Fishy, Fishier, Fishiest
Alyssa Bauman and Kamya Parekh
Instructor’s Introduction
Kamya Parekh and Alyssa Bauman created this smart, hilarious, and charming podcast about “The Little Mermaid” as their final project in WR 152: Case Studies in Fairy Tales. The assignment asks students to translate material from their research essays into a new genre and mode for a non-academic audience. Their understanding of podcasts as a genre is exemplary: “Fishy, Fishier, Fishiest” is styled as one episode of an imaginary podcast series called “The Fairytale Scale” that weighs the merits of nostalgic favorite fairy tales, and my only regret is that there aren’t any more episodes, because I would be a devoted listener! Alyssa and Kamya each analyzed the rhetorical features of several podcasts before creating this one, and thus they nail features of the genre such as recurring segments, humor through witty banter, and a varied soundscape carefully designed to keep listeners engaged (not to mention a logo, a transcript, and a fully functional website—check it out below!) Kamya and Alyssa decided to partner together because they had both written outstanding essays on “The Little Mermaid,” but it takes more than similar research interests to make a good conversation; they also put effort into creating believable rapport as co-hosts, projecting warmth towards one other with every line and making the listener feel as if they are being drawn straight into a friendship. Not only that, it is the differences between their research essays, not the similarities, that make for the podcast’s best moments, as Alyssa and Kamya passionately and affectionately roast and argue with each other about Disney, feminism, and literary adaptations of fairy tales, acknowledging each other’s valid points and responding with expert, in-depth counterpoints. Listeners finish this podcast entertained, inspired, and feeling as if they’ve learned something new.
Amy Bennett-Zendzian
From the Writers
Fairytales are so much more than princesses and happily ever afters. They have been told and retold countless different times in countless different ways. Our research in WR152 explored the ways in which a single story can be adapted over time, taking on vastly different modes, meanings, and audiences. For our final project in this class, we conceptualized a review podcast, called The Fairytale Scale, where we would discuss and analyze a particular fairytale and its various retellings. This sample episode we created focuses on “The Little Mermaid” and some of its adaptations, synthesizing ideas from our respective research essays and presenting academic research in a more informal, short and fun format. We analyze each retelling of the story through the lenses of feminism, gender roles, and the representation of identity. We aim to highlight how even though the plot remains similar, a nuanced and careful reading reveals the extent to which the meaning of each tale changes due to the authorial choices. The true meaning of a story lies in not the plot, but in the way that it is told!
Fishy, Fishier, Fishiest
Link to website: https://kamyap.wixsite.com/thefairytalescale/general-9
Transcript
The Fairytale Scale, Episode 12: Fishy, Fishier, Fishiest
/sfx/ Title music
INTRODUCTION
Alyssa: Welcome back to The Fairytale Scale, where we share our amateur opinions on our favorite fairy tales and retellings.
Kamya: Don’t you mean expert opinions?
Alyssa: We’ll see about that. I’m Alyssa…
Kamya: And I’m Kamya! Today’s fairy tale is one that you’ve all been waiting for. You’ve been blowing up our comments for ages and we finally heard you! Let’s give it up for…
Both: THE LITTLE MERMAID!
Alyssa: I’m really excited for this one.
Kamya: I’m not; I HATE Ariel. Don’t come at me in the comments.
Alyssa: I cannot believe this, Ariel was my favorite Disney princess growing up.
Kamya: It’s okay, Alyssa, everyone can’t have the best and correctest opinions.
Alyssa: We’ll have plenty of time to argue in a minute, but for now let’s get started. As always, we’ll start with the original tale and then talk about more modern retellings. And, of course, we’ll rate each version.
Kamya: Our scale for this episode, invented by yours truly: Fishy, Fishier, or Fishiest. You guys can figure out what that means…
/sfx/ Accordion transition music
0:56 THE LITTLE MERMAID BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
Kamya: The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
/sfx/ Background ambience
Alyssa: Far out at sea, the water is as blue as the petals of the prettiest cornflowers and as clear as the purest glass. But it’s very deep out there, so deep that even the longest anchor line can’t touch bottom. You would have to pile up countless church steeples, one on top of the other, to get from the bottom of the sea all the way up to the surface. There dwell the Sea King and his subjects.
/sfx/ Ambience stops
Kamya: Okay we get it. And then there’s a bunch of description about the fish and the plants under the ocean. Let’s skip ahead.
Alyssa: Ok fine.
