Blogpost # 5: Mermaid as Entertainment

One of the things that we consider to take away our stress is to entertain ourselves. And when we say entertain, we find things that will make us happy and contented. But how do mermaids entertain us?  There are some fun games and activities that are related to mermaids where most of us enjoy.

Games

We love to play different kind of games even if we’re not young anymore. For example: DOTA, basketball and computer games like Cooking Games, Action Games, Ball Games or even Dress-Up Games. Honestly, I’m still playing dress-up games when I was in high school. Dress-up Games is dressing up characters like Disney Princesses, Models, Cute girls, and also Mermaids. Many young girls play these kinds of games because they find it attractive. Dressing up is like bringing the fashion and artistic side of you. There’s an article written by Adriana Jefferson entitled “Mermaid Dress Up Games” on ezinearticles.com where the author discussed her love for online mermaid dress up games. In this article, she said that there are three main characteristics why she loves to play these games: “they’re fun, they’re ticket to the dreamland world and they stimulate little girls’ creativity!” There’s another game I found which is also related to mermaids.

An article entitled “’Shark vs.Mermaid Death Squad' Launched by Greenpeace to Raise Awareness for SustainableFishing” written by Dominique Mosbergen on huffingtonpost.com talks about the video game “Shark vs. Mermaid Death Squad”.

In the game, called "Shark vs. Mermaid Death Squad," users can choose to play as a shark, a turtle or a manta ray -- three marine creatures whose populations have been threatened by destructive tuna fishing. Players must navigate the chosen animal character through the Pac-Man-style interface, liberate tuna from cans and avoid three nemeses characters, which are nasty-looking iterations of the mascots for canned tuna brands Chicken of the Sea, Bumble Bee and Mermaid. According to Greenpeace, this game is made to raise awareness about unsustainable tuna fishing.

In my opinion, mermaid games were made not just to entertain us but also used to help environmental problems related to the ocean. 

Film Movies

Many films and movies about mermaids were made for us to watch and be entertained. In an article in thescorexardreview.com, Megan Lehar discussed the “Top 7 Mermaid Movies”. But I will only discuss the two most popular movies I knew, “The Little Mermaid” and “Aquamarine”.

Let’s discuss first The Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid is about Ariel, a mermaid princess, who longs to know more about the humans who live on land. While spying on people, she saves the life of a prince named Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes) and falls in love with him. She sneaks behind her father’s back and makes a deal with Ursula, the sea witch, to be given legs so that she can woo Eric. But she must give up her voice, and if she cannot make Eric kiss her within three days, she’ll be Ursula’s forever. 

This movie is based on Hans Christian Andersen. The Little Mermaid was a very good movie for me. Ariel, being a princess, decided to leave her throne for her uncertain love. Another popular movie entitled “Aquamarine” was discussed in the article.

Aquamarine talks about the two young teens who find a mermaid named Aquamarine in a swimming pool after a stormy night.  When they discover she’s looking for true love, they offer to help her if she’ll grant them a wish for them not to be separated. Aquamarine sets her sights on Raymond, a local lifeguard, who all the girls have a crush on.

Aquamarine

If you can see, movies about mermaids have similar purpose. And that is to inspire us and never give up in finding our true love. I can say that these movies wanted us to know and realize that being different is not an exception to find you true love. And even if you and your love have different levels and statuses in life, always remember that nothing can stop and separate the both of you.

Mermaid Swimming

Do you want to swim like a mermaid? These days, we can learn how to swim like a mermaid. Many people enroll in swimming lessons, because they want to learn how to swim. But there’s another kind of swimming lessons where you will practice swimming like a mermaid. In an article on dailymail.co.uk entitled “Real-life Mermaid Swims with Whales Using Very Own Fish Tail - and Holds Breath for Two Minutes on Deep Sea Dives” written by Deborah Arthurs, the author said that a swimmer named Hannah Fraser, 36,was inspired to make first tail after watching Daryl Hannah in the mermaid film “Splash”. The author said that Hannah made her first tail and started to swim like a mermaid when she was 9. And it’s because of her fascination of mermaids since she was 3. And now, mermaid swimming lessons have already reached our country, Philippines. A certain article on diversityhuman.com entitled “Mermaid Swimming Lessons by Mermaid Swimming Academy” by Mage Lynden discussed that the Academy are now open for people who wants to learn how to swim like a mermaid located in Makati. The Mermaid Swimming Academy also said, "Make your fantasy come true and escape into the mysterious mythical world of mermaids."

Mermaid Shows

Mermaid shows is one of the popular tourist spots in every Ocean Park. There’s an article entitled “Generations of Mermaids Dance in Weeki Wachee Springs” written by Cathy Salustri on visitflorida.com. Northern Sun Coast in Florida has this one of a kind show called “Weeki Wachee Springs State Park” who invited the world to watch these mermaids dance. The girls doing the mermaid dance were very glad to make the people watching them happy. But the sad part is when they leave their job. Barbara Wynns, the spokes-mermaid said that "Whenever these current mermaids get ready to quit I tell them, ‘Be sure you're really done, because you're never really done'," and added, "Every mermaid that ever swam a show at Weeki Wachee would say, ‘If I could just get on that air hose one more time.'"

Swimming like a mermaid might be fun. In fact, I really want to swim like a mermaid, not to be a mermaid.  Mermaids might not be the good looking creatures that we knew, but they have certain characteristics that attract us and make us love them and be fascinated by them.