Wattpad brings you a guest post from Shana Norris, writer of “Surfacing,” Book One in the Swans Landing series.
Here, she shares with us her favourite fictional mermaids in film. Read her story “Surfacing” on Wattpad for more underwater adventures:
I have always had a love for mermaids, which is a big part of the reason I wrote Surfacing and the rest of the Swans Landing series. As kids, my friend and I used to spend our summers in her pool pretending to be mermaids. (Trying to keep your legs together while swimming is not easy!) I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a mermaid? They’re usually depicted as being beautiful and magical, and they can swim to the parts of the ocean that us humans could only imagine going to. The downside would be smelling like fish all the time, but I guess it’s something you’d get used to after a while.
Of course, I have a weakness for movies that feature mermaids. I just have to watch them! Here are my top five favorite mermaids from movies:
1. Ariel from The Little Mermaid– You knew she would be in this list, didn’t you? I was nine years old when this movie first came out and I can still remember the lyrics to most of the songs. (That probably means I watched it a little too often.) Life is better down where it’s wetter, but Ariel decided to give it all up for a human life with her prince. Sigh! True love!
2. Madison from Splash - I don’t know how many times I watched this movie as a kid in the 80s! The mermaid Madison saves Tom Hanks’s character from drowning and eventually goes on land to find him again. Except that she can’t let anyone know she’s really a mermaid. Which, of course, causes a lot of funny and awkward situations. It’s a great romantic comedy that’s still funny now.
3. Aquamarine from Aquamarine– This is definitely a fun movie, targeted at the tween audience but older audiences can enjoy it too! It’s silly, but funny and heartwarming. Aquamarine can grant wishes and agrees to help two friends stay together if they can help her prove that true love does exist.
4. Mermaids in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire– Yes, it’s not really a mermaid movie and the mermaids only have a brief appearance. But aren’t they kind of awesome? While other movies depict mermaids as beautiful, peaceful, and naïve, Goblet of Fire’s mermaids are fierce and kind of scary. Definitely a change from the mermaids we’re used to seeing!
5. Syrena and the other mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides– Finally we get to see mermaids in this pirate series! These mermaids are like the darker tales of mer-people: beautiful, manipulative, and very dangerous, with the exception of Syrena, who is different from the others. I love watching the mermaids in this movie!
Read Shana Norris’ paranormal fiction “Surfacing” on Wattpad!
Sixteen-year-old Mara Westray has just lost her mother, and now, being shipped off to live with the father she doesn’t know is not how she imagined grieving. She’s already counting down the days until she turns eighteen and can leave the tiny island of Swans Landing.
But from the moment she steps off the ferry, nothing is as ordinary as it looks. Whispers of a haunting song on the wind make her see impossible things, and she isn’t sure she can trust her judgment about what is real and what isn’t anymore. Maybe she can’t even trust her judgment about quiet Josh Canavan, whose way of speaking in riddles and half-truths only confuses her more, luring her deeper into the secrets hidden beneath the ocean’s surface.
As she tries to unravel the events that led to her mom fleeing the island sixteen years ago, Mara finds that the biggest secret of all is only the beginning.