First Rudolf, Now Ariel: Company Nixes Part of 'Little Mermaid' Production so Snowflakes Aren't Offended
An a cappella group at Princeton University has agreed to stop performing a song from “The Little Mermaid” thanks to an angry feminist who claimed the performance was a “heteronormative attack” on women’s rights.
According to Inside Higher Ed, the Princeton Tigertones made the decision last week after a performance of the song “Kiss the Girl” by the all-male singing group.
In a typical performance, the Tigertones pick a random female from the audience to represent Ariel, the main character and subject of the song. They “playfully” dance with the female volunteer before calling up a male volunteer to represent the Prince Eric character, Inside Higher Ed reported.
In the course of the song, the Tigertones urge the two to kiss, which usually ends with a harmless peck on the cheek.
But in an era when liberals get triggered by “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” it was only a matter of time before an uptight feminist would target this performance.
Last week, Princeton student Noa Wollstein slammed the performance as “problematic” in Princeton’s student newspaper, The Daily Princetonian.
“Despite the fact that an evil sea-witch cursed Ariel’s voice away, making verbal consent impossible, the song is clearly problematic from the get-go,” Wollstein wrote in a piece published Nov. 26.
This is reminiscent of the outrage over “Snow White.” In that movie, Snow White was cursed with eternal sleep until Prince Charming lifted the curse with a kiss. Liberals were angry that Prince Charming didn’t receive consent from the cursed princess.
The issue of “consent” seems to make up the majority of Wollstein’s complaints regarding “Kiss the Girl.”
“Lyrics such as, ‘It’s possible she wants you too/There’s one way to ask her/It don’t take a word, not a single word/Go on and kiss the girl, kiss the girl,’ and ‘she won’t say a word/Until you kiss that girl,’ unambiguously encourage men to make physical advances on women without obtaining their clear consent,” Wollstein wrote.
In the ideal liberal world, Prince Eric would have gotten Ariel to sign a written consent form notarized by his lawyer before attempting to kiss her. However, he would first need to get Ariel to sign a separate consent form to hold her hand.
“The song launches a heteronormative attack on women’s right to oppose the romantic and sexual liberties taken by men, further inundating the listener with themes of toxic masculinity,” Wollstein claimed.
Wollstein’s article reads like satire. She made sure to include as many liberal buzzwords as possible.
“The hypothetical issues brought up by the song’s lyrics come to fruition as unacceptable conduct in the Tigertones’ performances. The singers reinforce the heteronormativity reflected in the words of the song by selecting one male and one female audience participant. The fervor with which the all-male Tones press the man to kiss the female subject eerily amplifies the song’s assertions of toxic masculinity,” she wrote.
“The Tigertones may not be asking the girl if she wants to be kissed, but I am asking them to stop singing this song — now,” she demanded.
Unfortunately, the group capitulated to the feminist’s demand.
“We are removing ‘Kiss the Girl’ from our active repertoire until we can arrive at a way to perform it that is comfortable and enjoyable for every member of our audience,” Wesley Brown, president of the Tigertones, wrote to The Daily Princetonian.
Giving in to social justice warriors will only embolden them. It won’t be long until they find the next thing they’re triggered by.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
