“Maybe there’s something
the matter with me
I just don’t see
how a world
that makes such wonderful things
could be bad”
“Part of Your World” – Jodi Benson
While many would recognize Benson’s voice as the iconic voice of Ariel from the movie “The Little Mermaid”, the opening spoken words leading into the song definitely set the tone for the song and the movie to come.
Those iconic lyrics were written by Howard Ashman, and with the calendar flipping to June, his story becomes more poignant.
Ashman was born in 1950 in Baltimore and pursued theater at a young age. He was out and openly gay as a teenager. He moved to New York after college and started a theater company. He had a few strong productions, but when he met composer Alan Menken, both careers took off.
Ashman and Menken joined forces to create the musical “Little Shop of Horrors” based on the Roger Corman movie. He then worked with Menken at Disney, and that quickly turned to movies. “The Little Mermaid” in 1989 was the first movie in which he wrote a significant amount of the music. “Part of Your World” was a song he pushed hard for inclusion in the movie, and it was quickly adopted, with the height of the AIDS epidemic sweeping across the country and creating a division that many LGBTQIA+ people could identify with.
Heck, beyond the songwriting, Ashman was influential to the character design of Ursula, basing her on a well-known New York drag queen.
Ashman could speak well to the feeling of being ostracized as he was HIV-positive, and just before awards season for “The Little Mermaid”, in which he won an Oscar, he was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS.
His struggle with the disease informed his portrayal of Beast in “Beauty and the Beast”, encouraging the character to be portrayed with obvious humanity despite his unwelcome social appearance. As he was working on “Beauty and the Beast”, Disney sent him storyboards for “Aladdin”, and he contributed many of the most iconic songs of the film – “Friend Like Me”, “Prince Ali” and “Arabian Nights”.
He would win an Oscar for his work on “Beauty and the Beast”, but his partner would accept the award for Ashman, as he passed while the movie was in editing.
In his career, Ashman reported that despite the success of “Little Shop” and “Mermaid”, he didn’t truly feel accepted for who he was until Disney accommodated his failing health to have him work on “Aladdin” in ways that they hadn’t done previously with a lyricist. Knowing he was desired so strongly for his talent finally allowed Ashman to be proud of who he was.
Many use June as a reason to express their disgust for anyone who has a sexual expression other than straight. You’ll hear people complain about Pride parades and company advertising during the month with complaints that veterans should be honored, despite the fact that the previous month, May, was National Military Appreciation Month, and every Major League Baseball team and National Basketball Association team wore special uniforms to honor the military.
Rather than finding reasons to take away someone’s pride in who they are, why not look for reasons to support, honor and build up your neighbor, regardless of their skin color, religion, sexual preference or their favorite sports team.
Last month, I wrote my 300th column for the Plainsman. That column addressed mental health, a frequent topic among my columns over the years. This column is likely the most common overall topic, though – seeking out similarity and humanity rather than our differences. It’s a continual fight, but if there is anything we should fight for in our world, it’s for every person to feel loved and to be proud of who they are.
Happy Pride to all who celebrate, and to everyone who reads this column, I hope and pray that you find what makes you proud each and every day.
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