Our perception matters in the end, doesn’t it? If you go ahead and ask anyone whether mermaids and mermen are real, each of them would have a different answer. But now, the existence of these merpeople isn’t confined to our perception anymore. They exist and Netflix’s latest documentary series, MerPeople, affirms that. Created by Cynthia Wade, MerPeople sheds light on the lives of people who have successfully established themselves as professional mermaids and mermen and contributed to the half-billion industry that’s flourishing even more now.
An underwater job, a high-paying salary and it takes only a few flips to achieve it all. That’s a misconception, those flips and turns aren’t as easy as we all assume. Outside the water, it might be a significantly easy task but beneath several feet of water with people judging each expression and each movement, it becomes a tedious task. Who knew mermaiding could be a job? Well, I certainly didn’t know there was more to the world of these merpeople until MerPeople premiered a while ago on Netflix. If you want to know what this series is truly about, dive in!
MerPeople Recap: Introducing You To The World Of Magical Creatures That Are No So Magical
Outside the bedtime stories and fantasy novels, mermaids didn’t exist for the world. These sea creatures have always been a subject akin to fantasy but in the 1960s and 70s, a few people dared to change this myth. One of these people, Mermaid Barbara, shares her insight and life story as a professional mermaid in this documentary series. Joining her, there are several other mermaids and mermen I’ll be discussing as we go.
Starting with the first mermaid we are introduced in Wade’s series, Mermaid Sparkles. She is the first professional mermaid from Arkansas. Her journey, however, hasn’t been filled only with glamorous tails and shimmery make-up. She hardly had any swimming pool or river where she could practice properly. Then, Sparkles met Mermaid Pixi and they became seasters–or sea sisters. Practising in a small corner of a swimming pool graciously lent by a group of people who practice water aerobics, both of them began their journey.
The next mermaid, Che Monique, is the epitome of bubbling energy and is the founder of the Society of Fat Mermaids. She is a legendary mermaid, who proves that size and colour are just excuses, not hurdles. MerPeople is a documentary series that highlights the journey of people who truly are interested in becoming mermaids or mermen–and yes, it is based on real-life people who are the pillars of the mermaid industry. And yes, these people do not have tails instead of legs or possess some magical powers. Instead, they create magic through their determination, dedication, hard work, gorgeous tails and even more gorgeous smiles.
MORE: The Ferragnez: The Series Season 2 Review And Recap: A Life Threat Alters The Perspective Of Chiara
MerPeople Ending Explained: Who Is Eric Ducharme And Morgana Alba?
Professional mermaiding might not sound like a full-time job. Why? Because it isn’t. Surfing might be a full-time job, and underwater diving might be but mermaiding differs from these water-related jobs. It is all about grace, finesse, ability to hook your audience through the activities you are performing. Some even call it mermaid modelling while in fact, the job of these merpeople is to grip their audience and take them to a fantastical world.
Eric Ducharme is a man who makes this happen. He is the founder of MerTailor, an organization that manufactures and distributes tails for mermaids and mermen. Aside from that, Ducharme is a skilled merman and is popularly known for performing underwater ballet as a merman. Eric suffers from Tourette’s syndrome. Yet, he is determined to fulfil his dream of creating a world for merpeople where they could be full-time. Now for this to happen, he has started his own mermaid shows and is helping several merpeople fulfil their dream.
Morgana Alba, a name every mermaid and merman worship, is the founder of an elite mermaid performance troupe, The Circus Siren Pod. Alba is a professional mermaid who started her career when mermaiding was not considered a professional job. She aspires to take mermaiding next level and help professional mermaids and mermen wholly embrace mermaiding. In this four-episode docuseries, each of these mermaids and mermen narrates their stories and helps us dive into the world of merpeople.
MerPeople Review: A Mystical Tale Out To Change Our Perception Of Merpeople
When I first read about Netflix and Cynthia Wade collaborating to manoeuvre a series based on merpeople, I thought it would be another fictitious drama–you, too, right? But then, the updates kept rolling in. MerPeople was declared to be a docuseries and I knew I was going to watch it. I mean, a documentary dedicated to merpeople? Certainly engrossing. And MerPeople doesn’t disappoint. It does a stellar job of introducing the world of professional mermaiding by interweaving the real-life stories of several merpeople.
For a four-episode series, each ranging from 40-50 minutes, MerPeople is too long and not too captivating. You could easily skip an episode and catch up in an instant and that’s never a good sign for a docuseries. MerPeople has its moments where you would want to learn more and more about a particular person–in my case, it was Che Monique and Eric Ducharme. For that reason alone, MerPeople deserves a 6.5 on 10.
RELATED: Is MerPeople Based On A True Story? Everything That You Need to Know!