Part of Your World

To get what she wants (travel, experience of another culture),

Ariel must trade in her voice

But, without my voice how can I-

You have your looks!

Your pretty face!

Because a princess from the most powerful, if not only, kingdom under the sea,

Has nothing to communicate with

Beyond BODY LANGUAGE

For as we all know, and has been well documented,

Disney exists to reinforce the patriarchy

And the notion that girls/women are there to be looked at

Not heard

And certainly not to use their skills to expand their horizons

Or fulfill their deepest wishes

Ariel is educated

She is an explorer and hungry for knowledge

I’m ready to know what the people know

She can grasp metaphorical concepts beyond her own experience

What’s a fire, and why does it, what’s the word?

BURN?!

She has a shining shimmering treasure trove,

A complete collection of human paraphernalia

Organized by type

But beyond things, Ariel wants more

Our mermaid heroine has feminist notions of a utopian place/time  

Where educated women have freedom

To do as they please, speak out, and move freely

Betcha on land, they understand

Bet they don’t reprimand their daughters!

Bright young women, always swimmin’

Ready to stand

Clearly these notions don’t come from Daddy

Who would rather Ariel find a nice merman

Settle down

And make merbabies 

Ariel signs the scroll in developed cursive handwriting

Suggesting an education beyond kindergarten level

Unlike her father Triton, who only engages with other species through domination,

(His page is a seahorse, his music director is a crab)

Or banishment,

(Ursula. Can’t have educated powerful women floating around the kingdom. Might give young girls ideas.),

Ariel can relate with other species without power struggle.

Her best friend is a fish

Her teacher is a seagull.

We know Ariel has overcome her childhood conditioning of

Other = evil

And if we go beyond the miracle of cross-species communication

(In the magical world of Disney merpeople can communicate with all forms of aquatic life, and with humans;

Everybody conveniently speaks English)

Why does Ariel not use her many other skills, beyond her body, to communicate?

In all her collection of bottles and human knick knacks

Does she not possess a message in a bottle?

Why doesn’t she write in the sand?

Use seashells to spell out a message?

Use her ability to talk to animals to ask the fireflies to spell it out?

Hi Eric! Remember me? I rescued you!

I’m totes in love with you!

Wanna hang out? 

Beyond the recent reduction of genuine kick-ass feminist role models

To big-eyes, sparkly dresses, and insane privilege

Give me characters who use their wit

And education

To go out into the world

And use their voice

In whatever way they can

To progress and flourish

And inspire those around them to do the same

Now that is something worth singing about. 

The end. 

Ciao, Bella!

the actress who shall play me in the musical of my life, si! 

Sometimes
You just need
Your hair washed
Scalp massaged
And hair cut
By a very camp
Fresh off the boat
Italian
In Soho
"Darlink, my Eenglish
Is not so good!"
Darlink.
If I spoke Italian
Half as well as you
Speak English
We would be laughing.

The end.

El Autobus

Image from www.sydneybusmuseum.com/ shopart.htm

I often think that it’s about time I got my driver’s license. Get myself a zippy little car and not be tied to the constraints of Sydney’s over-priced and archaic public transport system.  But that one hour (or so) each way of public transport commute is the best uninterrupted Me Time I get all day. I read, listen to music, and journal. And sometimes, when the stars are in strange alignments, amazing human interactions occur. Last night heading home from work on the 440 bus down Parramatta Rd, a lady sitting next to me asked in a thick accent how many stops were there until Wynyard Station. The eldery gentleman sitting on the other side of the lady piped up and said it was two or three. He then asked the lady, “¿Tu hablas Españoll?” (do you speak Spanish?). She laughed and said yes. Excited at the prospect of practising my Spanish, I said, “Yo hablo un pocito Español!” (I speak a little Spanish). It turned out that the rather adorable elderly gentleman was Italian, and he was a fluent speaker in Italian, Spanish, and English. The lady was Brazilian, and she was a fluent speaker in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. For the next 10 minutes we had ourselves a conversation in a mixture of Spanish, Italian, and English! It lifted my heart and soul to think of how the three of us had come to be in this conversation. Three people of entirely different ages and backgrounds traveling together down the road getting from A to B. Sure every bus trip isn’t filled with such magic, but how wonderful that there is the chance that it could occur. I’m sure I’ll get my license eventually. But in the meantime, I’ll enjoy the me time, and occasional surprising magic, of catching the bus.