When I first saw this movie, I hated it. I was outraged by how the Prince chose someone else over her (the mermaid rescued the Prince from drowning, but ducked away when she saw the other human girl coming, and the other girl sat with him until he fully regained consciousness). He assumed that girl saved his life, and she apparently never had the grace to admit that someone else had done the dirty work of hauling him out of the ocean--she just happened to be hanging out sunbathing, waiting for him to wake up.
So, I was pretty mad at this movie, but then I read the Hans Christian Andersen story years later, when I'd experienced my own first love and loss. I gained a new appreciation for this movie, as it depicts a desperate love, and this mermaid is willing to give up everything to be close to him. The only thing that sucks is that the object of her obsession truly does not deserve it, and the chick he chooses over her does not deserve his love either; he fell in love with her only because he thought she had saved him, but the mermaid was unable to tell him that.
It's sad, and frustrating, but still a good movie overall.
So, I was pretty mad at this movie, but then I read the Hans Christian Andersen story years later, when I'd experienced my own first love and loss. I gained a new appreciation for this movie, as it depicts a desperate love, and this mermaid is willing to give up everything to be close to him. The only thing that sucks is that the object of her obsession truly does not deserve it, and the chick he chooses over her does not deserve his love either; he fell in love with her only because he thought she had saved him, but the mermaid was unable to tell him that.
It's sad, and frustrating, but still a good movie overall.