This quote from Luca's mom is one of my favorites from the movie:
Some people, they'll never accept him," she says. "But some will. And he seems to know how to find the good ones.
I think this is true for victims of all types of discrimination. Racism, sexism and other types of discrimination still exist in many aspects of our lives. Committed bigots will hold on to their positions, no matter how many facts are presented to them. However , if because of those bigots, we choose to only interact with people who look or think like us, we'll miss out many good people, and will have much less fun. I think this is what the "staying in the sea"/ "moving to deeper sea" mataphor tries to teach us.
When Alberto chose to disclose his true identity to Giulia, Luca panicked and decided to hide who he truly is. More than that, he drew the line by betraying Alberta, and pretend that he's different. This is such a good depiction of Luca's identity crisis . When being his true self might mean losing some people he valued, he is too scared and had to hide things.
This reminds me of the dilemma that kids from lower-income communities faces. When they move up the social ladder, they are also losing connection with their family and old friends. In those two different worlds, they may have two different characters, the friends from their new circle might see their old self as unsuitable, and their home community might see them as a betrayer.
I also think of people with invisible disabilities. For them, it's often times a hard choice whether to disclose their need for accommodations at work/with friends. If they do, they might face stigma attached to disability; if they don't, they may not be able to realize their full potential and live in constant worry of being found out.
In the end, Luca and Alberto reveal to the entire town that they are sea monsters. Seeing this, Giulia's dad, who had expressed his hate towards sea monsters, took a surprise move and sided with Alberto. If he hadn't known Alberto, his opinion may not be that easily changed. I believe similar things can happen in real life: when their loved ones become victims of discrimination, people could have more emphathy and more motivation to fight against the unfairness. Also, when the society become more tolerant , more people will have the courage to claim their true identities, just like in the movie, we found out that some of the humans are actually sea monsters who didn't want to let others know.
I always like stories of underdogs. Like the story of Nike's founding. And like this one. They remind me that success can happen in most unexpected ways. That's why people who believe too much in perfectionism/ableism/elitism often see outcomes that surprise them .
Just a few more words about friendship.
Like Giulia, I could be just "too much": getting over-excited about things, sometimes in an akward way. So I really appreciate the friendship between Giulia and Luca. It is nice to have friends who understand or even share our "less decent" aspects of characters.
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