What Prince Eric teaches us about men... Do you agree?

In my opinion, Eric isn't given enough credit for his personality by many Disney fans which I find upsetting because I think he went on an incredible emotional journey throughout the movie. Eric, despite being a rich handsome prince wasn't behaving like a selfish uncaring and spoiled kid who looks at everyone from high hourse (like *cough Naveen cough*), he is very down to earth, he is a dreamer, he loves his dog and he is selfless to the point that he would die rescuing his pet, but luckily is saved by a girl whom he wants to desperatelly know more about, but has absolutely no chances to because she literally vanishes away. And bonded with this mysterious girl with a gorgeous voice whom he owed a life, Eric keeps dreaming about her but then he meets "another" girl, a mute girl whom he helps even though he doesn't have to (shows, again, how caring he is and how he isn't behaving like a rich privileged spoiled kid), he helps her not because he is romantically interested in her since at that point he is still dreaming about "the one", but just because he is a good person. Eventually he decides to give himself a chance to get to know this new mute girl. Eric, a dreamer and a guy who was desperate to find his one and only who saved his life, cherishing this image of her he created in his head, chooses the REAL person over an unrealistic dream and that's where his character growth begins (and I think it's a great massege: to choose a real person over an unrealistic image of someone you don't even know).

The thing which most people miss is that Eric actually grows up during the movie. At the start, he is the prince, who is very much down to earth, but is neverless happy for any excuse to slip away from his responsibilities. Instead of considering Grimsby's advice, he prefers to dream of some sort of perfect girl - even BEFORE Ariel rescues him. Then is is very much in love with a voice.
But then he meets this mute girl, and begins to understand, how foolish it is to wait for some sort of dream girl. The moment he trows his flute away is the moment he grows up. He stops waiting for the perfect girl, but wants to go after the real girl. That the real girl actually is the dream girl, and that Vanessa interferes is beside the point.

Wow someone who gets it! That's how I feel about Eric too but everyone on here is like "No, he's dreamyyyy...." I just sit back and think really? Just really?

I agree, even though Eric is my second favorite prince. THIS is exactly why I'm 16 and I refuse to have a boyfriend until after I finish high school and college.

I never much liked the Princes,even as a kid or a teen,I'd hit it off better with some of the male villains(with the exception of Claude Frollo,blech)because they're smarter and have more depth to their personality.I can handle evil better than shallow.

I disagree. I'd say you got one out of three.

Young? Come on, Eric was young also. Ariel was an appropriate age for him.

Pretty? Okay, that's true enough. So...what else is new? He's pretty also. Like it or not, Eric and Ariel are in the same league, and looks do make a difference (for better or worse).

Don't talk much? Completely disagree. Eric was, of course, disappointed when Ariel couldn't talk. But more importantly, it turned out that Ariel was able to communicate rather well without talking. Watch the movie again, and you'll notice that she "talks" more than he does when they're together. Eric never dominates any "conversation" with Ariel, and mostly just follows her lead. This is understandable, since he's still moping over "the one", and he's polite enough not to talk about his obsession over "the one" in front of Ariel. (In contrast, when he's alone or with Grimsby that's all he can think of.)

Far from some passive meek wallflower, the mute Ariel is expressive and playful and aggressive. That's what Eric REALLY teaches about what men want. Men like Eric don't want some pretty little thing. Men like Eric want a tomboy--one of the guys--a best buddy (with benefits). Men like Eric dream of a girl who's into all the same guy stuff that they're into.

Here's the ironic thing--ARIEL is the one who pays little or no attention to what the other says. While Ariel has physically lost her voice, Eric is the one who can't express what he's really thinking. Like I said, Eric is too polite to obsess about "the one" in front of Ariel, which means he just can't say what he's feeling. But even if he did, it's unclear how much Ariel would hear. She's so overwhelmed with her own feelings that she almost doesn't even hear what Eric says anyway. The bottom line is that Ariel never does comprehend what's going on in Eric's heart and she doesn't understand what's wrong with Eric when they're together in the boat.

Agree!!

I think in the beginning of the movie, long before he meets Ariel, he's waiting for his dream girl and wants sparks from the start of the relationship (hence the whole "it'll hit me! like lightning!"). Then when Ariel rescues and sings to him, he has it in his mind that he has to find the girl with the voice because that girl is the one. When he meets mute Ariel he sees that's in need of help. Knowing that she can't talk, he doesn't know what to say to her, but even though they aren't saying much to each other, they're having a conversation, with their facial expressions and body language. And I think Eric was too embarrassed to ask for Ariel's name on the first day in front of Grimsby, which is why he asked during the tour of the kingdom. It's because of Ariel that Eric learns what real love is and helps him see that even though she can't talk, she nice, warm, and caring and that that is far better than any girl that Eric could ever dream up inside his head.

Well I thoroughly disagree with that, but it's your opinion. Eric thought Ariel was pretty of course, and that she looked familiar. But he fell for her because he spent time around her and saw how fun loving and vibrant she was! He fell for her personality through her actions and not her words. He also thought she was the girl who saved him, which for me isn't shallow at all.

Hmmm . . . I never thought of it that way . . .