/sfx/ Ambience starts
Alyssa: The little mermaid grew more and more fond of human beings and longed deeply for their company. There was so much she would have liked to know, and her sisters weren’t able to answer all her questions. And so she went to visit her old grandmother, who knew all about the world above.
Kamya: “If human beings don’t drown,” asked the little mermaid, “can they go on living forever? Don’t they die, as we do down here in the sea?”
Alyssa: “Of course they do,” the old woman replied. “They too must die, and their lifetime is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live for three hundred years, but when we cease to exist, we turn into foam on the sea. We don’t even have a grave down here among our loved ones. We lack an immortal soul, and we shall never have another life.
“But human beings have a soul that lives on forever, even after their bodies have turned to dust. It rises up through the pure air until it reaches the shining stars.”
Kamya: “Why weren’t we given an immortal soul? I would give all three hundred years of my life in return for becoming human for just one day and having a share in that heavenly world.”
Alyssa: “You mustn’t waste your time worrying about these things. We’re really much happier and also better off than the human beings who live up there.”
Kamya: “So then I’m doomed to die and to drift like foam on the sea, never to hear the music of the waves or see the lovely flowers and the red sun? Is there nothing I can do to gain an immortal soul?”
Alyssa: “Only if a human loved you so much that you meant more to him than his father and mother. If he were to love you with all his heart and soul and had the priest place his right hand in yours with the promise of remaining faithful and true here and in all eternity– then his soul would glide into your body and you too would share in human happiness. He would give you a soul and still keep his own. But that will never happen! Your fish tail, which we find so beautiful, looks hideous to people on earth. To be beautiful up there, you have to have those two clumsy pillars that they call legs.”
/sfx/ Ambience stops
Kamya: Yikes. Maybe Andersen hated walking. Anyway, then the mermaid goes off to our bestie, the Sea Witch.
Alyssa: She’s my favorite character.
Kamya: So you do have valid opinions sometimes. She wants some legs, the witch asks for her voice, she’s like ok I don’t need it to make the Prince fall in love with me because I’m hot. Then the sea witch cuts out her tongue- ew!- and gives her legs.
Alyssa: And I should add: her legs come with constant pain in this version. Every step feels like she’s, and I quote: “treading on a sharp knife.” A rather dark detail that Disney kindly decided to forget about.
Kamya: And then she goes up to the surface and surprise: her hotness is not enough to make the Prince fall in love with her. But here is my favorite part: her sisters come to save her! Hashtag girlbosses.
Kamya (cont): Then they give her a knife to kill the prince, which will let her turn back into a mermaid. However, the little mermaid is kind of a loser and doesn’t murder the Prince, and then dies and becomes like a daughter of the air or something. THE END.
Alyssa: Not “or something”. The ending of Andersen’s version is important. She is rewarded for staying true to her values and refusing to kill the prince. As a daughter of the air, she has a chance to earn an immortal soul through three hundred years of good deeds. She earns her afterlife, which is why she went to the surface to begin with. The prince’s love isn’t really the goal. It’s the means to an end. You could say the story isn’t about love at all–it’s about salvation.
Kamya: Ok, nerd. Let’s get to the actual good parts of this story: women! The representation of the Sea Witch as a powerful, independent woman who’s not really a villain, but more of a facilitator is so slay. She offers advice to the little mermaid and then just sort of minds her own business. And then her sisters: they’re such competent, active female characters with actual relevance to the story. They’re the ones saving the little mermaid, not the prince.
Alyssa: So we agree that this version is good. It’s a bit old-fashioned, but what did you expect?
Kamya: Yeah, it is a little bit unfeminist with the whole focus on how beautiful she is and how she needs to marry a man, but those are characteristic of Andersen’s time so we can be a little forgiving. And then there’s the basic, sexist messages that this story conveys–encouraging women to be timid, obey rules, stuff like that.
Alyssa: Not to mention it’s a tad depressing. Andersen liked to reward suffering in his tales. The mermaid is rewarded for sacrificing her own comfort and wellbeing, and even her life. I personally am not a fan of that message.
Kamya: So true.
Alyssa: So there’s pros and cons. How do we rate it?
Kamya: Drumroll please
/sfx/ Drumroll
Both: FISHIER!
Kamya: Okay the next version we’re talking about, and I’m so excited to fight Alyssa on this, is… Disney!!
5:40 THE LITTLE MERMAID- DISNEY MOVIE
/sfx/ “Under the Sea” instrumental
Alyssa: You guys have all seen the movie, so we’ll keep this brief.
