Chapter I:
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
There are mermaid sightings happened before that are not true. Different countries claim to have sightings of mermaids. One particular country which boasts multiple mermaid sightings is Holland.
Benjamin Radford wrote the article, "Mermaids & Mermen: Facts & Legends." In this article Radford talks about a sea captain who supposedly saw a mermaid. A captain named Smith fell in love as he gazed on the woman who's swimming, but was disappointed and realized that she was a fish waist down.
In the article Radford quotes a section from Edward Snow's "Incredible Mysteries and Legends of the Sea":
"Captain John Smith saw a mermaid 'swimming about with all possible grace.' He pictured her as having large eyes, a finely shaped nose that was 'somewhat short,' and well-formed ears' that were rather too long. Smith goes on to say that 'her long green hair imparted to her an original character that was by no means unattractive" (http://www.livescience.com/39882-mermaid.html).
The article further talks about other mermaid sightings including a mermaid who was injured entered Holland through a dike. Legends has it that she was cured then eventually became a productive citizen and even learned to speak Dutch. There are many stories of sightings like the examples mentioned above that seem to be realistic, but can't be proven.
There are two documentary films about mermaids that several people were fooled by it. Many people were convinced and some of them tweeted on twitter that mermaids are real.
The television show Animal Planet published two documentary films about mermaids namely, "Mermaids: The Body Found" and "Mermaids: The New Evidence". Neil Genzlinger wrote the article, "One More Reason to Fear the Beach ‘Mermaids: The Body Found,’ on Animal Planet". In this article he talks about the first film which is the "Mermaids: The Body Found". The film talks about the Aquatic Ape Theory, where it explains where mermaids came from and how did evolve. Aside from that, the film also talks about the living of the mermaids and other evidences.
According to Genzlinger,
"Mr. Foley finds assorted ways to lend plausibility to the tale, like expanding the aquatic ape theory, which postulates that human evolution was influenced by a shore-dwelling phase; in this film’s version, one branch of our ancestors actually took the plunge, as it were, and began living in the sea. And, of course, the mermaids-are-real hypothesis is also given credence by the sheer abundance of the danged things in cultural references over the centuries" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/arts/television/mermaids-the-body-found-on-animal-planet.html?_r=0).
While the second film or the part two discussed about different mermaid evidences, such as mermaid sightings and video footage of mermaids under the ocean, and several interviews to some professionals were done. At the end of the film they said that its content are not real (http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/are-mermaids-real).
The television show Animal Planet published two documentary films about mermaids namely, "Mermaids: The Body Found" and "Mermaids: The New Evidence". Neil Genzlinger wrote the article, "One More Reason to Fear the Beach ‘Mermaids: The Body Found,’ on Animal Planet". In this article he talks about the first film which is the "Mermaids: The Body Found". The film talks about the Aquatic Ape Theory, where it explains where mermaids came from and how did evolve. Aside from that, the film also talks about the living of the mermaids and other evidences.
According to Genzlinger,
"Mr. Foley finds assorted ways to lend plausibility to the tale, like expanding the aquatic ape theory, which postulates that human evolution was influenced by a shore-dwelling phase; in this film’s version, one branch of our ancestors actually took the plunge, as it were, and began living in the sea. And, of course, the mermaids-are-real hypothesis is also given credence by the sheer abundance of the danged things in cultural references over the centuries" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/arts/television/mermaids-the-body-found-on-animal-planet.html?_r=0).
While the second film or the part two discussed about different mermaid evidences, such as mermaid sightings and video footage of mermaids under the ocean, and several interviews to some professionals were done. At the end of the film they said that its content are not real (http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/are-mermaids-real).
Few supposedly dead mermaids have been found washed up or caught in sailor's net before They study their parts of the body even the internal organs. They discovered something, that some of the human and fish organs are present inside the dead body.
According to Bard Judith who wrote the article entitled "The Sarvonian Merfolk", the upper bodies of the mermaids are slim, like with a human body. All the skin above the waist are pale greenish or bluish color. Then the body parts of the mermaids were dissected and they found that the internal organs of it are quite related to humans and fishes as well. They found one huge lung that occupied the whole chest, their heart are smaller than a human heart. The digestive passage runs to the mouth, mermaids have lips and tongue like humans, they have pointed teeth and an odd sieve-like structure in the throat.
In the article, Bard says that:
"Their upper bodies appear like those of an elven maiden, or a slim human, small-breasted and finely-featured. All the skin above the waist is a pale greenish or bluish color. Their bodily fluids are also a soft turquoise shade. Around the hairline I discovered a large number of small oil-secreting glands, whose function seems to be to protect the skin from its constant immersion in water. As sailors tell me that they often see the mermaids grooming their hair with their fingers and then running their hands over their bodies as they perch on the rocks, I believe this guess to be the most accurate. Long fins stretch along the backs of their arms and a fine webbing is present between each of the slim, taloned fingers" (http://www.santharia.com/races/mermaids.htm).
