My best friend Lisa Dawn Tynes and I both adore princesses and mermaids, even though we\u2019re both over 30. She has a fantastic blog appropriately called The Princess Blog<\/a> that discusses her opinions on all sorts of fairy tale-related media. Some of the most thought-provoking posts she\u2019s made were about what fairy tale and Disney princesses represent to her: ideals of love, hope, and compassion. To me, that sounds an awful lot like the Consistent Life Ethic.<\/p>\n Throughout The Little Mermaid<\/em> animated series from the early 1990s, which is currently available for streaming on Disney+, she is constantly taking the side of every outcast she comes across, valuing all life both under and above the sea consistently.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Believing in the Consistent Life Ethic has only strengthened my admiration for the ideals these characters espouse. The real world is no fairy tale, but if we were more like Disney Princesses, we\u2019d be much closer to living in a Consistent Life Ethic utopia.<\/p>\n ===============================<\/p>\n For another take about Disney princesses on our blog, see: <\/em><\/p>\n Jasmine, Aladdin, and the Power of Nonviolence<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more of our blog\u2019s commentary on Hollywood movies, see: <\/em><\/p>\n Hollywood Movie Insights <\/a>(The Giver<\/em>, The Whistleblower<\/em>, and The Ides of March<\/em>)<\/p>\n The Darkest Hour<\/em>: \u201cGlorifying\u201d War?<\/a><\/p>\n Movies with Racism Themes: \u201cGosnell\u201d and \u201cThe Hate U Give\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Justice Littered with Injustice: Viewing Just Mercy<\/em> in a Charged Moment<\/a><\/p>\n A Consistent Day in the Neighborhood<\/a><\/p>\n The Message of \u201cNever Rarely Sometimes Always\u201d: Abortion Gets Sexual Predators Off the Hook<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Kae-Leah Williamson (reprinted from her personal Facebook note) My best friend Lisa Dawn Tynes and I both adore princesses and mermaids, even though we\u2019re both over 30. She has a fantastic blog appropriately called The Princess Blog that discusses her opinions on all sorts of fairy tale-related media. Some of the most thought-provoking posts… <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/1-blog-Pocahantas.jpg\")
Disney\u2019s Pocahontas<\/em> gets a lot of well-deserved criticism for the film\u2019s many historical inaccuracies, but taken as a fictional character separate from the real-life historical figure she was inspired by, Pocahontas expresses many Consistent Life Ethicist ideals throughout her entire movie. \u201cYou think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you.\u201d she so beautifully sings, calling John Smith out for his prejudices. The Consistent Life Ethic is about valuing all human beings equally, even if they look or think differently from us. Part of why we believe that abortion is morally wrong is because despite being smaller and less developed than we are, preborn fetuses are still human beings deserving of rights and protection. Pro-choicers often dehumanize preborn children as \u201cparasites,\u201d \u201cclumps of cells,\u201d etc., basically implying that because they are obviously not identical to infants, they are not human and thus not worthy of caring about. War and inhumane immigration policy are also often driven by dehumanizing and \u201cothering\u201d people. Pocahontas takes a strong stand by refusing to \u201ctake the path of hatred,\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/1-blog-mermaid-202x300.jpg\")
In The Little Mermaid<\/em>, Ariel\u2019s father, King Triton, is extremely prejudiced against human beings, because he views them as a threat to merfolk for admittedly understandable reasons. Ariel is very upset by the way he calls them \u201cbarbarians, incapable of any feeling.\u201d Ariel disagrees, and does value human life, rescuing Prince Eric from drowning, and refusing to see \u201chow a world that makes such beautiful things could be bad.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/1-blog-Enchanted-203x300.jpg\")
One reason why Enchanted<\/em> is one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time is I believe the world would be a better place if we were all at least a little bit more like Giselle. Giselle is optimistic and trusting to a fault, seeing the good in everybody around her without exception. This contrasts her with her jaded, cynical love interest Robert. She is so sensitive that the very idea of a couple getting divorced causes her to burst into tears. I can only imagine her reaction when learning about abortion or nuclear war for the first time! Many people are so jaded by the many injustices of society that they\u2019ve essentially become numb to them, so it\u2019s a helpful thought experiment to sometimes try to look at issues through the eyes of a true innocent like Giselle.<\/p>\n