Week 12: How Our Ingrained Beliefs Shape our Perspectives

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The Ocean, formerly deemed to be an empty abyss by rampant eurocentrism, is a realm of vast possibilities. It is unfamiliar space to the terracentric human world, and, in our neglect to explore, was gravely misunderstood. The Ocean was regarded by Eurocentric ideals as hell, a harbinger of death and chaos, but Gabrielle Tesfaye’s short film “The Water will carry us home” addresses this historically impressed belief as a misinterpretation. She depicts in her film the stark contrast between negative Eurocentric assertions about the Ocean and the beliefs silenced by the cultures they oppressed. In depicting the Ocean as a refuge, a place where spirits are given new birth, Tesfaye asks us to reevaluate our core beliefs, and decide whether or not they are true to ourselves, or impressed on us by a greater societal injustice.

The depiction of the violent European colonizers, abductors of African people, attempting to murder their victims serves as a representation of the Eurocentric belief of the Ocean being just as violent and deadly as they are. The slave traders threw their victims over the side of the boat, believing they would die by the Ocean’s hand, sinking to the bottom of the void. However, this short film contests this impression, and offers us the vision of the Ocean as a realm of benevolence. Instead of the Ocean drowning the victims and dragging their bodies to the bottom of the sea, Orishas come to save the spirits—turning them into mermaids.

The author states in her description of the film, “Upon crashing in the waves, a phenomena happens when the presence of Yoruba Orishas dwelling in the water saves these spirits.”. To my knowledge, Yoruba religion regards Orishas as spirits born from the spirit world sent to guide humanity and teach them how to live a fulfilling, gracious life on Earth. These Orisha bless the spirits endangered by oppressors with new life as part of the sea. These people were no long able to survive on land; the abducted persons home on land was forever tainted by the villainous institution of slavery. In this story, The Ocean itself becomes a new, safe home thanks to the Orisha’s protection. Their bodies are rebirthed into forms that can survive underwater, so that they may raise their children and live a free existence. In this way, the title “The Ocean will carry us home” is not referencing their past home on land, but a new home within the water.

The Orisha’s intervention contests the Eurocentric paradigm that the Ocean is an unkind, dangerous void. In this story, the Ocean is an expansive entity carrying endless possibilities, including housing spirits meant to bless humans with grace. The Ocean can even serve as a home. In this way, the film asks us to deconstruct the perspectives by which we judge the world around us—who instilled in us these ideas we hold as truth? The only way for us to protect ourselves from the folly of accepting skewed, archaic ideas, pedaled by oppressors is to explore the histories of other cultures and research beyond the paradigm by which we are taught. It is our responsibility to broaden our mindsets and step into the evolved people we could be if we led our discoveries with compassion and the hunger for understanding.

week twelve… the water will carry us home

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ok professor… where did you find THIS

anyways this short film was so intriguing and sad. how the water was a vessel that took the african people away from their home but then later became something of a sanctuary to those who fell overboard…

I think this speaks a lot to how people view the ocean. Because for some people it was used like a tool, a sort of road, something that didn’t have life. Something that took life (as evidenced by the people “dying”). But to others it gives life, it provides safety, as shown by the big merwoman transforming all the people (pregnant people I may add) into merpeople and saving their lives. The way people interact with the ocean probably also impacts how they see it.

There’s something to be said about having a surface level view of the ocean- how people only seem to focus on the top of the water, where humans can survive, rather than below, which is normally hostile to humans. It probably also speaks to our fear of the unknown, which makes sense as the ocean IS pretty mysterious. But in this the ocean is comforting and secure, but there’s also respect for it as an entity, as seen in the ending portion of the short film where it cuts from stop motion to real life.

Week 12: The Sea Remembers

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One thing I found really interesting in Derek Walcott’s poem “The Sea Is History” is the notion he introduces that, as humanity developed and began spreading its territory on land, the sea remains this immovable force that is ever present throughout all these eras of turbulence. It seems to act primarily as an observer, only stepping in to swallow that which gets lost in it. One line from the poem that got me to read and reread it a couple of times over reads as such,

“Then came the men with eyes heavy as anchors
who sank without tombs,

brigands who barbecued cattle,
leaving their charred ribs like palm leaves on the shore,” (Walcott, lines 26-29)

These lines gave me chills.

