In the short film “The Water will carry us home” 2018 the stop motion is a retelling of stolen Africans who are thrown off a slave ship while going through the Middle passage. This is a story of how humans’ relationship with nature heals, a story of rebirth in the face of tragedy. The stop-motion animation starts with what sounds to be tribal singing, and shots of relics, historical cultural items placed about. These material items tell a history, one that is tangible. A feminine figure is introduced, she appears to be doing a spiritual ritual, and this is when we are first shown a recurring theme, the third eye (1:01). The third eye can be seen throughout the stop motion, a symbol of seeing beyond what is hidden. There is a shift from live action film to water color 2D art, despite it being two dimensional the story holds much depth. With the historical context of this stop-motion, the tragedies of the middle passage are well-hidden in our written histories. This third eye is symbolic, allowing us to see what has been often overlooked from the enslaved Africans’ point of view. At 1:35 there are multiple doors, these doors we can assume open to different experiences and stories that are often untold. The story of the discarded slaves is just one out of the many. 

The image of the boat shows us the many enslaved people in crowded conditions, mixing media with a newspaper excerpt saying how the ship is holding “250 fine healthy negroes 3:05.” The description of these African people frames them as commodities, cargo that only values them for their labor. This newspaper excerpt is used to also show the different sides and narratives that were being released. The women who were deemed unhealthy and unfit, usually pregnant women were thrown overboard. At 4:00 and 4:23, there is one mother in particular that is lying in fetal form, surrounded by the ocean, she seems like a fetus in the womb. This detail further humanizes the victims and is a reminder that mothers are the children of others, and they deserve the same love and empathy too. The mothers turn into majestical mermaid, with a third eye, they are reborn again in the ocean. The third eye represents a spiritual rebirth as they become intertwined with the sea (4:33). 

We then transition back to live action film, a woman pays her respects and mourns the lives lost out at sea. The sea holds their stories and histories and tells it in a way that transcends the human language.

In the painting “The Fisherman and the Syren” (1858) by Frederic Leighton, a striking image of a mermaid holding onto a fisherman is front and center of the canvas. A provocative oil on canvas painting of a half nude mermaid, her pale white skin contrasting to the Fisherman’s tanned toned body. Her long golden hair falls past her waist reaching the start of her dark blue, serpent like tail. The mermaid’s hair is adorned in pearls and pieces of subtle coral, a nod to her sea origins. With the jewelry and half braided hair signifies both her similarity to women on Earth, and the “otherness.” The tail is wrapped around the fisherman in a way that’s possessive, and he is being pulled down to her to the dark moving waters. The painting captures a single breathtaking moment of danger, creating a vision of what it looks like to succumb to the lure of a mermaid, the painting both dynamic and still. The sensual nature of the picture makes the theme apparent, there is power and destruction in female sexuality. 

Victorians took a strong interest in mermaids, a contrast to their rigid societal structure. Women were bounded in corsets, restricted in their movement and to breathe freely in the name of beauty. There were strict social hierarchies, which fully determined the way one lived, from jobs to marriages and education. Women were typically expected to stay home to fulfill their duties as mothers and housewives, they were deemed to be physically weaker therefore unfit for employment. Even in modern times, where female sexuality is becoming more acceptable in some parts of the world, women are still subjected to criticism for it. Female sexuality is either hyper-sexualized or condemned, and is villainized in mermaid or siren  form. The mythical mermaid becomes a symbolism of female sexuality freed, she is not chained to a house, gender role, or by any other societal role. She has agency in those whom she loves, those she lusts for. She is free to swim anywhere in the vast sea. The ocean is mostly unexplored, and a mermaid represents that exploration of the seemingly fearful unknown. 

When looking closely at the painting, the fisherman’s body is held upright, and his arms are spread across as if in a crucifix position. This similar position to Jesus crucified is allegorical, painting the man out to be a holy figure suffering in the arms of the “unholy” mermaid. She lures him into danger, an imminent death because of her sexual agency. As if he is paying for the perceived sins of women. 

Even in Hans Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, the classical children’s story can be interpreted as the consequences of female sexuality. There is a sort of liberation when the little mermaid leaves her home out of her own volition to pursue the prince. Before her introduction to the prince, the little mermaid shows a liking to “a pretty statue, representing a handsome youth hewn out of pure white marble” that ended up sinking to the bottom of the sea (pg. 109). 

The story describes her blossoming into womanhood, when turning fifteen she gets to explore her agency, adventuring onto land where her siblings would rather not. When being enamored by the prince, the little mermaid faces consequences for her lust and yearning. Despite her exercise of agency in this tale she had to make destructive sacrifices, giving up her voice and ability to move without pain. At the end, she ultimately meets a sad ending in which love isn’t reciprocated. 

Mermaids are forces to be reckoned with, they are mysterious, alluring creatures that serve as a reflection of society’s fears of unrestrained women’s sexuality. A mermaid can be seen brushing her long hair, a form seen as self-gratification. She lures men in with her seductive qualities and her sexual freedom is deadly.