My 11-year old son and I have gotten hooked on Ocean girl on Netflix, where all 4 seasons are available. To me the show is a cross between the Saturday cartoon "Land of the Lost", perhaps Star Trek, a late-80s MTV video, and a National Geographic special. It has nature, beauty, conservation, and it consistently decries the spoiling influence of corporate greed.
There are two main characters: the young man Jason is really the main character since most time is spent on him, but the series is named for the beautiful Ocean Girl. I thought that the Ocean Girl Neri is played in an unusually pure and unaffected way by the beautiful young actress who was also a ballerina, and it shows in how she moves in the water. She is an admirable person in every way; beautiful but unconcerned with her beauty, graceful but strong and athletic, guileless and generous, and loyal. She is almost perfect! The handsome young lead character, Jason, is also an admirable young man in that he honorable and passionate about all the right things -- Neri's right to remain unspoiled in herself and habitat, the ocean, etc, but my one caveat is that he shown as being way too disrespectful and dismissive to his giving and kind researcher mother. So far, into the 2nd season's 11th episode, I have not yet seen him have anything but a disparaging word towards his mother. He pushes off her attempts at closeness, he criticizes everything she does, and she accepts it and is loving to him without any correction.
This is as much a function of what I believe to be our patriarchal society -- one in which however subtly, we are taught to expect that men/boys are going to be put off by the women in their lives. Start watching TV with new eyes and see if what I say is not true. However, it is true in society, so in that sense I was sure to point this out to my son. After a few episodes he also complains when Jason is unkind or distancing to his mother.
On the upside there is a co-researcher character played by a very likable an actor named Pinder...an Indian guy who displays almost constant cheeriness and a desire to bring people together and to solve problems in kind ways. He is an excellent role model.
The other negative I notice (and I notice this a lot on TV anyway) is that people who do not tan redheads, fair skinned folk) are almost always shown as the ugly aggravating character in the show. You see this in cartoons, in TV, everywhere. If you are to find a beautiful redhead they are almost always not a real redhead and either tan well or are covered in fake tan. If the skin is fair they usually are going to be somehow undesirable. The "treat you like a red-headed stepchild" didn't come out of nowhere; it is based in reality. I don't know anything about Australia, but it would appear that red hair and fair skinned people are unpopular, as they now are in America. I've read it's even worse in Britain.
I certainly don't mean to compare this with indignities suffered in race discrimination and even discrimination against heavy people -- they have it much worse, but in this series too we are given the message that fair skinned people, redheads and not-slim are unattractive and aggravating. I am sure to mention these things to my son when we watch together, as I do when we see magazines and other movies.
On the contrary, an obviously aboriginal boy is a very likable genius character so that is a real plus.
Despite these minor downsides, the series has much beautiful scenery and important messages, as well as some really quirky creativeness. I was hooked after the first episode, and my son got hooked by the 4th episode. Now he begs for us to watch more together.
Highly recommend for family viewing with the proper guidance about certain themes in the series.
There are two main characters: the young man Jason is really the main character since most time is spent on him, but the series is named for the beautiful Ocean Girl. I thought that the Ocean Girl Neri is played in an unusually pure and unaffected way by the beautiful young actress who was also a ballerina, and it shows in how she moves in the water. She is an admirable person in every way; beautiful but unconcerned with her beauty, graceful but strong and athletic, guileless and generous, and loyal. She is almost perfect! The handsome young lead character, Jason, is also an admirable young man in that he honorable and passionate about all the right things -- Neri's right to remain unspoiled in herself and habitat, the ocean, etc, but my one caveat is that he shown as being way too disrespectful and dismissive to his giving and kind researcher mother. So far, into the 2nd season's 11th episode, I have not yet seen him have anything but a disparaging word towards his mother. He pushes off her attempts at closeness, he criticizes everything she does, and she accepts it and is loving to him without any correction.
This is as much a function of what I believe to be our patriarchal society -- one in which however subtly, we are taught to expect that men/boys are going to be put off by the women in their lives. Start watching TV with new eyes and see if what I say is not true. However, it is true in society, so in that sense I was sure to point this out to my son. After a few episodes he also complains when Jason is unkind or distancing to his mother.
On the upside there is a co-researcher character played by a very likable an actor named Pinder...an Indian guy who displays almost constant cheeriness and a desire to bring people together and to solve problems in kind ways. He is an excellent role model.
The other negative I notice (and I notice this a lot on TV anyway) is that people who do not tan redheads, fair skinned folk) are almost always shown as the ugly aggravating character in the show. You see this in cartoons, in TV, everywhere. If you are to find a beautiful redhead they are almost always not a real redhead and either tan well or are covered in fake tan. If the skin is fair they usually are going to be somehow undesirable. The "treat you like a red-headed stepchild" didn't come out of nowhere; it is based in reality. I don't know anything about Australia, but it would appear that red hair and fair skinned people are unpopular, as they now are in America. I've read it's even worse in Britain.
I certainly don't mean to compare this with indignities suffered in race discrimination and even discrimination against heavy people -- they have it much worse, but in this series too we are given the message that fair skinned people, redheads and not-slim are unattractive and aggravating. I am sure to mention these things to my son when we watch together, as I do when we see magazines and other movies.
On the contrary, an obviously aboriginal boy is a very likable genius character so that is a real plus.
Despite these minor downsides, the series has much beautiful scenery and important messages, as well as some really quirky creativeness. I was hooked after the first episode, and my son got hooked by the 4th episode. Now he begs for us to watch more together.
Highly recommend for family viewing with the proper guidance about certain themes in the series.