It paints the picture of the ocean being used as a macabre means of waste disposal. We’ve seen the ocean (or any body of water, at that) being used as a means of body disposal in countless movies, TV shows, books, etc. – like the old Mobster term “sleeping with the fishes”. The act of throwing a body in water to sweep it under the rug and leave it somewhere where it won’t be traced is a familiar yet sinister practice to us surface beings. The poem does a good job of reminding us that discarding something in the ocean doesn’t erase it from existence. The ocean remembers. It holds onto our waste like a ledger mapping the geological reaches of our control and depravity. The next bit about the barbecued cattle and the comparison between rib bones and palm leaves just filled my head with images of shapes along the coast, dripping with seafoam and obscured by a marine layer. The poem is a very good read.

The Water Will Carry us Home

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In the stop motion animation ‘The Water Will Carry us Home,’ the water serves as a tool to help transform the spirits of enslaved Africans in the Middle Passage into mermaids, and helps to transport them back by setting them on a path to find freedom within the ocean. The ocean in the context of transatlantic slavery and the Middle Passage is interesting because the concepts of ownership, specifically the ownership of human bodies, are terrestrial-based; you can’t physically own anything in the ocean. 

In the beginning of the stop motion animation, enslaved Africans are lined up and bound, their bodies confined in a way that maximizes the ship’s space instead of prioritizing the comfort of the people within it. The ship acts as a vessel for land and terrestrial based concepts as it carries out the act of enslavement by stealing people away from their homeland and taking them a new world where they would face terrible conditions. On the boat, the enslaved Africans cannot move but as mermaids, the spirits are able to move freely within the water as they are not chained or constricted. In the title of this animation, water and transportation are once again linked through the phrase ‘carry us home’. The water and the Yoruba Orisha associated with it help to guide the mermaids back to their homeland after being violently taken from it. 

The Water Will Carry Us Home

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The stop-motion film, The Water Will Carry Us Home, showed me how the ocean is looked at and appreciated differently by different cultures. The film shows us how there is a long history of black mermaids which is not talked about often in modern culture. As mentioned in the description, the film tells the story of stolen Africans being thrown off a ship whilst sailing through the Middle Passage. They were then saved by the presence of Yoruba Orishas dwelling in the water. This shows how the ocean is not just a scary unknown place throughout history but also a saving grace for some cultures. While the stolen passengers might have been scared when they fell into the water, it was the creatures who resided in it who saved them. This led to an appreciation of the ocean for this culture that is still apparent today, as seen in the ending scene of the film. People are able to connect with the water in their own ways and have a strong appreciation for what it does. This brings me to the idea that each individual person is capable of creating their own relationship with the ocean. With the current climate crisis it is easy to take a step back and assume that “professionals” will handle healing our environment. If each individual person in this world can build a relationship and appreciation for the ocean, we can heal our environment faster as well as discover more about the unknown waters. When we as people take a step back and realize that the ocean is not so scary we can end the boundary that we have created between it.

Week 12: Animism and Ancestral Worship

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Something that struck me about the portrayal of Omambala is how caring and maternal she and the mermaids she creates are. In a lot of folklore surrounding mermaids and water spirits, these spirits tend to be flighty and capricious, erring on the side of malicious towards humans. You wouldn’t trust these spirits to protect you or your watercraft and you’re probably more likely to believe that they’d drown you if they fell in.

With Omambala, her powers are used to transform the pregnant women tossed overboard from the slave ship into mermaids with the ability to swim and survive in their water, even extending that transformation to their unborn children. She manipulates the weather to stop the slave ships from sailing to their destinations. She watches over the slaves stored at the bottom of the ship when the weather is not enough to stop the traders. This portrayal of an ancestral water spirit reflects not just animistic but ancestral worship, as well. Water as the source of all life makes the ocean everyone’s ancestor. Ancestral worship involves the belief that our ancestors watch over and take care of us.

This class taught us to view the ocean not just as a lifeless road for ships or a blacktop for watersports, but as a living being with a history of its own. This stop-motion animation short invites us to not only see the ocean as a living being but as a family member or a common ancestor that connects and takes care of us all.

