Graphic Novel Review - 'Plain Jane and the Mermaid' by Vera Brosgol

From the author of 'Anya's Ghost' comes an original fairy tale.

Jane Brown has just inherited her own estate and property after her parents' deaths - except, being a woman, she can't own any of it, and no one would want to marry her because she's considered too "plain"; plump, dumpy, fat, dull, unremarkable. Her misogynistic cousin wants to inherit her house, and she is in danger of becoming homeless unless she marries quickly. So, in desperation Jane sets her sights on Peter, her crush from a distance since childhood, who is considered to be very handsome, but has no serious suitors because he works as a lowly fishmonger, a family trade. Both are trapped in the roles that society has placed on them, though Peter thinks he deserves better solely because he is handsome and therefore shouldn't be dealt with a bad hand, unlike Jane, whose insecurities and low self-esteem come from being an "ugly" woman in a patriarchal, misogynistic society. Both need to shake off these opposing yet similar toxic ideals.

Anyway, a mermaid shows up and kidnaps Peter, and Jane sets out on a quest to rescue him and marry him.

The beautiful mermaid, Loreley, wants to marry Peter, too. Both women have their own ulterior motives for treating him so, as a means to an end, though one end is much more horrific than the other. The two completely different women, who nonetheless both place far too much value on looks being the most important thing in the world, claim to love him, and Peter, who is just as guilty, coming from a culture that is obsessed with beauty and appearances, believes he is entitled to that love, as a pretty boy (and of course he'd prefer the conventionally attractive woman who kidnaps him and endlessly flatters and smothers him (heh, she literally deprives him of natural air underwater!) in compliments that boost his ego). It is surface-level, unhealthy, impure, conditional love, born from insecurity, desperation, loneliness, and/or selfishness.

Go deep, deep, deeper under the sea, to its very depths, to realise your own inner strength, courage and heart, on this adventure.

An undersea - literally and thematically - adventure, precisely. It has a pompous little water demon, a male selkie (there's a selkie society as well as mermaids), shipwrecks, skeletons, a giant anglerfish, a Little Red Riding Hood cloak and its thread, and the subtle subject of family, to go with the message of "looks don't matter at all, not in the slightest", which goes much deeper and more harrowingly than I've seen in most pieces of media that tell the same thing. It is poignant and genuine, and therefore transcendingly effective. It basically says, "What is considered beautiful and pretty is a tool for deception, on both ends, and leads to nothing but unfulfillment and unhappiness, and therefore grievous harm, again on both ends. That is what it means to be shallow, narcissistic and self-hating." Nothing here is done in a hollow, trite, half-hearted and lazy way; the story and themes run as deeply as the ocean. The vast, fathomless ocean.

Also Jane calls her selkie friend Mr. Whiskers, after her cat. And Loreley's sisters, Melusine and Cleodora, are the best, and turn out to be such sweethearts.

Unlike Jane's parents. The reader sees them in flashbacks, and I don't care if it's wrong to speak ill of the dead, they were horrible, horrible people. The way they treated Jane was unforgivable, and even if they weren't outright abusive, they were bad, irresponsible, uncaring parents regardless.

'Plain Jane and the Mermaid' is like 'Finding Nemo' meets a twisted 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Peter Pan'. In fact there are a lot of fairy tale elements borrowed for this well-crafted story: for example, there's a mysterious old crone who at the start gifts the heroine with the apparatus she needs for her quest; and the heroine, who underestimates herself, uses cunning to get out of near-death situations.

It is tragic how much low self-esteem Jane has, because she really is a wonderful, kind, caring, relatable human, who just needs to believe in herself, and not let the opinions of shallow, high-ranking, highly-regarded and powerful people bring her down. And make her feel invisible. Like she doesn't matter.

Beauty should be linked to kindness and courage and bravery; its skin-deep definition is meaningless and empty. The heart and soul - unseen at first glance - will always be the most important aspects of a person.

As great an original folktale 'Plain Jane and the Mermaid' is, with an important message, it is not perfect to me. Towards the end there is a love triangle (not the one with the mermaid) of sorts (ugh!), and the feral child trope is thrown in suddenly with not nearly enough thought and time put into it, the way it needed to be handled. The very end - the final page - kind of confused me, too. Like... is Jane independent and single, or...? Or is it that one woman alone can't beat the patriarchal system... even though she isn't a lone woman, not anymore...

Whoops. Can't get into uncharted spoiler waters...

But despite these small issues, the fantasy, oceanic, nautical graphic novel touched me on a level so few stories have, at least nowadays, for cynical old me. It's quite frightening, yet cathartic and hopeful, how much I related to the heroine Jane. For the sake of everybody, but especially girls and women - all girls and women - there need to be more heroines like her in the media.

Our world is absolutely obsessed with looks, with outward beauty and youth. It is encompassing, suffocating, and inescapable, and it insidiously, effectively targets girls from straight out of the womb. Too much value is placed on appearances, and it needs to stop. "Beautiful" does not equal good and "ugly" does not equal bad, and "ordinary" does not equal worthless and unimportant. What is considered pleasant and desirable at first glance is subjective, fickle and flimsy; it always has been. Surface levels fade; it is naturally temporary. Vera Brosgol says as much and more in her author's note at the end of the book.

Looks. Don't. Matter.

Not in stories. Not in fairy tales. Not in real life.

We need to be careful about what messages we are sending out to the world with the stories we tell; what we say and do, and what we market and advertise.

Girls, women: You are fine the way you are. There is nothing wrong with you. You are stronger than you think. You are enough.

'Plain Jane and the Mermaid' might be a near-perfect antidote to the superficial "looks and mirrors matter and reflect the truth and your value as a person" epidemic - the lie - the globe is suffering from.

Final Score: 4/5

EDIT: 'Plain Jane' has been likened to Studio Ghibli films, but I easily see it being adapted by Pixar. There is no greater, more suitable match made in heaven.