Psychology Today | 24.10.2026 23:10
I must have been 8 or 9 when I first became obsessed with The Little Mermaid. I had the VHS, the cassette tape, the easy piano sheet music—you name it, I owned it. And one of my favorite pastimes was to take a cushion from the couch, place it on my back with a green macramé shawl holding it in place, and perform "Under the Sea" for my entire family. And yes, you better believe this white Jewish child did the full Jamaican accent. My family adored it. I was asked to do command performances. It was one of the first songs I learned to play on the piano just so I could accompany myself. And while there's nothing wrong with a child soaking up that validation, I think there was something else going on. I didn't want to be Sebastian the crab; I wanted to be Ariel.
