Hello,
My daughter, who is a college student in California, was invited to a party where they planned to watch The Little Mermaid on a bigscreen (film projector). It was college guys who invited her. This seems really ODD to say the least! Has anyone heard of any get-togethers where ppl sit around and look for and discuss sexual innuendos in Disney movies?
Thanx :dubious:
What exactly is odd about it?
I would think most college students would be watching something other than a kiddie cartoon, especially the young men. Get real…don’t you think that’s odd? She played it off like it was innocent, and maybe it was. Or maybe it wasn’t.
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio - *Size does matter*
Fantasia - *Hippy, dippy drug tripping*
Dumbo -
Bambi
Saludos Amigos
The Three Caballeros -
Make Mine Music
Fun And Fancy Free
Melody Time
The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad
Cinderella
Alice In Wonderland -
Peter Pan - *NAMBLA's Night out *
Lady And The Tramp -
Sleeping Beauty
101 Dalmatians
The Sword In The Stone
The Jungle Book
The Aristocats
Robin Hood - *Crypto Communism*
The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh
The Rescuers
The Fox And The Hound
The Black Cauldron
The Great Mouse Detective
Oliver & Company
The Little Mermaid
The Rescuers Down Under
Beauty And The Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King
Pocahontas
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
Hercules
Mulan
Tarzan
Fantasia/2000
The Emperor's New Groove
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Lilo And Stitch
Treasure Planet
Brother Bear
Home On The Range
Chicken LittleI find the assumption that any animated film is not for adults just a short-sighted prejudice. I go see Disney films all the time and I’m 54; my daughter, who still loves them, is of college-age, too.
The Little Mermaid is an excellent film, and adults can enjoy it just as much as kids. In addition, it has a nostalgia factor for anyone who saw it when they were young.
I’d much prefer my daughter watch The Little Mermaid than Saw II.
As for subliminal messages, it’s pretty well documented that they don’t work in any meaninful way.
Heh, yeah, in favor of college guys watching Little Mermaid: That is one of the more graphically violent movies I’ve seen in a while. I mean, do you REMEMBER how the sea witch octopus lady met her end?
Three gay caballeros, IIRC.
I think this sort of thing was more common several years ago. If you are curious as to what they are looking for, Snopes has an entire section on Disney films.
There are college students, and people older than most college students, who enjoy cartoons and animated movies, for reasons not related to sexual innuendo that might or might not be in those cartoons. College-age is when some of us got over the idea that we “shouldn’t” like kids’ cartoons, and became comfortable with just liking what we like.
I think you’re reading way too much into this.
If it was college, I almost guarantee it was a drinking game.
We played one with Disney flicks when I was in school, where you would take a drink upon noticing any ethnic stereotype. Rarely did we make it through a whole movie 
Additional rules for Little Mermaid:
Drink anytime someone says “sea” or “ocean”
Drink whenever Ariel looks wistful
Drink for any sexual innuendo
I’m a little more disturbed as to what you were expecting.
I’m not even sure I understand the implication. Why would people get together in front of a big screen to revel in some subliminal messages in Disney movies? I mean, drinking game or just nostalgic fun is probably the most likely candidate. I’ve had get togethers fairly recently for the sole purpose of watching the Goonies and the median age in the room was probably 23-24. Are we weird? :dubious:
Maybe they had just heard this episode of This American Life? It features a story that originated with a college guy who liked the movie The Little Mermaid.
I want to point out that not everything that all college students do has something to do with drinking and/or sex. When I was in college, I was one of the students who wasn’t doing either one most of the time, and I got very frustrated by people assuming I was.
You know your daughter better than I do, of course, but don’t automatically assume that, because she’s in college, everything she does must have something to do with sex or drinking. Don’t assume that about her male friends, either- some male college students do do things that have nothing to do with sex or drinking. That’s a stereotype in the same way that “all Latino-looking people are illegal immigrants” or “all attractive blonde women are dumb” is.
Yeah, how could they leave out drugs and rock and roll?
(bolding mine)
Well, I think that’s it right there. It’s a good movie, it’s not been in theaters for some time, it’s one that (if your daughter is 18-22) was popular when these kids were toddlers, so there’s a HUGE homesick/nostalgia factor (and I don’t care how relieved they are to be at college, they also miss you and miss being little kids, especially this time of year) and it’s just, y’know, fun. Especially if she’s NOT into drinking herself stupid and having indiscriminate sex. It may possibly be clean, wholesome Disney fun for young adults.
Or they’re going to slip LSD into the drinks and have massive group sex to the tune of “Under the Sea”. Could go either way, really. But if your daughter says it’s cool, it’s probably cool, unless you have reason to disbelieve her.
I would totally jump at the chance to see Ariel on the big screen again.
I’m not entirely clear on what you suspect was going on, or what it has to do with subliminal messages in The Little Mermaid. Are you suggesting that these guys invited a bunch of girls over with the expectation that a vaguely phallus-shaped spire in the background of a cartoon would compel the girls to strip off their clothes and have wild and kinky sex? That doesn’t strike me as particularly likely. Subliminal messages don’t work like that (or at all, for that matter). Besides, if that was their goal, they have this stuff these days called “beer” that works much better than Disney cartoons about hybrid fish-women.
There were “Disney Nights” at the dorm more than once in my four years of college. It was exactly what Mama Bear describes - guys and gals gathering and watching not just one movie, but a bunch, on the big screen. There was no drinking or sex. Sometimes people made comments during the movies, but usually the gatherings happened just because people wanted to watch them and be nostalgic. It wasn’t my scene, but there wasn’t anything to be suspicious of. We had movie nights constantly, and there was rarely any drinking at them.
Aw, relax, they’re going to sit around with a few beers and watch a Disney movie. At the part where the priest appears to have a raging hard-on, they’ll all laugh and clap each other on the back and act generally foolish as college kids do.
As others have said, they could be doing far worse.
Just to clarify, did she say they planned to look for and discuss sexual innuendo or are you reading that into it?
If the first, then yes it’s a bit odd but not neccessarily that far out there. If the latter then I wouldn’t worry about it. Cartoons are fun for kids of all ages.