Hybridity of The Water Will Carry Us Home

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The short film, The Water Will Carry Us Home, had an interesting combination of two mediums: modern film making and stop animation. This mixture of mediums made me think about the hybridity of mermaids that we have touched on quite a few times this semester, but I don’t think this was in the intention of the filmmakers. Rather, I think the combination of these two mediums allowed the filmmakers to tell a story, while also connecting it to real people and modern times. The film begins with shots of women lighting candles, with many shots focused on small details of their bodies and what they are wearing–such as the henna on their hands, the stretched ear lobes, the tattoos, the smoke from the candles. These small details slow down the film and force the audience to pay attention to these details, rather than a big picture. For instance, the henna on the hands with the eyes, which is later also seen on the boat in the stop animation portion of the film. If the shots had been wider and not focused on these details, the audience may have missed the eye on the woman’s hand. This symbol being in both parts connects these two mediums. By having modern film making sandwiching the stop animation, it first allows us to relate to something in the beginning (this looks familiar) and then brings us back to reality at the end (this is part of someone’s culture, this is a story told by these people). There is also hybridity within the stop animation. Although most parts are hand drawn and slowly moved, there are also historic documents embedded in the video that reveal the horrors of the slave ships that moved people to the United States. This is important because it shows the history behind this story. In addition, at the end, there is another woman who creates headphones out of shells and a piece of wire. This creation is a way to listen to the ocean, and is another hybrid part of this film as it combines something man made with something of nature, of the ocean. This hybrid element of this film shows the ability of man and nature to coexist, intertwined with each other, and unable to separate. 

Carry Us Home

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In watching the stop motion short film for this week’s reading, I found the video to be quite pleasant to watch, the colors in the film were very soothing and comforting. The story being told is of African Slaves traveling the middle passage via ship. On this slave ship, there is a point in which the slaves, the majority being pregnant women are thrown into the Ocean, where they are saved by Omambala and turned into mermaids. Their children are soon born of seashell clams. The title of this film, “The Water Will Carry Us Home,” stood out to me. In retrospect, everyone has their perception and definition of “home,” to some people, it is their own house, for others, it can be their hometown or where they grew up. The title using the word home led me to the question: Is the Ocean our home? For many indigenous cultures theirorigin stories begin in the water. Another indigenous origin story I can think of is Turtle Island. In indigenous North American Folklore, their origin story consists of a turtle who holds the world on its back. This being the second origin story I’ve consumed, it has led me to believe why there is a difference in origin beliefs. If so many indigenous cultures share beliefs in coming or beginning in the ocean, where and why did Christians believe in something completely different?

Going back to the language of home, it kind of was comforting to me that Home might be the Ocean. Although it can be scary for some to think about, for most people who enjoy the Ocean and the beach, it was a nice thought to have. Before this video, if I were to think of home I would probably think of a concert place, this short film allowed me to shift my terra-centric form of thinking in regards to what I consider and call my “home.”

Week 12: Omambala: The Water Spirit

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The stop motion video titled The Water will Carry us Home was very pleasant to watch; out of all of the literature we have read and videos we have watched this one felt the most familiar in terms of what I’m used to seeing when speaking about mermaids or folktales. The video featured a water spirit Omambala and the quote that, “the water spirit Omambala brought us here. The water spirit Omambala will carry us home.” We are then shown the story of Omambala and how she came to save black slaves that were traveling on a ship to be sold off. There were slaves thrown overboard, mainly pregnant women, for an unknown reason. They were then saved by Omambala and turned into mermaids and their babies were born from clam shells.

After watching the video I still had questions so I googled who Omambala was and found the term Orisha which means Devine spirit in Yoruba religion. After learning that the video made a lot of sense as we essentially viewed the origin story of their main religious figure. Yoruba is one of the largest ethic groups in Nigeria. Now as far as why water or a water spirit became the focal point of their religion I am still unsure of. This video also sort of reminded me of Avatar and their relationship with the Eywa, the “All-Mother”. The Eywa is essentially the entire consciousness of Pandora, it is Pandora. This is why the Na’vi people are so interconnected with their environment as they respect their land and treat it with honor as they are harvesting a good relationship with the Eywa. Although the Na’vi people are fictional and blue, I do believe there are some clear connections with them and the Yorubian people as they both worship a spirit of nature, understanding the value of environment and how we as people are interconnected to it. It shows how the land and water all carry history of people, the environment, and how we have interacted with each other throughout time. The water and land will be here when we are not, just as it was before humans, and it will be able to tell the tales of our time.

