She can't swim?!?!?!
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hfctorch — 14 years ago(August 12, 2011 09:44 AM)
All I can do is doggy paddle my parents never took me for swimming lessons. I grew up on Long Island, NY. With pleanty of beaches almost drowned a few times at the beach. Plus it was obvious in the film she was brought up on dry land with her tattoo of a map to dry land. Kind of the main point of the film.. which I guess you missed and is why everyone wants her. Also most people in this movie chill out on boats the ones who go diving under water in search of teasures of sorts, I doubt are like 8-10 years old
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sdlewis-3 — 17 years ago(January 04, 2009 10:29 PM)
It's supposed to be at least Mount Everest. You can see this in the movie (maybe just the extended cut?) when the Mariner is leaving DryLand and the woman and the girl run onto the top of the island to watch him drift away. There's a little plaque at their feet that says Mount Everest or something.
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mach_10 — 17 years ago(January 12, 2009 01:52 AM)
The little orphan girl Enola was born on "dryland", what was once the peak of Mount Everest. She was raised there by her parents, but for unknown reasons, Enola's parents died. As did the entire human culture on "dryland". Perhaps a plague killed them off, because Old Gregor states "they knew they were dying", and that is why they sent Enola off to live on the atoll.
The point is, Enola has spent very little of her life at sea.
That is the contrast between the Mariner and Enola: he is a quiet, solitary individual who feels at home at sea, and is even suited to it. Enola, on the other hand, is an inquisitive, talkative young girl who hates life out at sea and
has spent most of her life on "dryland"
. A consequence of this is that she doesn't know how to swim. The two characters are polar opposites of each other. It was one of the main sub-texts of the film.
This also sets up a nice bit of character development for the Mariner, who is shocked by Enola's inability to swim, and the two bond as he teaches her. -
brianh-7 — 16 years ago(April 25, 2009 02:22 PM)
I concede. Obviously I didn't pay close enough attention or give the movie enough time before I gave up. While I doubt it's the masterpiece that some other threads claim, neither is it the stinker that I had assumed.
(And just to be clear, no I'm not being sarcastic and yes I admit being wrong. For readers of the imdb boards, you know this is a rare day indeed.) -
Promontorium — 16 years ago(February 22, 2010 11:19 PM)
No you're not wrong.
- She was born on land. Great. So was most of the human population now, and billions of us can swim.
- She hadn't been "home" in years. When they get back, her parents are skeletons. There's no reason to believe she spent even half her life on that island.
- Her adoptive mother knew she couldn't swim. What do you do when you live in a world of water, and some kid tells you they can't swim, and you want them to live more than a day? YOU TEACH THEM HOW TO SWIM BY DAY 2!!!!
It doesn't matter if she spent 1 week away from home, she'd still have been taught.
It's like adopting a 9 year old, perfectly healthy, perfectly sane, just crawling up to you, and you're like "Why aren't you walking?"
"I don't know how".
"Well we'll fix that before I take you anywhere."
Absolute nonesense plot device just to emphasize how "special" she is.
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wonderwall4176 — 14 years ago(April 13, 2011 07:01 PM)
Believe it or not there are people in the world who are different, who do things that don't make sense. The point was to make her strange, and a little off from the average person to form a bond with the Mariner. Regardless of when she got on the atoll, I didn't see people swimming around in the water anyway. They appear to try to stay grounded. Would it be practical? yes. Would it be impossible? no.
The plot device was not to show how "special" she was, but how different she was-forming the bond between the two characters. It's no more nonsense than most plot devices in movies, some of which are needed. They even comment in the film that she is thought of as a freak, showing that even the others on the atoll find it ridiculous. I never saw anyone else on the atoll swimming either. They created a floating community with places to sleep, live, and socialize. Living on the water and dreaming of land, I doubt they spent any time doing laps!
Also, your comparison to a 9 yr old boy who cannot walk doesn't quite work. In order to get around, those with the ability to walk need to do so to function. The people at the atoll do not NEED to swim. Where would they swim to? There is nothing around. That 9 yr old would need to learn to walk here in our real world or in the atoll, but the only reason to learn to swim in that future world would be for exercise or fun. But in an ocean, in the middle of nowhere, what other good would really come of it?
They are dependent on the atoll and boats (hence the walking). They are not dependent on the water. Think about it.
So again, practical? yes. The norm? yes. Being 100% necessary as a 9 yr old to function? no. I think it's actually a strong plot device. -
wonderwall4176 — 14 years ago(April 13, 2011 06:49 PM)
You may be the only person on this board to concede to an argument. I'm impressed, really. I was planning on posting an answer to you initial post, but kept reading the replies and was pretty impressed by this. I wish more people could be open to alternative perspectives on here.
And yeah, when Costner's character discovers the girl cannot swim, he finds it very strange. She tells him the people thought she was a freak and he responds by saying "maybe they were right". She replies back with "maybe they were right about you too". It was that moment where he bonded with her, even before he taught her how to swim.
I agree, this is not a classic film, but I think it's one of my favorites from '95. -
actionmanrandell — 11 years ago(July 22, 2014 12:10 AM)
you clearly have never watched the movie if you believe she spent most of her life on dry land.
she was born there but they put her on a raft when she was a baby
or atleast very very young because she has no memory of dry land -
Al_and_Smithy — 16 years ago(April 25, 2009 12:59 PM)
So, there are people who live on dry and can't go outside. There are people who live where there are lots of roads, and can't drive. I've had friends who owned boats and were deathly afraid of the water. Can't there be 1 person in all of the population who can't swim?
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MrDrWatson — 16 years ago(July 27, 2009 03:55 PM)
There could be so many reasons for someone not to learn how to swimhere's an example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaphobia ,even if they live in a waterworld.
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dave_ooo5 — 16 years ago(September 05, 2009 08:27 PM)
Dryland is the Himalayas. Highest region on earth now, so you flood the planet to the extent shown in this movie, and this still pokes out above the water.
She can't swim?!?! .. of course, nobody taught her, we are not born with that ability. This film has enough plot holes without having to pick on these two work harder, peeps! -
TechnoTom — 15 years ago(June 30, 2010 02:13 AM)
It's a bit dangerous to be walking around in a world totally covered in water if you can't, isn't it? Fair enough, there are people who can't drive or swim in our world with cars and water in it, but if there was NO land at all, I think your outlook on having to swim would change. You don't HAVE to swim in today's society, but you definitely have to in the Water World universe - there IS no alternative!
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woofagooba — 16 years ago(September 12, 2009 11:17 PM)
Just to add, if you go back in time when our world was mainly explored by men on ships most of them could not swim. Realistically this story has plenty of holes in it, but I don't find the swimming issue to be one of the biggies. Like many (most even) sci-fi/fantasy if you analyze the story it is full of issues and to enjoy it you have to refrain from do that. Logic is a rarity in fantasy.