Five Simple Rules for Mermaid Movies

**Spindrift** · 07-27-2011, 11:09 PM

I thought it was a pretty good read; it's really entertaining: http://www.ifc.com/news/2010/06/mermaid.php

It talks about all the repeating elements and cliches in mermaid movies.

**malinghi** · 07-28-2011, 01:12 AM

I think the people here could probably come up with a lot more ideas of what works and what doesn't in mermaid movies.

**AniaR** · 07-29-2011, 03:14 PM

haha i never read this but it's close to my own list of things I wanted to avoid for my webcomic!

**Princess Kae-Leah** · 07-29-2011, 05:01 PM

I think in the RissieVerse I averted most of these elements. Pacifica is in some ways a pretty feminist society, female nudity is just as much of a social taboo as it is in our world, etc. I think #4 bugs me the most, I think the "seductive siren" stereotype of mermaids is way overdone, even though I myself am guilty of having the villians of my series, The Sea Sirens, conform to this trope, even though they're not the main characters and are viewed as outcasts from respectable mer-society at best.

**Spindrift** · 07-29-2011, 09:44 PM

Yeah. Although... I'm not sure how we could approach the chest censorship issue. No general solution seems to satisfy the critics.

**OrcaMatt** · 07-29-2011, 10:46 PM

Our Mermaids Are Different!(tm)

**Spindrift** · 07-29-2011, 11:56 PM

Hah. I've read tvtrope's other pages on mermaids, but seem to have missed that one. :P That one is pretty good.

**merboy78xy** · 07-30-2011, 12:23 AM

Speaking on nudity/censorship... I find it appalling that our country isn't over this yet. First off, it seems like EVERY movie has featured female nudity without much issue (lord, look back at the 80's with the sex-romp "teenager loses virginity" films like PORKY'S, etc.), not to mention the crazy double standard of male vs. female nudity on films-- there is even female nudity on cable TV these days!! ...and I don't just mean the discovery channel in Africa... Even Splash, considered to be such a mild film, has bare butt and even Ms. Hannah's breast showing in one shot. But Still my mom has a cow should I draw a mermaid without wearing a bra! Sure, be tasteful about it. It doesn't have to be in a gratuitous way, but I get offended when these mythic creatures are marred by our puritanical, and outdated fears about the female form! I say-- let them be natural and beautiful the way god made even us!

Now, I am also interested in movies that show a different side to mermaid lore... that's why I loved SHE CREATURE and the new PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movie... it shows a darker, wilder and more dangerous side to these creatures. Albeit, she creature went a bit over the top at the end for me, but it's got some cool ideas and great visuals. And "ON STRANGER TIDES" I thought was right on the money: beautiful, sensual, wild, dangerous, alluring, innocent, instinctual...all with great visual effects to boot! I LOVED her transformation from tail to legs. Seamless! Haven't seen one so good since Splash's bathtub scene (from legs to tail).

**Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!** · 12-01-2011, 08:32 PM

Hmm... I agree with #1... that's a given, with any fantasy/mythical story of lovers from two different species/countries/etc. #2 is fairly well represented in myth and legend (Melusine of Lusignan, for instance, has rules that her husband has to follow and a secret she needs to keep). #3 that only applies to the movies... and not all of them. In the Hans Christian Andersen version, she does fall in love with the prince, but what she's really after is an immortal soul... which we assume she'll be able to achieve as a daughter of the air (though I agree with P.L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins, in chiding Andersen for blackmailing the kids with the ending). Stan the merman from another gay sequel, and the merpeople in the Sabrina Down Under Movie, while attractive, aren't really seeking human partners at all. And the Nixie of the Mill-Pond is quite powerful and dangerous, not to mention the sirens, the Lorelei, the Blue Men of the Minch, and the numerous children of the dragon kings under the sea from Asian legends etc... all of whom are their own creatures, not a toy for men to play with. #4 is a given... but not always kept up in the myths, particularly for mermen and sirens. As for #5, if they're at least half-human, they're likely to collect some sort of adornment, jewelry, and covering, including disney's seashell bikini tops and the like, and depending on the origin of merfolk, might have evolved from humans and retained the cultural taboo against female frontal nudity... though I fully admit this last one is a stretch.

**Prince Calypso** · 03-25-2012, 06:50 AM

I say we all come up with a short screenplay for a mermaid movie and post it. i think the rules should be that we try to make the movie as unique and different then anything else on film as possible.
who's with me?