I just don’t see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad. –Ariel (Little Mermaid)

It seems that whenever Disney pops up in my posts it’s so that I can tear the corporation apart. Believe me, I love myself some Disney (I was basically raised on it), but every so often I realize that some of their messages are a tad questionable. There are tons of blogs and videos explaining that it creates unrealistic expectations of love for young girls and then of course, there is the overwhelming representation of broken households, but few stop and look at the lyrics of the well-loved classics. Don’t get me wrong, the songs are fabulous and deserve every award they have received (I even own the Disney Greatest Hits volumes 1, 2, and 3). It hasn’t been till recently that I have actually started looking at the messages within the lyrics (thanks to @disneywords). And despite their uplifting and inspiring nature, sometimes Disney is just plain wrong.

Let’s correct Miss Ariel. Sorry, Honey, but plenty of places that make good things are bad and bad for you. Take China for example. They make almost everything you buy – that’s pretty good – but, then again, they’re constantly a military threat. #2: The people that do the advertising for the Dove Campaign for True Beauty could be considered good people, promoting real beauty of all shapes and sizes. However, the agency also does ads for Axe for Men which promotes the objectification of women. Finally, Roman Polanski makes wonderful films – award winning films – but he is no longer allowed in the United States due to his questionable activity with a young woman.

Looking back on my small list, I realize I probably picked the most egregious examples to attack little miss Ariel. I just wanted to point out that she is naive. Then again, I guess Disney likes to celebrate that sort of idealist youth who believes in the good in everyone. That’s pretty cool. But Ariel would have kept her voice a little longer had she known the truth.