Singer Paloma Faith slams 'The Little Mermaid' for 'teaching girls to give up their voice and their powers for a man’

vt-author-image

By Nasima Khatun

Article saved!Article saved!

Paloma Faith has slammed The Little Mermaid after going to watch it with her children over the four-day holiday weekend.

The British singer, who is best known for hits such as 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' and 'Can't Rely On You', took to social media to talk about her opinions on the new live-action starring Halle Bailey.

While she commended Bailey for her incredible performance, she wasn't too impressed with the overall "message" that the movie was sending to the next generation of women.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, the 41-year-old wrote: "Just seen the new Little Mermaid with my kids and while I think Halle gives a good performance and it's great casting, as a mother of girls I don't want my kids to think it's ok to give up your entire voice and your powers to love a man."

wp-image-1263213677 size-large
Credit: Instagram

The star added: "Wtf is this s***?! Not what I want to be teaching next gen women at all."

If you haven't watched the original - or the new live-action - Faith is more than likely referring to the fact that Ariel "gives up" her mermaid abilities and her life under the sea in order to pursue a new life on land with Prince Eric.

The trope is one that has been carried over from the original 1989 version of the movie, so it's not anything that we haven't seen before, but it seems as though the concept, no matter how "adapted" it may be, still doesn't sit well with some.

Bailey herself has previously spoken out about the issue, telling Edition that she's excited about the film because they've "definitely changed that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy."

"It’s way bigger than that. It’s about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and what she wants," she continued before adding: "As women we are amazing, we are independent, we are modern, we are everything and above. And I’m glad that Disney is updating some of those themes."

Despite the criticism though, The Little Mermaid has racked up some impressive numbers over the four-day weekend.

As per IGN, it became the fifth-highest Memorial Day weekend opening of all time by bringing in $117.5 million in its first four days in theaters in North America.

Axios also reported that as per Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian's expert opinion, The Little Mermaid had a $95.4 million domestic and $68.2 million international 3-day weekend haul and its global total now sits at $185.8 million.

However, it failed to pass other live-action remakes including The Jungle Book ($103.26 million), Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million), Beauty and the Beast ($174.01 million), and The Lion King ($191.7 million), which is rather disappointing given the fact that it cost $250 million to produce.

wp-image-1263204763 size-large
HALLE BAILEY in THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023), directed by ROB MARSHALL. Credit: WALT DISNEY PICTURES / Album

Over on social media, fans seemed to enjoy the re-make, with many applauding the choice of casting, as well as the overall quality of the movie.

"I'm never shutting up about how perfect Halle Bailey was for little mermaid," wrote one user, while another added: "YALL THE LITTLE MERMAID WAS SO GOOD HALLE WAS BORN FOR THAT ROLE YOU HEAR ME!? NOBODY COULDVE DONE IT BETTER."

A third also talked about the message of the movie, contrasting completely with Faith's perspective: "The little mermaid was literally about a girl’s desire to live her life on her own terms, without her family’s history or prejudices guiding her ability to make choices for herself and be curious about the world and somehow y’all think it’s a bad message to teach girls???"

The Little Mermaid is now available to watch in major movie theaters around the world.

Featured Image Credit: FlixPix / Alamy

Singer Paloma Faith slams 'The Little Mermaid' for 'teaching girls to give up their voice and their powers for a man’

vt-author-image

By Nasima Khatun

Article saved!Article saved!

Paloma Faith has slammed The Little Mermaid after going to watch it with her children over the four-day holiday weekend.

The British singer, who is best known for hits such as 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' and 'Can't Rely On You', took to social media to talk about her opinions on the new live-action starring Halle Bailey.

While she commended Bailey for her incredible performance, she wasn't too impressed with the overall "message" that the movie was sending to the next generation of women.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, the 41-year-old wrote: "Just seen the new Little Mermaid with my kids and while I think Halle gives a good performance and it's great casting, as a mother of girls I don't want my kids to think it's ok to give up your entire voice and your powers to love a man."

wp-image-1263213677 size-large
Credit: Instagram

The star added: "Wtf is this s***?! Not what I want to be teaching next gen women at all."

If you haven't watched the original - or the new live-action - Faith is more than likely referring to the fact that Ariel "gives up" her mermaid abilities and her life under the sea in order to pursue a new life on land with Prince Eric.

The trope is one that has been carried over from the original 1989 version of the movie, so it's not anything that we haven't seen before, but it seems as though the concept, no matter how "adapted" it may be, still doesn't sit well with some.

Bailey herself has previously spoken out about the issue, telling Edition that she's excited about the film because they've "definitely changed that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy."

"It’s way bigger than that. It’s about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and what she wants," she continued before adding: "As women we are amazing, we are independent, we are modern, we are everything and above. And I’m glad that Disney is updating some of those themes."

Despite the criticism though, The Little Mermaid has racked up some impressive numbers over the four-day weekend.

As per IGN, it became the fifth-highest Memorial Day weekend opening of all time by bringing in $117.5 million in its first four days in theaters in North America.

Axios also reported that as per Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian's expert opinion, The Little Mermaid had a $95.4 million domestic and $68.2 million international 3-day weekend haul and its global total now sits at $185.8 million.

However, it failed to pass other live-action remakes including The Jungle Book ($103.26 million), Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million), Beauty and the Beast ($174.01 million), and The Lion King ($191.7 million), which is rather disappointing given the fact that it cost $250 million to produce.

wp-image-1263204763 size-large
HALLE BAILEY in THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023), directed by ROB MARSHALL. Credit: WALT DISNEY PICTURES / Album

Over on social media, fans seemed to enjoy the re-make, with many applauding the choice of casting, as well as the overall quality of the movie.

"I'm never shutting up about how perfect Halle Bailey was for little mermaid," wrote one user, while another added: "YALL THE LITTLE MERMAID WAS SO GOOD HALLE WAS BORN FOR THAT ROLE YOU HEAR ME!? NOBODY COULDVE DONE IT BETTER."

A third also talked about the message of the movie, contrasting completely with Faith's perspective: "The little mermaid was literally about a girl’s desire to live her life on her own terms, without her family’s history or prejudices guiding her ability to make choices for herself and be curious about the world and somehow y’all think it’s a bad message to teach girls???"

The Little Mermaid is now available to watch in major movie theaters around the world.

Featured Image Credit: FlixPix / Alamy