Kamya: Okay so we have our redhead mermaid princess, Ariel, who falls in love with a mediocre looking man, Eric.
Alyssa: Woah, speak for yourself. He’s gorgeous.
Kamya: Please, his only redeeming quality is his cute little dog. Moving on, Ariel sings “Part of Your World…”
/sfx/ “Part of your World”
Kamya: …which is a bop, goes to Ursula the sea witch for some legs and heads to the surface. Except this time, Ursula is a meddling villain and steals mediocre man from her. There’s the climax which is kind of entertaining because Ursula becomes like a monstrous giant, Ariel’s dad gets thrown into the mix, Ariel gets kidnapped, and eventually, our damsel in distress is saved by Eric impaling giant Ursula with a ship. Ariel marries the Prince, happily ever after. Oh, and her sisters play no role whatsoever in the story.
Alyssa: I’m sensing some negativity from you, Kamya.
Kamya: Your detective skills never cease to amaze me. Let’s unpack all this, shall we? Let’s start with the most powerful female character in the story, who is a villain: Ursula. She’s shown to be ugly both inside and out, with purple skin, tentacles, and the intention to hurt Ariel. She’s malicious, cunning, robs Ariel of her voice, and then tries to ensure that she doesn’t succeed in making prince Eric fall in love with her. Thus, the Disney movie oversimplifies Andersen’s original tale, and the complex character of the Sea Witch, representing one obvious villain and then pinning all the bad events in the tale on her. And this conveys the message that power and strength are evil, unfeminine qualities that girls should not aspire towards. Next we have the end goal. In Andersen’s tale, the little mermaid wanted salvation, immortality. Here she just wants a man. And then we have the only other female characters in the story: her sisters, who, um, kind of suck. They only appear on screen in, like, two scenes, and the only interaction that they have with Ariel is about her falling in love with a man, so this movie barely passes the Bechdel test. Ok I’m done.
Alyssa: I thought you would never be done. I mean, that’s one interpretation, but I’m not convinced. Ariel is obsessed with the human world long before she meets the prince, and she doesn’t do everything just for a man. There are even interpretations that view Ariel as a representation of transgender identity. She doesn’t feel comfortable in her own body, and wants to change it because she relates more with humans. Not to mention Ursula is literally modeled after a drag queen.
Kamya: Oh Alyssa, you poor unfortunate soul. You’re about to get wrecked. I’ve read this in a couple of places: that Ursula is based on a drag queen and represents feminism and gender fluidity, but consider this: I don’t think that the audience views Ursula as anything other than a malicious villain and I think that maybe, just maybe, associating gender fluidity and feminism with the morally corrupt, bad, evil character is a bad thing. I just think that problematic misrepresentation is so much more harmful than the lack of representation because it spreads negative views about marginalized communities.
Alyssa: Good point. Ok, I will admit that Disney could do a lot better. I’m just biased- blame the nostalgia. But you have to admit that the music slaps.
Kamya: Hell yeah. Music is 100/10. Now let’s move on to the rating shall we?
Alyssa: I don’t know if I can do this, it physically hurts me. My childhood self is crying.
Kamya: But I defeated you. Say it Alyssa.
Alyssa: *sigh* Disney’s version is…FISHIEST
/sfx/ loser trombone sound
8:58 THE SURFACE BREAKS BY LOUISE O’NEILL
Alyssa: Moving on, we’re going to look at some modern adaptations. First up: The Surface Breaks, by Louise O’Neill.
Kamya: Now this is an interesting one because it’s been marketed as a feminist retelling, so one would assume it’s fixed some of the issues we’ve discussed so far.
Alyssa: But has it really?
Kamya: Let’s find out.
/sfx/ Guitar background music
Alyssa: “You are not ready, my child. Be patient. Your time will come.” I have been listening to my grandmother say these things to me for as long as I can remember.
Kamya: “But when will I be ready?” I kept asking her. “When, Grandmother? When, when?” And she told me to be quiet.
Alyssa: “It’s for your own good,” she said. “You know how your father feels about the human world. Do not let him catch you speaking in such a fashion.”
I have never been allowed to talk much. My father doesn’t care for curious girls, so I bit my tongue and I waited. The days of my childhood kept turning over; dissolving like sea foam on the crest of the waves. I have been counting time, the days and the nights, the weeks, the months, the years. I have been waiting for this day.
Kamya: And now, at last, it has arrived. I am fifteen and I shall be allowed to break the surface, catch my first glimpse of the world above us. Maybe there, I will find some answers. I have so many questions, you see. I have spent my years swallowing them down, burning bitter at the back of my throat.
