Ocean Girl

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.

Gosh, this show takes me back! I have fond memories of this show from childhood. In the summer holidays this always used to be on, under the title of 'Ocean Odyssey' if I recall correctly.

It was an interesting and entertaining show, with a good central performance from the Ocean girl herself.

It's a shame that this isn't repeated on TV now, because it's far better than half of the dross that kids are brought up watching today.

You can pick up the DVD's online, and even now it's well worth a watch.

I must have been around 12 or so when this show aired in Portugal on a cartoon channel and I accidentally caught the first episode (how many times does that happen?). The story is intelligent, with some very intriguing plot twists and it grows with you while approaching themes like ecology, respect for life, acceptance of one another's differences, courage, friendship and love. It makes you understand that you sometimes have to rebel and break the rules if and when that is the right thing to do. It was intriguing, believable for sci-fi and the perfect 12 to 15 yo show, one that parents wouldn't object but I still didn't find boring or childish, in fact both my (then 6 year old) brother and my (obviously adult) mother got glued to it eventually and both enjoyed it their own way. If I had a child or cousin of appropriate age I would gladly re-watch it with them as this is a great show.

While it's been too long since I've seen this show (I was a mere 7th grader when it was on the Disney channel), I remember this show being very intellectual for a children's primetime series. Neri was a mysterious girl who lived in the ocean (and a nearby island) could communicate with the whale. Meanwhile there was a group of scientists, complete with an underwater city that boasted a school for the teenage children. Neri befriended two of the teenage boys of the ocean city, and together they tried to help save "Charlie" - the whale that Neri was friends with. The show had it's villains - a group of scientists that were competing against the Ocean city for whale research. This is pretty much all I remember about the series - aside from the fact that i was completely in love with the complicated stories - but it was canceled shortly before it's mysteries and loose ends were finished (Neri's island was a spaceship of sorts, suggesting she was an alien; and she had a sister - and a brother if I'm not mistaken). If you get a chance to see this show in syndication sometime, trust me, it's worth your time. Then again, maybe I just remember it being my only alternative to the looooong half-hour before Melrose Place on Monday nights.

Ocean Girl is the most enjoyable and certainly one of the most intelligent children's series that it has been my good fortune to experience. Made in the time before now, when the producer's of children's TV believed in quality rather than budget, it carries well on all levels.

Far more than just an "alien on earth" program. Ocean Girl deals with friendship and bullies, the environment, family and life. There is little call for special effects in the story lines, but those there are have neither pretensions nor inadequacies. The plots are in interesting, inventive and attention catching with a strong emphasis on the necessity of protecting our oceans.

One of the most important aspects is the high quality of the acting from the main and supporting cast members. A strong attachment to the characters is easily developed and one genuinely cares about what happens to them.

The strong performances and excellent visual effects lend a strong sense of realism to the tales and unlike modern programs adults can enjoy it nearly as much as their children. It is truly targeted as family entertainment, not just for children. While there are enemies to be overcome and some rather scary moments, the stories are not dark and a happy ending is always around the corner. The beautifully shot scenes of The Great Barrier Reef, the ocean and the islands also lends a sense of loveliness to the happy scenes.

Ocean Girl is a science fiction program, but the language and ideas are no different from today's and the technology is mostly current, although with elements such as AI computers which are perhaps a few short decades beyond us.