Article
Something’s Fishy Here
Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion
(2008)
Abstract
I wrote this piece as a sort of Harlot test run. When we began talking about the need for public-oriented rhetorical criticism, Jim Fredal challenged me to figure out what that might look like. I'd recently written a rather academic analysis of Hans Christian Andersen's original "Little Mermaid" and was hoping to make it relevant/current; Disney's version had just been rereleased in a "Platinum Edition" DVD and was being adapted into a Broadway show. So it made sense to put it all together, using my sister as my ideal audience: smart, fun, feminist. . . and concerned about her new baby's exposure to the dangers of Disney rhetoric. This has been the most enjoyable writing experience I've ever had.
Keywords
- Walt Disney Company,
- Animated films -- United States -- Themes and motives,
- Little mermaid (Motion picture) -- Criticism and interpretation,
- Rhetoric -- Social aspects
Disciplines
Publication Date
2008
Publisher Statement
Originally appeared in Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion, an interactive digital magazine dedicated to exploring rhetoric in everyday life. May be found at http://harlotofthearts.org/index.php/harlot
Note: At the time of writing, Kathryn Comer was affiliated with Barry University and the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN).
Citation Information
Comer, K. (2008). Something's Fishy Here. Harlot: A revealing look at the arts of persuasion, 1(1).
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC-SA International License.