Soman Chainani on the problem with 'The Little Mermaid'
May 22, 2026
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1:28Now PlayingSoman Chainani on the problem with 'The Little Mermaid'
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as posted by the channelAuthor Soman Chainani has a hot take on Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.”
“There's nothing about Ariel that's, to me, redeeming,” he told PBS News’ Amna Nawaz.
As he got older, he recalls, he realized Disney logic "was often wrong, and that the hero would win in these movies without deserving to. And so I started to realize that I was right to root for the villains, because they actually deserved to win in a lot of stories that they lost."
Chainani sat down with Nawaz for the latest episode of PBS News' podcast “Settle In,” where he discussed his new book, “Young World,” a political thriller about a teenager who becomes president of the United States, and why many young adults aren't reading.
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