Hello & welcome back to Vs. Today, I'll be pitting two princesses up against each other. From Altantica wanting to be part of our world, Ariel. And from Agrabah, looking for a whole new world, Jasmine. As a reminder, the categories include Personality (1), Desire (2), Song (3), Defining Moment (4), & The Film Factor (5). Now it's been a while since Defining Moment has appeared on Vs. and to refresh people's memories on that category, this is where I take a look at the moment that I feel defines the character the best.
Personality
Ariel
Ariel can best be described as being outgoing, courageous and curious. Very curious about the human world. Perhaps inquisitive would be the better word to use to describe her. However she is not without her flaws as she is also stubborn and I don't if hot headed is the right term but I think you could apply that to her. I think you could also say that Ariel is a bit of a free spirit.
Jasmine
Jasmine too can also be described as being stubborn and free spirited. In many ways, Ariel and her share a trait in that they're both interested about a world. They don't know for Jasmine, it is the world outside the palace walls. She is also a bit stubborn and like Ariel, when she enters the world she doesn't know, she's naive. Geese, this is tough as their personalities are so close to each other. I could call this a draw but I'd rather not as that would be too confusing. Instead, I'd rather just go with the character that I thought had the more engaging personality and for that reason, I have to give this round to...
Ariel
Desire
Ariel
Ariel's desire is rather easy to figure. I mean it's the crux of the whole movie. She wants to be a part of the human world. In her song, she even goes over how she yearns to join our world. This goes back to Ariel being curious about the unknown and to her our world is the unknown. This is a very relatable as there are a lot of people that want to know about the unknown.
Jasmine
Jasmine's desire on the other hand was harder to figure out but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like she wanted control of her own life. I think that this really is evident in how she refuses all of the suitors that Sultan sets up with and she turns them down. In a way, you could also make the argument that she tries to take control of her life, when she fleas the palace and heads into the market.
Of course, her cover is blown but I feel as though this is Jasmine's first step in taking control of her life and to me, this is something bigger than wanting to be part of an unknown world and for that reason, I have to give this round to...
Jasmine
Song
All right, we now come to the songs and for those of you wondering about Jasmine, I'll be using A Whole New World as I feel that is just as much her song as Aladdin's.
Part of Your World (Ariel)
This is such a gorgeous song and it takes the audience into the mind of Ariel and sure, it's "I Want" song but who ever said that was a bad thing. This song gives viewers insight into Ariel's desire. This song is very hopeful and Ariel dreaming. Of course I can't talk about this song about this song without the reprise.
I mean the reprise has one of the most iconic moments from this film. When Ariel lifts herself on that rock and the giant splash comes from behind her. It also feels more powerful with that scene.
A Whole New World (Jasmine)
Okay, so it probably seems odd to use this song but going back to Jasmine's desire for a bit. I think this ties into Jasmine finally getting a taste of the freedom that she'd wanted. So in a strange way, it is kind of an "I Want" song but at the end of the day, I feel that Part of Your World is the stronger song. Therefore, I must give this round to...
Ariel
Defining Moment
Ariel
In a way, Ariel's defining moment is also Part of Your World as it goes into who she is as a character and want she wants in her life. Now trust me, it was tough choosing what Ariel's defining moment was but I honestly feel that it has to be Part of Your World as it shows what she is about.
Jasmine
Jasmine's defining moment was easier to figure out and this again plays into the sense of freedom aspect. Now it is a shared line with Aladdin but I feel that it works for Jasmine.
Princess Jasmine: You're not free to make your own choices.
Aladdin: Sometimes you feel so...
Princess Jasmine: You're just...
Aladdin, Princess Jasmine: ...trapped.
Again for this Vs., we are focusing mostly on Jasmine here and the important aspect of this conservation is the word, trapped. With Jasmine saying that she feels trapped, it is her saying that she doesn't have any freedom and that's what she wants in her life. She's tired of the palace life as she doesn't have any freedom and I think to get a better feel for this, we need to take a look at her two previous lines in this scene.
Princess Jasmine: Oh, sure. People who tell you where to go and how to dress.
Princess Jasmine: You're not free to make your own choices.
These two lines are important in both shaping the character of Jasmine and letting us know what she wants. It all goes back to her wanting freedom and control of her own life. It's a simple moment to be sure and one that you may glance over while watching the film but at the end of the day, I feel that this moment is stronger and therefore I have to give it to...
Jasmine
The Film Factor
This is it, The Film Factor. Which character worked better in their respective film? This round is going to decide it all. We are all tied up with Ariel taking Personality and Song while Jasmine took Desire and Defining Moment. With that out of the way, let's begin.
Ariel
There is no doubt about it, Ariel shines brightly in her film. She is the star and heck, for parts of the film, Ariel has to convey her actions without any dialogue and that is no easy feat but it works. Even without any words, Ariel works wonderfully.
