Why mermaids fascinate me
What would you do if you chanced upon a real mermaid?
Mermaids have always fascinated me. Half-human, half-fish and entirely mysterious, they are known to enchant sailors, terrify beachgoers and have made a permanent home in pop culture.
Whether you grew up watching Ariel trade her voice for questionable, romantic ideals, read creepy siren myths that made you terrified of the ocean or spent too much time wondering if mermaids actually exist or not, these mythical creatures consistently keep us hooked (pun intended).
Mermaids exist in this unusual space between beauty and horror. On one hand, you have the Disney version: big-eyed, seashell wearing and desperate to “be where the people are.” . On the other hand, you have mermaids in ancient myths, grim reapers of the ocean, luring sailors to their demise through haunting songs. Hans Christian Andersen’s version of The Little Mermaid wasn’t a feel-good story. It was a tragic tale about unrequited love and painful sacrifice, and I would argue, limerence. .
There is always the question of whether mermaids are real or not. The truth is we’ve explored more of space than we have of the deep sea, so who knows what terrifying creatures are lurking down there. The ocean is a vast, terrifying mystery. If giant squids exist, then why not humanoid sea creatures? Of course, science would argue that mermaids defy biology, but where’s the fun in that?
Pop culture has done a great job of reinventing mermaids every few years. In the ‘80s, there was the romantic fantasy comedy Splash. In the 2000s, there was H2O: Just Add Water, which made every teenage girl, including me, wish that she could turn into a mermaid whenever she touched water. Mermaids were reimagined as scary, creepy sirens in Pirates of the Caribbean, and were nightmare-inducing in The Lighthouse.
Mermaids have evolved from sea princesses to something a little more unearthly.We still have no idea what to make of them. All I know is that if I ever encountered a mermaid I would be running for my life. The ocean is not to be played with. Imagine running into a MERMAN?! That’s even more horrifying than mermaids. No, thank you. Double it and give it to the next person, as the kids on TikTok say.
At their core, mermaids are fascinating because they blur the line between two worlds, land and sea, human and beast, reality and myth. They represent transformation, mystery and the unknown. Perhaps this is why they have stuck around for so long. We are fascinated with things and elements that exist in between, that challenge the reality we know and accept. Even if we never find real mermaids, we will never stop searching for them, whether in folklore, the stories we tell ourselves or in the deepest depths of the ocean.
