The worst part of my high school experience was being on the swim team. Though my teammates and coaches were always kind and encouraging, I was painfully slow — held back by my short legs and the drag of my hijab-friendly swimwear. I hated losing, and the exhaustion of after-school practices in the pool and early morning workouts in the weight room seemed worthless when I knew my race time was never going to change.
During those long hours in the pool, cold, sore and bone-tired, it was one little cartoon blue fish that kept me going. I remember repeatedly reciting “just keep swimming” in my head whenever the practice sets were especially difficult. This mantra from “Finding Nemo” fame helped me push through the next stroke, the next kick and the next lap.
I don’t swim competitively anymore (thank God), but when I hang out with my siblings in a pool on a hot summer day, I still hear Dory’s voice in my head. Like many other cartoon characters, she comforted me in the time I needed it most.
Dory’s presence also ensured that, despite my negative experience on the swim team, water remained a light, fun part of my life. It is characters and movies like her that have stuck with me throughout my young adult years. Lighthearted media has the power to bring us together and make light of even the toughest parts of life. With water-themed media specifically, I find there is a certain hearty glow in the center — a wistful, nostalgic feeling that pulls you in like the tide.
To me, the best pieces of art are the ones that evoke feeling. Water is such an essential part of everyday life that no matter how it is used in a piece of art, it will do just that. We tend to have the false belief that the more common something is, the less value it holds, in art or otherwise. There is a popular discourse online about how there is no such thing as an original experience. Though I resonate with the fear of conformity in this conversation, I feel that water — as a symbol, as a setting, as a subject — is so powerful precisely because of its universality.
Children’s media featuring water holds true to this principle. Mermaids, talking fish and water spirits all come together in water-themed kids’ content to create the impression of water as a magical world for children to experience. In “Moana,” the ocean itself calls to Moana and helps her complete her journey. In “Luca,” two sea monsters get the opportunity to experience human life on land. The entire concept of the lost city of Atlantis adds to the notion that, beneath the waves, something magical exists.
Even outside of children’s media, water is seen as a great force of beauty. Visual forms of media, like paintings and films, use water as an awe-inspiring object. There is something so cinematic about movies like “Aquaman” or “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The imagery of the different characters submerged in water, the depictions of magnificent sea life and the composition of impossibly beautiful underwater shots are truly a sight to behold. No matter your opinions about their plotlines, you can’t deny how stunning all the different forms of water are. Art allows its viewers to immerse themselves in an aquatic experience in a way that’s impossible in real life.
Water is one of nature’s most limitless shape shifters. It is a quencher of thirst, a source of calmness, a cleansing tool and so much more. It is also, unfortunately, a limited resource. As we put in our best efforts to preserve it, we must also relearn what it is that makes water so special in the first place. Think of rain in literature and film — what is seen as a nuisance in real life becomes the backdrop of some of the most romantic, unforgettable scenes on screen — yes, I am talking about “The Notebook.” It is within art that we find a love letter to water and a hope for its continued existence and abundance in our lives.
Sometimes, when art becomes “mainstream,” we dismiss its merit as an objectively good piece of art — if there is such a thing. However, I see that art has the ability to bring different groups of people together, and water is a way to advance that goal. When I first watched “Finding Nemo,” it was just a cute, heartwarming movie. When I think of it now, I think of the way that I was able to use a talking fish’s catchphrase to motivate myself to “just keep swimming,” even when I didn’t want to.
Water, specifically any large body of water, is sometimes thought of as scary and filled with darkness and sea creatures. But water is also the way Percy Jackson is able to harness his powers thanks to his godly father. It’s where Nemo and Dory live. It is the element that makes a piece of art, summery or otherwise, feel complete.
Arts Writer Amany Sayed can be reached at amanysay@umich.edu.