Jasmine
Jasmine is an odd case because unlike Ariel, she is not the star of the film, she is in. Oh, sure she plays a important role in the film but she isn't the main character but you know what, every time, she is on screen, I find that my attention turns towards her. I honestly think it is something about the way, she carries herself because she seems to be very assertive and that draws attention to the character and to me, I think that makes her work quite well in her film. With that being said, I have to give this round to...
Jasmine
The End Result
Jasmine took the win by a score of 3 -2 (sorry, DisneyOtoko). She had the more compelling desire, her defining moment was stronger and as much as I like Ariel, I think that Jasmine draws more attention and works better. Don't get me wrong, I still love Ariel but at the end of the day, Jasmine is the winner.
DEATH AWAITS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
ReplyDeleteSorry I don't agree with this even if you take my fanboy bias for Ariel out of it.
You're right Jasmine is not the focus and her desire isn't developed as much as Ariel's how does that make her win the desire round? With Ariel's story it focuses on virtually everything her desire, why she wants to be in the human world, the real tension and friction that it causes in her relationship with her father (also doesn't that mean she wants to take control of her life too by being in the human world not bound by her father's hatred of humans?) and even Sebastian who has to constantly choose who to side with. It focuses on the evolution of her desire and the decisions and consequences of these decisions good and bad that are made along the way. Jasmine's desire and running away was just a plot point to get Aladdin in that dungeon so he could meet Jafar nothing more which is completely forgivable because she's not the focus!
There are plenty of defining moments for both of these characters. I find it odd you only looked at the films not the TV shows or other media. Ariel has multiple defining moments such as Defeating Evil Manta, blowing up Dr. Vile's Lab, destroying all of her treasures in the grotto to stop the dangerous spell that was cast on them, Saving Evil Manta from the Brain Sponge, Saving Eric, standing up to Ursula, pleading to save Hans Christian Anderson I could go on and on!
Now Jasmine has this amazing moment in one of the episodes of Aladdin she's turned evil because of this jewel hair pin thing and she's being manipulated by Abis Mal to be the muscle of his gang and she kicks Aladdin's ass!!!!! Now Aladdin of course wasn't trying to hurt her too bad, but she just pwned him!!!!!! I said to my computer screen "You Go Girl"!!!!!! that was awesome!!!!!!!
The film factor really? I apologize man, but I can not get behind this reasoning. Basically you're saying that she wins that round because she's a scene stealer. Couldn't you say that about ANY DISNEY SUPPORTING CAST? Sebastian, Genie and the gang, Timon and Pumbaa, Lumiere and Cogsworth, Kronk, Jumba and Pleakly, Timothy and the Crows, Grumpy yada yada yada! That doesn't necessarily mean they work better that just means that they are such a good supporting cast that they're development is comparable to that that of the main character not always superior to the main character.
Sorry, but I didn't like this one even with my fanboy bias taken out of the equation. I think it's because I find the reasoning very off. I've always enjoyed VS even if I didn't agree I could understand because of the strong points made, but here not so much. I know these particular articles are based off of feeling more than fact or even opinion, but I couldn't disagree more! Everyone is entitled to their opinions and feelings and at the end of the day this is all for fun, but on a technical note on the actual comparison I felt this one was very off and head scratching.
I was afraid that this was going to happen and this is part of the reason that I held off on doing this one for a long time. Because I knew you'd disagree with this one even more than you did with Rapunzel Vs. Cinderella. Let me explain some things, in the original draft of this, Ariel and Jasmine were tied for personality. I was going to give Ariel, The Film Factor but the more I looked at it and I looked at Jasmine, I was just convinced that she was the better character and really, she was set up for the win, if you look closely at the article. Look at the way, I talk about her Desire and Defining Moment. Also, I thought it was clear that when I do these articles, I only like to look at the films. While I like the shows, these articles are about which characters works better in their respective film. Hence Film Factor. Yes, I agree that Ariel's desire is the key factor to the film but I find that Jasmine's is the better one and I thought it was pretty clear that is what she wanted. As for Film Factor, Jasmine may not be the focus but no other character overshadows her when she is onscreen unlike Ariel, who is easily overshadowed by Scuttle, Sebastian and Flounder and even Ursula. This one along with Frollo Vs. Mother Gothel took a lot of muster to do because these are the two VS. that I'd fear doing the most. This one because of the reaction as I know that is one is going to be most divided Vs. and the other because Frollo, no matter how I worked it was always going to win every category. I apologize if you thought my reasoning were head scratching but I have to disagree with that and your right at the end of the day, this is about feeling and trust me, do you know how hard it was to not have Ariel win? Like you, she's one of my favorite characters but the more I looked at it, Jasmine was all around better in my opinion.
