POLL: Are Merpeople Not As Marketable?

[SeaMansa]

Please excuse me if this turns into a rant but...
Are mermaids and mermen not as marketable as many of the other supernatural beings out there (such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts, etc)? I ask because I want one day to be a screenwriter, and as a film student I have to think about marketability for such things. My current pilot script is one I have been adapting from an old story and it really just kind of dawned on me that there are not many shows about merpeople. Yeah we have had H20 and Mako but still.
So I started thinking about various reasons as to why this was and ofcourse the "girly" factor came in but really, mermaids have been downright scary at times (2003 Peter Pan, Killer Mermaid, She Creature, even my own stories can be described as having "mystic zombie demon fish people") so its not like these creatures can't encompass both the fantasy and the fear and everything beyond and between. Anyway.
Do you think that as far as mainstream society goes (im talking THE AVENGERS, Im talking BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, I'm talking HARRY POTTER) that mermaids, if written seriously, could be something that actually attracts people. Or is it something that will probably stay in a fairly small community?
Also, im gonna try to do a poll and I have no idea how this works so I hope it goes well. I included different answers for both yes and no just because swag.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I've only seen one show where the story's main character isn't a teenager (not counting youtube series, only main stream ones on tv and at the movies). That was Dysebel where the Grandma is recounting a story to her land boy grandson, which turns out to be the Grandma is a mermaid and the mermaid story is about her.

Would love to see more with older or mature mermaids, what kinds of things they encounter on land and such, how they lived on land for years in hiding or not.

[Echidna]

I think mermaids are not as appealing to the general populace as the other mentioned things because humans cannot identify with aquatic beings as much.

Humans like to identify with hairy, bipedal, mammal things.
Like...WEREWOLVES.
A werewolf is the absolute embodiment of hairy, bipedal mammal.
It also has the appeal of being strong and dangerous.

Vampires are just pale nocturnal humans who are hard to kill and sometimes emo.
Again, very easy for humans to identify with.
Etc.

Fish and half-fish (and even aquatic mammals) aren't popular with a large portion of humanity.
There are fishlovers, there are people who love everything in the water, and many women/girls feel drawn to mermaids the same way males might feel drawn to uberstrong, uber-masculine entities.

But it's still a niche, kind of.
It might get more popular when the (now forgotten) side of merpeople (tritons, mermen, the deadly predatory side of them) gets explored, but it probably still won't be as appealing as the aforementioned hairy mammal things. ;)

[deepblue]

Werewolves are also an embodiment of the 'beast within' that so many struggle with in tales, and so it's an archetype people can identify with.
Vampires are (these days) the embodiment of the permission of sexuality so many never feel they have, not counting 'vampires' which in no way fit the usual myth. Many people desire such permission. And of course it goes deeper into the immortality archetype.

But beyond the fact that most people a don't identify with mers it the cost of production- movies made in an aquatic setting, live action, cost a lot more to make. One must have more insurance, divers, air, a lot of training. If they are using cgi on top of live action, you have a whole heck of a lot more technical people to hire.

Sometimes it just comes down to what a studio can make *enough* money on, not if it's a marketable idea. Mermaid books are everywhere right now, in many respects, in the fantasy/paranormal romance world, they're the new vampire/new werewolves. Because you can write anything and not worry about insurance and production costs.

There is a major studio mermaid film coming out soon... if the studio, Paramount, would get it released. No idea why it keeps getting moved back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_and_the_Sun_(film)

[AniaR]

I have a bit of insider knowledge about multiple projects that are panning out over the next two years with major networks, couple that with the following:

-Mermaid lit has sky rocketed. When I wrote my first fishy business I had an index of every book about mermaids written listed in it. Now I could fill a book
-mermaid appearances in commercials, music videos, short clips, print work, and viral online have been steadily increasing
-mermaid movies coming out in the future
-the intense increase of mermaid merchandise being everywhere and fairly standard now. I remember 5 years ago Sean went to germany and got me a mermaid necklace and it was the first one we ever found besides a few online, We couldnt find any in our country
-more professional mermaids being hired than ever before
-tails being sold more than ever before
-kids tail business is booming to the point you can now get monofins in stores across the world instead of just online.
-Mermaids are frequently being the topic of discussion in many news outlets and many major magazines in pop culture. it's no longer being seen as a niche interest.

I think things are cyclical. Vampires lasted for a while. Boomed with twilight and all that after the initial booms of the 80s and 90s. But now I see less and less and where there were a bunch of movies and TV shows and books coming out, they've def slowed down. Same with things like wizards, fairies, etc.

I certainly feel that mermaids are at an all time high, I don't think they've been this high since the 80s. Back then it was high because of a few movies. But now I think it's high because of a whole culture. I think it's going to keep climbing this year for sure. I know in Canada mermaids have never been this big. We're usually so slow to catch on to trends but things are crazy now.

[Silva]

Yeah, mermaids are at a high right now. Just look at the popularity of Fin Fun and Merfins.

[Merman Lir]

I think there's definitely an issue of production cost. Think of the cost of vampire fangs and make up versus multiple silicone tails (one for dry close ups, one thats actually swimable, one for the actor, one for the stunt double)... the cost of shooting on land versus in a wet location, building underwater sets... etc.

merfolk on tv or film are just harder and more costly to produce.

[Seatan]

I agree with the production costs thing... Plus imagine if you are doing a movie on all mermaids... How are they supposed to talk? Not underwater. So in order to have a movie focusing totally on mermaids (that isn't animated), the mermaids have to have a reason to be above the surface most of the time. In books they can be psychic or whatnot, but that doesn't work for movies. So on top of extra production costs, there's the difficulty of having dialogue. You simply can't film 90% of a movie underwater without some SERIOUS work because the actors are going to have to be voiced over like cartoons.

I also agree that mermaid culture is booming right now. Hence the banning at the pools!

I think the poll needs an "other" choice, because I can't select any of those to answer the question really.