Diving Into Consent {Little Mermaid Style}

The Little Mermaid live action movie has been splashing into headlines and newsfeeds across America for many reasons. This movie, like many other memorable stories, is making waves in conversations by bringing issues that need attention to the surface.

One of these conversations has been diving into consent with the lyrics to the classic “Kiss the Girl” song.

There has been a slight change in one of the verses in which the words were switched to indicate needing consent to kiss Ariel, instead of implying no consent is needed as in the original version. I have to admit, this isn’t something I have thought about before while shamelessly singing the words to my favorite Disney songs, but taking a closer look at both set of lyrics, I can see the problem.

Critics of the newer version will cling to the classic version, claiming it is fine the way it is, to leave the romance alone, or say the issues of consent are not a large enough problem here to warrant this change. However, as a writer, I have learned that while we may know and love the original version of something, and that original version may be popular and well loved, it does not mean there isn’t room for improvement. The writers of the new song have improved it to reflect a more knowledgeable world. A world that is trying to recognize the issue of consent and sees the importance of taking your potential romantic partner’s feelings into consideration.

Take a look at this verse in the original song: “Yes, you want her / Look at her, you know you do / Possible she wants you too / There is one way to ask her / It don’t take a word / Not a single word / Go on and kiss the girl.” Getting into the rhetoric here, these lyrics are stating that no words are needed, there is only one way to find out if Ariel wants to kiss you, too, and it doesn’t require words or asking, you just need to do it. The audience knows Ariel wants to be kissed since that is the goal, but Eric does not. However, in this scenario, we know Ariel cannot speak and give verbal consent even if Eric were to ask, but let’s assume a head nod would suffice in this fictional situation.

Now, taking a look at the new lyrics, we can see that this time, words should be used: “Yes, you want her / Look at her, you know you do / Possible she wants you too / Use your words, boy, and ask her / If the time is right and the time is tonight / Go on and kiss the girl.” Two lines, a slight rephrasing of two lines in a classic song, changes the message.

This is why words are important.

With these two lines, we have gone from implying no consent or asking is needed to promoting consent. Remember, it does not matter in this instance that we know Ariel wants to be kissed, or that Eric appears to be timid about kissing her. It is Sebastian sending the message here, so they have updated Sebastian’s message, making him a more progressive ocean crustacean. A relevant message to send in today’s world.

As the mother of a girl and a boy, when I think about them getting older and dating, it is sometimes a terrifying thought. I get overwhelmed thinking about how to keep them safe in the dating world. I want to raise both of them to respect the feelings of others, and feel like they have the power to speak up for their own feelings as well. I hope others encourage their children to do the same.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, “81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime.” Living in a world with statistics like this, I cannot see how promoting the idea of more consent is a negative thing and if a few words of a classic song have to change to help send that message, then so be it.