DeleteYour goal is to express yourself Tim, not impress me. Sorry if it seemed like I threw a hissyfit, but it wasn't that you liked Jasmine better that's your opinion feel the way you want to feel I just didn't think the reasoning was adequate enough for me to see why you picked Jasmine and I still don't even after rereading it twice. I criticized your analysis more than I did your choice. Don't feel bad Tim I feel the same way about Doug Walker with his extremely controversial Dark Knight Rises Review (which I 10000000000000000000000000000000% DISAGREE WITH!)
Deleteso it's not just you LOL! I'm sure I've written stuff that you think is just not well reasoned.
Wait a minute! Doesn't Ariel want to be free too? I mean to be in our world away from her father's hatred of humans? I mean her desire has more dynamics and decisions both good or bad (another element of Ariel's character is that she makes mistakes and isn't perfect which is a good thing) that effect the other characters around her and has real consequences while Jasmine's while solid or good seemed like standard movie plot progression and development to get Aladdin to fall in love and get his ass in the prison.
Also defining moment for Ariel that should accompany Part of Your World is when her father shows up to rescue her from Ursula and he takes her place because he loves her and every aspect of her life and world is crumbling around her the world she knows and the world she wants to be is fading away and her father's honor as well as hers is gone and destroyed and it's all her fault and her response afterwards(which is to kill Ursula and restore peace to the sea)
Aw shit I did it again didn't I? Crap!
P.S If it was very hard to make Ariel lose then maybe you should have had her win LOL.
Maybe that hard choice was your conscience or Jiminy beating your insides with his umbrella saying that your making a mistake! LOL.
No I have no idea why there are spaces in between the Dark Knight Rises title.
DeleteIt was hard to have her lose and maybe I should have had her won but I honestly felt if I did that, there would also be backlash because the more I looked at it, I was setting up Jasmine for the win and don't get me wrong. I love both of these characters. Your on point about Ariel wanting to be free from her father, something I neglected to go into in good detail. As I don't think I even mention that in passing. I mean, I've praised Ariel before and c'mon, you've probably seen NChick's review of Mermaid and didn't agree with it as I didn't either. It's funny you mention that because besides Part of Your World, that was another moment I considered but after listening/watching Part of Your World again, I knew that was her defining moment. Hmm, Jiminy. Never really cared for him, myself. Trust me, you aren't the first to do this as I posted Dr. Facilier Vs. Ursula on ME, this weekend and Les thought Ursula should've won. These articles are the hardest to write. Funny, I used to say that about that Can We Talk about articles but compared to Vs., those are a cake walk. Because while I've figured out the basic format, Vs. is still the youngest segment after My Thoughts, which is just a spin off of Can We Talk about but more hopeful and positive. Honestly, I think what it pushed it over for me with Jasmine has to go back to the line of feeling trapped. Because I think that is what won me over. Because like Jafar Vs. Yzma, I expected Ariel to win but there was something that pushed me over the edge to give Jasmine the win and I also think as I said that she works well in her scenes. Off-topic: do you know any characters that would work well in a Vs. against Herbie The Love Bug? As I've been itching to get him on here. And just so you know, if I do that one, I may consider including the sequels sans the TV film as that is not canon to Herbie's history. I think the biggest reason, I gave Jasmine the desire round is because, I felt as though it resonated with me more than Ariel's. P.s. if you don't like Doug's review, don't watch Brad & Jillian's as Brad is even more nitpicky and I couldn't disagree with him more about Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and okay, maybe this is just me but what is the big deal about the Robin reveal. I know that Nolan said that Robin wouldn't appear in his film and technically, the hero Robin never showed up. I don't know, I liked it as Robin is my favorite Batman character. All I kept on thinking after I saw Rises is that I wanted a film about Blake.
DeleteAs for the Vs. on Herbie I would say Benny, as much I loathe to remember an awful movie Inspector Gadget's car, as much as I don't care about them Cars characters, I don't know there aren't really any vehicle characters and I assume animals as the mode of transportation like Wilbur or complete objects like the Nautilus don't count right?
ReplyDeleteAs for Dark knight Rises I don't know what the big deal is either about the Robin thing. I don't know if fanboy purists are whining that he's not named Dick Grayson and have the exact same origin story as the comics, but I think it would have been better and cooler if the completely forgettable John Blake was named Terry McGinnis! That would be awesome!!!!!!! Since that character is the successor and is going to be in the cowl anyway. Still i thought it was a pretty clever way of introducing Robin into this universe although the reveal felt like an afterthought it was okay.
Thanks for the suggestion, I might try Benny and if my current background is any indication, I like Cars. (lol). Trust me, your not the first person to say that about Blake. I think that would've been cool if he was Terry.
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