this story takes place hundreds of years ago and back then, a 16-year-old was seen as more or less an adult by society. Modern society sees them as children and the legal adult age is set at 18. But even if you look at it from a modern perspective, 16-year-olds are incredibly close to being declared legal adults, and in 2 years, they will be able to marry whomever they want without parental consent.
As for King Triton pendulum swing, he did consider his daughter’s best interest and yes, Eric was indeed a suitable partner. He was a gentleman, and despite being 18 years old, he looks and behaves much older; one does not get the impression that he is only 18. He is extremely mature, kind, and levelheaded, completely different from most modern 18-year-olds.
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