She had nothing to gain from rescuing Eric. Sure she was in love with him but she knew she couldn't be with him so there would be no use in saving him to get him to fall for her. She did it out of the goodness of her heart, it's just so selfless. Plus I love how she's arguing with her dad about the prejudice he has over humans. She's fighting to defend not only another culture but another species. To me that's pretty selfless.

^^ ditto

^^^ well said Katara. She could have let Eric just die. But she saved him. She is the complete opposite of " Selfish" - she was following her dream, a dream she wanted even before she set eyes on Eric. I think like Katara said, she was fascinated by the human world, and thought there was more to the humans and their world than the merpeople feared. And Because of what happened to her mother, - I don't think her mother, being the kind and understanding merQueen that she was would want Ariel to hold back, and be prejudice.

^ I agree with all of this.

She was willing to give up her new found freedom for Aladdin to be let go. It failed, but nonetheless. I think she missed her father a bit while she was gone, as she vented to him. She went to make amends with Jafar even though she clearly did not want to, but stayed for her father. I just don't see Ariel of Merida as selfless, I am sorry.

I do think Ariel did a selfless thing, but Jasmine is the most selfless. She does act self-centered a lot but does think of others more than those 2 do.

Ariel wasn't being selfish, she was just following her dreams.

I disagree with what's been said about Ariel. All her acts were selfish. She saved Eric because she has a good heart and because she liked him, this has nothing to do with selflessness, as she didn't have to lose anything or be in a disadvantaged position. And she did follow her dreams, but she did it in the most selfish way possible - she just deserted her whole family and friends, and went to live with a total stranger, without caring about anybody's feelings or how disappointed and sad they will be. So check what selfish means before saying that Ariel is not selfish at all.

@BelleAnastasia - Its just opinion, and to be fair she did at one point plan on seeing him in her mermaid form.

I really don’t get why when it comes to most Disney movies such as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' or 'Cinderella' it is acknowledged by people that those films are FAIRY TALES and for fairy tales it is perfectly acceptable to follow the concept of “love at first sight" so no one has a problem with Cinderella falling in love with Charming after just dancing with him or Snow White falling in love with the prince after just seeing him, yet when it comes to 'The Little Mermaid' OH MY GOD Ariel fell in love with Eric and left her family behind for a guy she just saw once, how can she even love him when she only saw him once, she is such a shallow, selfish brat, etc. First of all:
- 'The Little Mermaid' made it clear that the events of the movie took place in a time when EVERYONE was getting married at young age hence Eric’s conversation with Grimsby. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s up to people themselves to decide when or whom they want to marry.
- 'The Little Mermaid' is a FAIRY TALE. Here me out? A fairy tale. Not even just a fantasy story, but a fairy tale where the love at first sight CAN happen and where when a heroine feels like it is true love, it actually IS true love. Also, in addition to that, Ariel and Eric ended up developing further than just love at first sight. While princesses before Ariel fell in love with their princes without even knowing a thing about them, Ariel in that single hour saw Eric doing admirable and exceptional things that defined him as a person such as being nice and friendly despite the fact that he clearly didn't like the idiotic statue Grimsby presented to him on his birthday or coming back to a burning ship that was about to explode in order to rescue his dog. More than that, he pushed Max off the board when he knew that he possibly wouldn't be able to get out of there alive himself. In those few minutes Ariel got to witness Eric doing things that defined him as a noble person, something that princesses before her never saw their princes doing In fact, they didn't even know if those guys were noble or brave at all, they fell in love with them just because. Not that I’m saying it’s a bad thing though, but that is not the point. The point is that Ariel’s love for Eric had a real basis.
- Ariel wanted to be a human BEFORE she even saw Eric and the TLM series gave a great and accurate portrayal of how she felt like an outcast under the sea and even in her mermaid body and how desperately she wanted to be a part of a human world (she even said “one day but not today"). There's an episode where she attempted to become like humans (PRIOR to falling for Eric) by asking a wizard to give her “two tails" like humans have so she’d at least be able to DANCE. Not to have a guy but to feel free and alive and capable of things she wanted to be able to do, things she dreamt of doing, things she sang about in “Part of Your World" in the movie, once again, PRIOR to meeting Eric.
- A GIRL CAN LOVE WHOEVER SHE WANTS TO LOVE without having to explain WHY she loves them and without having her father destroying something she worked on for her entire life. There is NO ONE, EVER, to tell a person that they CAN’T love someone because their love is supposedly shallow or “not deep enough" or doesn't work for certain individuals. No. If you ask me, this is the definition of delusion.

I understand that people are entitled to their opinions but its the double standards surrounding this movie that I can't tolerate.

I don't think she's selfish, just badly behaved.

Unpopular opinion I guess. She is selfish at first but then she realize her mistake, trying to save her mother, admit her mistake, and apologize to each other with her mother.

I don't see Ariel and Jasmine doing a really selfless things. Yes, Ariel saves Eric twice, but it's only because she fell in love with him. Besides that, I though she's kinda selfish. Jasmine, hmm...I don't know. She is neither selfless or selfish.

Of the three, Merida is the most selfish. She has to make someone else "think the same way she does." By the end of the movie, Merida has effectively made her mother see things her way.

I agree with KL. Ariel didn't force her dad to think differently about humans, and she certainly didn't seek a spell to change someone else's mind for them. She just changed who she, herself, was. This is perfectly acceptable. Trying to change someone else (other than yourself) just ends up being disastrous a lot of the time.

Jasmine doesn't get a lot of screentime in Aladdin, and we don't really get much by the way of development to figure out which she is. Handing the apple to the boy in the marketplace without being aware of having to pay for it...was kind, but also showed that Jasmine wasn't being taught about life outside of the palace at all. So...Jas is naive.

Because she ain't selfish, either.

I'm not a fan of hers, but I never though Jasmine was especially selfish.
The other two though...