According to Bard Judith who wrote the article entitled "The Sarvonian Merfolk", the upper bodies of the mermaids are slim, like with a human body. All the skin above the waist are pale greenish or bluish color. Then the body parts of the mermaids were dissected and they found that the internal organs of it are quite related to humans and fishes as well. They found one huge lung that occupied the whole chest, their heart are smaller than a human heart. The digestive passage runs to the mouth, mermaids have lips and tongue like humans, they have pointed teeth and an odd sieve-like structure in the throat.
In the article, Bard says that:
"Their upper bodies appear like those of an elven maiden, or a slim human, small-breasted and finely-featured. All the skin above the waist is a pale greenish or bluish color. Their bodily fluids are also a soft turquoise shade. Around the hairline I discovered a large number of small oil-secreting glands, whose function seems to be to protect the skin from its constant immersion in water. As sailors tell me that they often see the mermaids grooming their hair with their fingers and then running their hands over their bodies as they perch on the rocks, I believe this guess to be the most accurate. Long fins stretch along the backs of their arms and a fine webbing is present between each of the slim, taloned fingers" (http://www.santharia.com/races/mermaids.htm).
However, despite the general opinion that mermaids are not real, the researcher observes that a lot of people have made false evidence about mermaids and try to imply that mermaids are real.
Benjamin Radford wrote an article entitled "'Real' Mermaids?"
In that article, it was discussed how people from the 1800's made fake mermaids for public interests. Those who are willing to pay 50 cents hoping to see a long limbed, fish-tailed beauty comb her hair were surely disappointed; they saw a grotesque fake corpse a few feet long. It had the torso, head, and limbs of a monkey and the bottom part of a fish. It fooled several people that time.
The reason for this research is that many people make fake evidence and try to imply that mermaids are real. Having background information on what motivates people to fabricate false evidence will allow the reader to discern the role myths play in the economy, and recognize how certain companies & people have been using myth to promote products & services.
The purpose of this study is to explain the reasons why some people fabricate evidence about mermaids and to discuss how these false evidence can affect people & society.
B. Statement of the Problem
1. What reasons do people have for fabricating evidence about mermaids and how do these fabricated evidence affect people and society?
Benjamin Radford wrote an article entitled "'Real' Mermaids?"
In that article, it was discussed how people from the 1800's made fake mermaids for public interests. Those who are willing to pay 50 cents hoping to see a long limbed, fish-tailed beauty comb her hair were surely disappointed; they saw a grotesque fake corpse a few feet long. It had the torso, head, and limbs of a monkey and the bottom part of a fish. It fooled several people that time.
The reason for this research is that many people make fake evidence and try to imply that mermaids are real. Having background information on what motivates people to fabricate false evidence will allow the reader to discern the role myths play in the economy, and recognize how certain companies & people have been using myth to promote products & services.
The purpose of this study is to explain the reasons why some people fabricate evidence about mermaids and to discuss how these false evidence can affect people & society.
B. Statement of the Problem
1. What reasons do people have for fabricating evidence about mermaids and how do these fabricated evidence affect people and society?
C. Significance of the Study
"Mermaid" fans. Those people who are addicted, interested or curious about mermaids, will gain something from this study. They will probably learn information that are not yet told before. They will get more interested. Informations that they can tell to other people that doesn't know about mermaids.
Psychologists. Some part of this paper can be related to the said symbol of mermaids that can be related to humans' characteristics. They can make studies about it, and discover some new human behavior.
Future Researchers. Nowadays, people are more interested to something unique things. Future researchers can learn new things about mermaids from this research.
D. Scope and Delimitation
This study focuses on different information about mermaids that audiences might get interested to. Since people are most likely to have curious about things that might be real or not. Mermaids has been considered as an interested topic to people nowadays.
This study will discuss the mermaids' modern publicity. Since some people have curiosity in mind about mermaids, different findings, evidences, symbolism, etc.. about mermaids will be discussed.
E. Materials and Methods
This research will be explaining different topics about mermaids. It may also conduct an interpretation from the topics. Most of the information was gathered from different online articles.
F. Definition of Terms
Grotesque. Comically or repulsively ugly or distorted.
Marine Biology. The scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water.
Greek Mythology. The body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece.
Curiosity. A quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species.
Humanoid. Looking or acting like a human.
Symbolism. The use of symbols to express or represent ideas or qualities in literature, art, etc. The particular idea or quality that is expressed by a symbol
