"[Beauty] is a sacred thing...only rarely does an evil soul dwell in a beautiful body, and so outward beauty is a true sign of inner goodness....it can be said that in some manner the good and the beautiful are identical, especially in the human body. And the proximate cause of physical beauty is, in my opinion, beauty of the soul." -Baldassare Castiglione, as quoted by Nancy Etcoff, p. 41
For some reason, this quote brought my mind directly to the use of beauty in Disney movies--particularly The Little Mermaid. This might have to do with the fact that my hair hasn't been cut in 2 years and people are constantly referring to me as a mermaid, but I digress. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel is both extremely beautiful and extremely kind.
All of her aquatic friends (especially Sebastian and Flounder) find her to be completely irresistible--they're even willing to back her in singalongs. She fits every aspect of Castiglione's definition of inner and outer beauty; and while we may never know which form of beauty developed first, we can say with much certainty that Ariel is both kind and attractive. Her glowing personality and looks also help to support Etcoff's ideas regarding beauty and favoritism--despite her slightly rebellious tendencies, Ariel is treated very well by her father, her siblings, and her community.
On the other hand, the villain, Ursula, confuses these ideas. In her natural form, she does nothing but support "Beauty as Bait": she is ugly from every angle. While she is admired by her eel minions, no one else wants anything to do with her. In fact, King Triton h
ad her banned from the mermaid community and she was forced to live in a cave away from everyone else. She is evil and conniving and will do anything to gain for herself. However, once Ursula carries out her evil plot, stealing Ariel's voice and changing herself into a human, she instantly gains likability. Even though her human form reveals her snootiness, she could absolutely be considered beautiful and Prince Eric decides to marry her immediately. [Side note--th
e blog where I found the image of Ursula in human form: "First of all, I don't understand why Ursula doesn't always look like this. It would be a lot easier to dupe "poor unfortunate souls" into surrendering their freewill if you had beauty on your side. People are sideswiped by pretty-faced snakes."] She uses a bit of a spell to seal the deal, but her beauty absolutely played a role in her "getting the guy." This also supports Etcoff's idea that beautiful people are much more likely to get away with bad behavior--Prince Eric's dog notices that something is off, but Prince Eric is too entranced to pick up on it.
The Little Mermaid isn't the only Disney film that doesn't play into the "beautiful=good, ugly=bad" concept, but it certainly is an obvious demonstration. The Little Mermaid gives us a little something to think about. And in the animated underwater world, looks certainly do matter.
All of her aquatic friends (especially Sebastian and Flounder) find her to be completely irresistible--they're even willing to back her in singalongs. She fits every aspect of Castiglione's definition of inner and outer beauty; and while we may never know which form of beauty developed first, we can say with much certainty that Ariel is both kind and attractive. Her glowing personality and looks also help to support Etcoff's ideas regarding beauty and favoritism--despite her slightly rebellious tendencies, Ariel is treated very well by her father, her siblings, and her community.On the other hand, the villain, Ursula, confuses these ideas. In her natural form, she does nothing but support "Beauty as Bait": she is ugly from every angle. While she is admired by her eel minions, no one else wants anything to do with her. In fact, King Triton h
ad her banned from the mermaid community and she was forced to live in a cave away from everyone else. She is evil and conniving and will do anything to gain for herself. However, once Ursula carries out her evil plot, stealing Ariel's voice and changing herself into a human, she instantly gains likability. Even though her human form reveals her snootiness, she could absolutely be considered beautiful and Prince Eric decides to marry her immediately. [Side note--the blog where I found the image of Ursula in human form: "First of all, I don't understand why Ursula doesn't always look like this. It would be a lot easier to dupe "poor unfortunate souls" into surrendering their freewill if you had beauty on your side. People are sideswiped by pretty-faced snakes."] She uses a bit of a spell to seal the deal, but her beauty absolutely played a role in her "getting the guy." This also supports Etcoff's idea that beautiful people are much more likely to get away with bad behavior--Prince Eric's dog notices that something is off, but Prince Eric is too entranced to pick up on it.The Little Mermaid isn't the only Disney film that doesn't play into the "beautiful=good, ugly=bad" concept, but it certainly is an obvious demonstration. The Little Mermaid gives us a little something to think about. And in the animated underwater world, looks certainly do matter.
Madga, this post is too cool! I really enjoyed your connection of the physical manifestations of internal beauty to Disney characters, and while reading, i thought of some similar Disney examples. In Beauty and the Beast, the Beast grows from cruel and selfish to kind and gentle. And of course, Disney's animation team literally depicts this with the character's physical transformation—from hideous to handsome. But this makes me wonder, does Disney (the very definition of our American, mediated childhoods) embody the essence of Castiglione's quote—that the physical appearance characterizes the internal spirit. If so, (and as many critics have pointed out), then we were taught from childhood that only the prettiest girls (aka Cinderella) were kind, and that the "grotesque" (aka the ugly step sisters) were cruel or evil (ie. all Disney Villains), and to further this with Ecco's "only-that-which-is-beautiful-is-loved"-view, only Cinderella is worthy of Prince Charming's love.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this fun approach to the text!