In all my years on Fanpop, I've never written an in-depth مضمون about Ariel. Probably because she's already so thoroughly discussed. Plus, both her شائقین and critics can be a little...over the top, to put it mildly. I always feel like I'm one of the few people who have Ariel as مزید of a "middle" princess on their list, so in a way, I kind of feel like I'm well suited for this type of article.

Now, I don't really agree with judging the princesses solely on the basis of whether یا not they're good role models. Especially considering these standards don't seem to exist for other characters, especially males. When they wrote Tarzan یا Lilo and Stitch for example they weren't trying to write "role models", they were just trying to write characters. Even so, I do agree that if آپ are looking for a role model, Ariel may not be the safest choice. (the arguably nonsensical notion of using fictional characters as role models notwithstanding)

She is spoiled and irresponsible but her haters go way overboard sometimes. I once read someone saying Ursula wasn't all that evil and they pinned the whole scheme on Ariel یا that Ariel's selfish actions are on par with Gaston's. Seriously? At the same time, while she is an independent, determined and exuberant character, her شائقین cannot behave as if her positive qualities eclipse her less than favorable actions, for which she never really suffers consequences یا accepts culpability.

Speaking of which, a lot of the issue with Ariel could've been easily rectified if she made a sacrifice یا at least sincerely apologized for the trouble she caused. She never really had a moment of "this is all my fault" یا "what have I done?", and I actually think Ariel's critics are partially why every princess since Ariel مزید یا less has a moment like that. She does come off somewhat remorseful and I do like that her initial reaction to Triton's enslavement was to attack Ursula rather than blaming herself but I think everyone can agree that it would've been nice if she was مزید explicitly apologetic.

With all the things Ariel's دیا grief for, the only offense that I truly think was morally wrong was indirectly endangering her kingdom, but even that falls mostly on Ursula, some blame should fall on enablers but majority of the blame should always fall on who commits the crime, and partially on Triton. Essentially sacrificing his whole kingdom just for his daughter, who would have been enslaved like everyone else anyway, wasn't the smartest choice, especially since Eric would soon intervene and kill Ursula anyway, making Triton's sacrifice even مزید unnecessary.

Everything else Ariel's guilty of, like missing rehearsals, trying to leave her family behind and even a hot guy she just met partially driving her to make her decisions, they're all negative to a degree but they don't make Ariel a bad person. At the end of the day, it's her life and she can choose to do what she wants with it. And she never tries to make choices for other people's lives, which is something other princesses like Merida and even Mulan to an extent are guilty of with their respective parents.

Ariel never held a gun to anybody's head to make them do what she wants. No one is forcing فلاؤنڈر, موآ to follow Ariel on her shipwreck adventures, no one is forcing Eric to go after Ariel and face Ursula, Sebastian could easily march off to Triton and tell him about Ursula's deal but he chooses not to, and of course, we went over the choices both Triton and Ursula make. In fact, when Ariel thinks Eric chose to marry someone else, she's not happy about it but she accepts her fate. This is how I know Ariel knew she made a choice, she knew the consequences (at least in regards to herself) and she knew her limitations.

It's when she realizes Eric is being manipulated and that Ursula is cheating does Ariel take action. This is what separates her from characters like Anastasia, Drizella یا Gaston (it blows my mind that I've seen people make these comparisons) she never tries to take anyone's freedom of choice away, she's just trying to pursue her own. However, she does indirectly and unintentionally endanger other people's freedom because of her royal status and she deserves criticism for that. Honestly, if her father wasn't the king of the sea, then I'd really have little to no qualms with Ariel.

Although she never flat out says it, I do think Ariel's grateful for her loved ones, that's evident سے طرف کی the end of the movie and there is a part of her that's sad to let them go ("I'll never see my father and sisters again") but some people just gotta leave the nest, and that's the type of person who relates to her story. Anyone who feels trapped یا unfulfilled and is just ready to go out on their own can see themselves in Ariel, and while she didn't go about things in the smartest way, her tenacious spirit (as Jodi Benson puts it) in pursuit of that freedom is something undeniably commendable.