I tried to explain why this is such a big deal to me on Twitter, but I'm not sure I can fully express why my immediate response was I WANT ONE RIGHT NOW. I know there are problems with the Ursula character and trends among fat Disney characters, but Ursula is so magnificent. When I first saw fat girls creating Ursula costumes for Halloween, I was filled with indeterminate squee.
I also find it incredibly disappointing that Broadway Ursula is not fat.
In our discussion on Facebook, TheSugarMonster said, "WE NEED THIS WITH EVERY FIBER OF OUR BEINGS." Yes, Ursula is that goddamn important.
When I told her I wanted to write a piece asking folks to explain what an Ursula Doll means to them, she said:
Ursula was a bad ass fat bitch who got she wanted and didn't apologize for her size OR her evil. Being that she was based on Divine...there's a reason they're two of my biggest inspirations.
Yes, Ursula was based on Divine, meaning that she came from fat unapologetic fabulousness.
So what does the existence of an Ursula Doll mean to you? Is it important? Why?
Also feel free to post your favorite Ursula gif. Here's mine:
Essentially, when I think of the positives related to an Ursula doll (and not any of the sizable negatives related to Disney's long history of cultural appropriation/oppression), I think of how excellent it is that there is finally (kinda) a Divine doll! Divine means so much to me personally, and so much to the way I navigate life as a fat queer and trans person interested in gender performance.
ReplyDeleteI was a teen when I first encountered Ursula, and I fell immediately in love. Everything about her -- her self-confidence, her unapologetic lushness, her campy performance, her body shape that actually featured fat rolls and mobile cleavage, her shiny red lips -- besotted me. I even liked that she was a villain, kind of a better-fed and less brittle Cruella DeVille, someone against whom Ariel looked even younger and more ridiculously naive. I didn't know she was based on Divine, but it all makes so much sense now. :)
ReplyDeleteAs a teen, I was always disturbed by the end of the movie when Ursula, grown magically to monstrous proportions (ahem) gets impaled by a ship's mast and sinks to her watery death. As most of us know, Disney villains are supposed to die by falling! Imagine my discomfort at seeing this fat goddess run through. :-\
In my world, though, Ursula -- that hot, smirking, strutting queen of sultry femininity -- lives forever.
OK, first of all, WANT! I want an Ursula doll for my desk at work, because she'll remind me to stop apologizing for no reason all the damn time and I could squeeze her when I'm stressed!
ReplyDeleteSecond of all, Ursula was based on Divine? Hooo-LEE awesome. I learn cool new stuff every day on the intertoobz!