Midterm – Close Reading

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Karina Garcia

Jessica Pressman

ECL 305

31 March 2024

‘The Little Mermaid’

The Little Mermaid’s determination to convert from mermaid to human reflects the similar qualities that should be expected to be found in humans, which slowly erases the barrier that differentiates who and what is human and nonhuman. Andersen conveys the message of determination by presenting the obstacles that were put before the Little Mermaid as she was trying to convert her fishtail into a pair of human legs and to obtain an immortal soul, thus making her a powerful sea creature who allows humanistic traits like determination to guide her life decisions. This is significant as it develops equality for nonhumans by not only showing the trait of determination but by also showing the humanistic traits they possess that humans are only expected to have. 

One of the first circumstances in which the Little Mermaid begins her longing is when she states, “I will venture everything to win him and to obtain an immortal soul… I will go to the sea-witch, who has always frightened me hitherto, but now, perhaps, she can advise and help me.” (Andersen, 119). There is already her initial longing of wanting to join the prince again as he is all that she thinks about in her days, but she seeks to go to the extent of the sea witch for solutions. Although the sea witch had “frightened” her, the Little Mermaid was able to put aside all her fear and commit to going to the sea witch as she knew that the sea witch would be the answer to all her problems. In this small passage there is a slight revealing of the Little Mermaid’s determination, in which despite the fear she felt from the sea witch she was still going to find her because she knew that in any sort of way she would be reunited with the prince on land. 

As the Little Mermaid had set her mind to finding the sea witch, it was now time to follow through and physically go to her “turf-common” (Andersen, 120). In the area of the sea witch is a dead area in which nothing grew and was lifeless which was the complete opposite compared to the area that the Little Mermaid lived in, and something specific that she had to overcome were polypi which are “half animal, half plant” (Andersen, 120). The Little Mermaid was fearful of passing through this as the polypi made up the trees and bushes and had the ability to grab onto any and everything that passed by them and due to this she grew fear but then reminded herself of her main goal, “…but then she thought of the prince, and of the soul that human beings possessed, and she took courage.” (Andersen, 120). The fear she had about physically reaching the sea witch because of the polypi almost stopped her but she allowed herself a few seconds and overcame this physical obstacle. As the polypi had almost prevented the Little Mermaid from reaching the sea witch, she reminded herself of why she needed to meet with the sea witch and this allowed her sense of bravery to grow more from this obstacle. 

Finally, after the sea witch had warned her about the repercussions of this potion, “…it will hurt you as much as if a sharp sword were thrust through you” (Andersen, 121), it was a huge warning about that the physical pain she will have to endure as long as she’s on land. The Little Mermaid had been forewarned warned and through the language of “sharp sword” it demonstrates the pain from fish tail to legs, and in this section there could’ve been an easy resistance and declined the offer but instead the Little Mermaid’s response to the sea witch was accepting of all that came with this deal, “I do,” said the little mermaid, in a trembling voice, as she thought of the prince and of an immortal soul.” (Andersen, 121). As the Little Mermaid had the choice to pick if she wanted to continue with this deal or not, she had reminded herself again of her own personal goal and knew what exactly she had to endure and also overcome if it meant to be on land. 

Through the Little Mermaid as the main character in this story there was more of a diminution of the barrier that separates human and nonhuman, thus advocating for equality for the nonhuman. The Little Mermaid was able to prove her determination by the challenges that came towards her but never resisted and instead pushed forward with her ultimate goal. Within these challenges as well, she showed other humanistic traits like bravery and courage, and these are traits that can be applied to only human beings and not the non. The Little Mermaid proved herself to hold humanistic traits and to be a powerful sea creature as she willingly left her entire life behind to start completely from scratch as she believed it was her calling. The story of the Little Mermaid is one that continues to show the equality for the nonhuman through the use of her own personal challenges, and everything she overcame to be human while demonstrating humanistic traits.