Alyssa: “Happy birthday, my beloved Muirgen,” Grandmother Thalassa says, placing a wreath of lilies on my head. I am sitting on a throne carved from coral, staring at my reflection in the cracked mirror in front of me. It is a relic from a ship that was wrecked two years ago. The Rusalkas rose to the surface to sing the sailors to a watery grave, stuffing death into their bloated lungs. They sing so sweetly, the Salkas do. They sing for revenge for all that has been inflicted upon them.
Kamya: My room in the palace is full of such finds; remnants of humans that descend from their world into ours, and that I hoard for my collection, piece by piece. A broken comb that I use to tame my long, red hair; a jewelled ring that my sisters covet and beg to borrow, but I shall not share. A statue of alabaster white, of a young man’s face and torso. I wonder who he is, he whose face has been whittled out of marble. I wonder if he ever looks at the sea and considers its depths, ponders what could be found in its belly if he looked hard enough. I wonder if he knows that we even exist.
/sfx/ End background music
Alyssa: Very nice. I can definitely appreciate O’Neill’s writing style. You can tell she’s trying to approach the tale in a new way–she gives more depth and agency to the main characters and makes them much more relatable. But as far as being a “feminist retelling,” I don’t think I’m convinced.
Kamya: Exactly. Let’s get into why this book isn’t really feminist. The author pits the mermaid and her sisters against each other for no reason. This isn’t even a feature of Andersen’s original tale, so why would O’Neill go out of her way to worsen the representation of female relationships in a book about feminism? It doesn’t make sense. Then there’s the continued emphasis on the importance of beauty, which was, frankly, disappointing to read. Why couldn’t the author have chosen to focus on a different trait, like strength or intelligence, to make the little mermaid different from the rest? In today’s society, women are already constantly having their worth reduced to their physical appearances. I’m surprised a feminist author passed up the opportunity to comment on this.
Alyssa: You’re totally right. Also, the little mermaid’s complex end goal of salvation is scrapped, because she just wants to be with a man, exactly like in Disney. Here, Muirgen only goes up to the surface because she’s in love with Oliver.
Kamya: Yeah. I feel like the only good part of the story is the fact that it has a different ending. The Sea Witch comes to save the little mermaid, which is so slay. And then the little mermaid stands up to her father. But, when the witch gives her a dagger, she still refuses to kill the prince.
Alyssa: You just really want her to kill the prince, don’t you?
Kamya: YES.
Alyssa: Violence isn’t the answer, Kamya.
Kamya: No, it is the question. And the answer is yes.
Alyssa: Wow, ok. In the end, she ends up turning into some weird creature- the Rusalka- which is kind of cool. So the beginning is fine, the ending is valid but the entire in between is awful and kind of pointless. Uh, how do we rate this version?
Kamya: I would say Fishy if I was a better, more lenient person. But I’m not so…
/sfx/ drumroll
Kamya: FISHIER!
13:05 TO KILL A KINGDOM BY ALEXANDRA CHRISTO
Alyssa: Last but not least, the mystery book- A book neither Kamya or I have read yet. We’re going on first impressions. This week’s mystery book is the TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom.
Kamya: Mmm, YA Fantasy books, my favorite. Peak English literature. Shakespeare could never.
Alyssa: It’s edgy, it’s steamy, it’s self-indulgent. Here’s the blurb:
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own.
Kamya: (whispers) Wow…
Alyssa: To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever. Ok, I’m interested. Let’s read the beginning.
Kamya: This sounds so badass.
/sfx/ Mysterious music
Kamya: To Kill a Kingdom, by Alexandra Christo
Kamya: I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive.
Alyssa: Ooh, killer opening line
Kamya: There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle, just to check they’re still there. Buried deep and bloody. I count each of them, so I can be sure none were stolen in the night. It’s not such an odd fear to have. Hearts are power, and if there’s one thing my kind craves more than the ocean, it’s power.
Alyssa: I’ve heard things: tales of lost hearts and harpooned women stapled to the ocean bed as punishment for their treachery. Left to suffer until their blood becomes salt and they dissolve to sea foam. These are the women who take the human bounty of their kin. Mermaids more fish than flesh, with an upper body to match the decadent scales of their fins. Unlike sirens, mermaids have stretched blue husks and limbs in place of hair, with a jawlessness that lets their mouths stretch to the size of small boats and swallow sharks whole. Their deep-blue flesh is dotted with fins that spread up their arms and spines. Fish and human both, with the beauty of neither. They have the capacity to be deadly, like all monsters, but where sirens seduce and kill, mermaids remain fascinated by humans. They steal trinkets and follow ships in hopes that treasure will fall from the decks. Sometimes they save the lives of sailors and take nothing but charms in return. And when they steal the hearts we keep, it isn’t for power. It’s because they think that if they eat enough of them, they might become human themselves. I hate mermaids.
