Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For today’s Femme Fatale Friday blog post, I will be exploring the film Aquamarine as the nostalgic Mermaid film favorite of late Summer!

I have been thinking a lot about how much this film means to me ever since it had its 20th Anniversary this past March.   It is so crazy that this film has been a part of my life for that long!   I can still remember spending weekends and Summer Nights watching this with my high school best friend.   We did this for years, never tiring of the adorable film.   After all, it is a fitting film to watch with friends, given how deeply tied to female friendships the narrative is.

So, as I revisit this beloved classic each year, and I usually watch it multiple times a year, I find myself feeling held in a comforting embrace.   I love seeing the antics of the teenage girls as they navigate friendship, loss, and crushes.   It really is a traditional coming-of-age narrative with a Mermaid twist.   

To be honest, the key to this film’s utter joy is the character of Aquamarine herself.   She is the Mermaid who has run away from home when her father sought to marry her to a man she did not love.  In fact, she even tells the girls that the other Merfolk think she is crazy for believing in love at all, as they just marry who their parents wish.   Her rebellious attitude and unwavering belief in love, because she had once seen it, is admirable.  Of course, Aquamarine thinking that she can fall in love, or rather make Raymond fall in love with her, so quickly is full of youthful naivety.   Yet, that is truly how the mind of a teenager works, whether they are human or a Mermaid!   As a sidenote, I adore that the male lead is named Raymond, as I have always believed this is a reference to my beloved Melusine, whose husband is named Raymondin in the oldest French legends, and is anglicized to Raymond.

Another facet of this film that is truly lovely to behold is that it acknowledges love in various forms as being important.   We see love between family and love between friends as shown to be just as important to a happy life as romantic love!   That is a wonderful moral to a story.   It is also one that serves as an important reminder to value the people we care about.   

For those who may not know, this film is based on a novel by Alice Hoffman, and I have loved the novel since I read it in elementary school.   So, I was familiar with the story years before the film came about.   I would recommend reading the novel if you want more Mermaidy goodness, as I remember enjoying it as a child.   

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the fashion of the film.   This whole movie is full of iconic early 2000s staples.   Whenever I watch it, I can spot several things that I wore in middle school and high school.   It truly is a film that dressed the characters in ways that actual teenagers of the day dressed, as it did not feel as curated as other movies.   I love getting the blast from the past of seeing the characters wearing things I so vividly remember donning myself, and it certainly adds to the nostalgia factor!

I hope you have enjoyed this nostalgic walk down memory lane as I have reflected on my relationship with the film Aquamarine.   Do you enjoy this film?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the film poster.   I found the poster on https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429591/.

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