Most people see this scene from The Little Mermaid as a very romantic scene. Most people viewing the movie at this part are rooting for Prince Eric to just kiss her already! Not only is the audience cheering on the Prince, but so is Sebastian who is Ariel's friend. My problem with this scene? It tells viewers, especially younger viewers, that it is not only okay, but romantic to kiss a girl without her telling you that it is okay, without her giving consent. Their ideas about consent, or lack of it, that they learned from this children's movie will then contribute to rape culture as they grow up. That is very problematic, and I believe that Disney has tried to right their past wrongs in their newest movie.
That's right, Frozen. While I believe that this film is progressive for Disney in many ways, one that stood out to me was the issue of consent. Unlike in The Little Mermaid, where Prince Eric was told to kiss Ariel without her giving him the okay, Kristoff makes sure that Princess Anna wants him to kiss her before he does.
While Anna kissing Kristoff on the cheek could be seen as consent in itself, the creators made her give verbal consent so that there was no confusion on whether or not she wanted to kiss him. Young boys who watch this movie will learn that you have to ask a girl before you kiss her, and I hope, will one day extend this lesson to having to ask a girl for consent before having sex with her. I believe that teaching lessons of consent like this to young children, especially young boys since most of sexual assaults and rapes are done by men to women, will help to decrease, and hopefully one day get rid of the omnipotent rape culture in which we live in. No, rape culture cannot be wiped out by one scene in a movie, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
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