Kamya: SLAY. I feel like she might actually kill the prince in this one. I am so excited!
Alyssa: Isn’t this a romance though? I’m getting enemies-to-lovers vibes.
Kamya: I have to go cry in a corner, be right back. BUT…I do love a good enemies-to-lovers. Hmm, I’m torn.
Alyssa: I’m definitely intrigued and will be reading on. Tell us your thoughts about this one in the comments and we’ll add it to our reading list.
Kamya: In the meanwhile, let’s look at what our unfailingly trustworthy review website, Goodreads, has to say about this. It’s time for the…
Both: Goodreads Segment!
/sfx/ Chimes
Alyssa: Overall, Goodreads gives this book a three point seven seven out of five. Do you guys agree?
Kamya: Well, Emma on Goodreads certainly doesn’t. She says “I am proposing a new law: Books that are not good should not be allowed to have really good opening lines. 1 star.” This sucks because I was so excited by…
/sfx/ Echo voice effect
Kamya: I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive.
Alyssa: You always go for the negative ones first. Angelica disagrees. She says (ahem): “You guys! Go read this book! It was so good. Like, sooooo good and I just finished reading it like ten minutes ago and I’m dying right now. And AAAAAAAHHHHHH, I literally can’t even! Seriously though. UUUGGHHHH!!! Three exclamation points. 5 stars.”
Kamya: Please never do that again. Okay this one is my favorite, by Innastholiel? (sorry if I mispronounced that). “So I had a dream about this story last night only Lira was actually an interesting character and the whole thing was tied in with the Percy Jackson universe. It was a pretty great dream, actually. Good enough that when I woke up, I thought, Why the hell would I give this book only one star?, and then I remembered that the real version was all wimpy.”
Alyssa: This one is my favorite: Adeline says: “This book had veryyyyyy strong how to train your dragon vibes BUT: without the dragons, without everything lovable about the movie, Noah Centineo now plays every character. 1 star.”
Kamya: NOT Noah Centineo. I have nightmares about To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Worst movie. Maybe our next episode should be about how much I hate LARA JEAN.
Alyssa: Can we focus on Goodreads please?
Kamya: Sorry. Sunny on Goodreads says “This book is written like fanfiction and with so many plot holes I almost confused it with swiss cheese. 1 star”
Alyssa: Ouch. Well, there you have it!
Kamya: Hope you guys are keeping up with your Goodreads Reading Challenge. Manifesting I finish my 60 books this year.
17:40 CONCLUSION
Alyssa: That brings us to the end of this episode.
Kamya: No matter what version, The Little Mermaid is a timeless fairytale that will be written and rewritten countless more times.
Alyssa: If you’re looking for more versions, check out The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, a really cool queer retelling.
Kamya: Oh, I love that one. It is a graphic novel and the illustrations are so pretty. Or, if you’re a poetry nerd like me, read Anne Widdowson’s poem “The Little Mermaid” or “The Mermaid Sets the Record Straight” by Debra Cash.
Alyssa: That’s all we have for today!
Kamya: And you guys know the drill: let us know in the comments which fairy tale we should pick for the next episode so we can pick it apart in front of y’all. See you guys next week!
Alyssa: Thanks for listening to…
Both: The Fairytale Scale.
/sfx/ fade out music
Alyssa: (background) I’m gonna go do my laundry now.
Kamya: Can you also do mine!!
Alyssa: What? No… (fade out)
Alyssa Bauman is a current sophomore studying piano performance at BU’s College of Fine Arts. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, she enjoys finding new ways to blend her passion for music and sound design with her love of storytelling. She would like to thank professor Amy Bennett-Zendzian for her incredible support of this project and her partner Kamya Parekh for being the ultimate co-host.
Kamya Parekh is a sophomore studying Psychology, Economics and Math in the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University. An international student from Mumbai, India, she believes that stories are a reflection of society and cultural differences, and a powerful tool for societal change. She would like to express her gratitude to WR152 professor Amy Bennett-Zendzian for her constant encouragement and guidance, and her project partner Alyssa Bauman for all her hard work.