Kind of.

YES!!!

It's phonocentrism at it's worst. He only cares about the vocal chords, not the girl they belong to.

EDIT: We see Ariel from Eric's point of view after she rescues him from drowning, and thanks to the visuals we can feel the sunlight and her tender hand upon his cheek. But all he got out of the encounter was "She had the most beautiful voice" and "that voice, I can't get it out of my head." Not her warm presence, tender touch, loving eyes, or bright smile.

Grimsby even tells Eric later in the film, "If I may say: Far better than any dream girl is one of flesh and blood; one warm and caring, and right before your eyes." Eric gives up on his dream girl with the beautiful voice with a visibly heavy heart, and is clearly shown to SETTLE for the less preferable girl without the vocal chords; and then the lesson gets tossed the SECOND he hears the same voice from another source, and he RUSHES to see who it belongs to.

So much for loving the real girl and not the dream girl.

Then when Ursula's enchantment over him is broken and Ariel gets her voice back, what's his first response? "You can talk! You're The One." Oh, I see. When she was a real girl of flesh and blood, warm and caring, and right before his eyes, she was his second choice. When she has THAT VOICE, SUDDENLY she's "The One."

The voice is all that matters to him, not the girl.

At first, he is infatuated with "the one" because of her voice, in a rather typical fairy-tale fashion. However, he loves Ariel for her electric, enthusiastic, wondering, inquisitive self.

^ Hardly. She remained his second choice until he learned she had "that voice," then suddenly she was "the one."

Yes, he's very shallow in that regard. In a way Grimsby appreciated Ariel more!

Tygers_Eye - I interpret this in a different way. I think after Grimsby talked to him about the "warm, caring flesh-and-blood girl" (or the similar words he used), a light bulb went on in Eric's head. When he threw his flute away, it symbolized realizing Ariel is the one he loves and giving up on his mysterious rescuer. I think it's a pivotal point for Eric's character development. Previously, he was an idealist with an overly-romanticized view of love and an idealized woman in mind. Now he becomes more firmly set in reality.

You can argue as much as you want, but for the time being, this will remain my interpretation of Eric's character, his love story and the particular scene I mentioned.

Eric got to know Ariel without her voice, and he realized how sweet she was, as a person " without a voice." He was falling for her on the lagoon boat ride, before Grimsby said ANYTHING. If "the voice" was so important...then he would not have thrown the key whistle he had away into the sea--- and set off for Ariel's room. Yes, Eric got sidetracked by being curious about the singing person on the sand. But you've forgotten one important detail, Tygers_Eye. Ursula/Vanessa used a spell that went directly into Eric's eyes and zombified him!!!! That was not shallowness on Eric's part AT ALL. That was Ursula's spell at work.

So, Eric is imaginative and an idealist. But he wakes up to reality and grows as a person. I still don't agree with you, Tygers_Eye. You cut out a lot of details that are right there in the movie.

What annoys me is when people say he only loves Ariel for her voice. I agree with Silverrose and 8804.

Yeah, I agree with Silverrose1991. That's always how I read it- like he realized he was stupidly infatuated with this mystery girl when he really loved Ariel. For everything she was.
Agree with 8804 too.

Eric loves the girl who saved him and the only thing he remembered from her is her voice. Besides, Eric learns to loves the mute girl even though he thought she wasn't the one. And he was hypnotised by Ursula, remember?

I agree with 8804 and Silverrose1991. They both said it perfectly.