We can have a debate about the toxic nature of fan theories and the obsession with ‘solving’ plots later, because these sorts of mind games can be fun. Or they can, you know, ruin your day. In a fun way.
Take this Finding Nemo theory that has popped up on TikTok from user Angela Freitag.
The classic 2003 Pixar film, which itself inspired the well-received follow up Finding Dory, starring the great, forever underrated Albert Brooks as a clown fish father on a desperate search for his only son, holds up beautifully, despite the development of CGI animation, thanks to its classic, heartfelt storytelling.
Freitag postulates that it’s actually a lot sadder than we may have initially anticipated.
“Nemo doesn’t actually exist,” Freitag begins.
“Hear me out… so at the beginning of the movie, this barracuda kills all the entire family, right?
“When Marlin wakes up, he imagines that there is only one egg left. He names his only son Nemo; Nemo in Latin translates to ‘no-one’ or ‘nobody’. It gets weirder.
“So, Nemo doesn’t actually exist, the entire movie is about Marlin going through the five stages of grief.”
The then lists the five stages of grief, denial, anger, bargaining, despair and acceptance.
“[Denial] He doesn’t want his son going to school because he doesn’t think it’s safe,” she adds.
“[Anger] He gets mad at Nemo when he does something that is out of his control.
“[Bargaining] He deals with a super-forgetful travel buddy to try and find his son.
“[Despair] Marlin then watches Nemo get flushed down the drain.
“[Acceptance] And then by the end of the movie Marlin learns to let go and let Nemo do what he wants.”
While the theory doesn’t necessarily hold up to scrutiny, such as what would Nemo’s arc without his father around mean if he doesn’t exist, but hey, this isn’t here to solve the film, it’s to force you to feel it emotionally in a new way, and at that, it succeeds.
Either way, we now want to rewatch Finding Nemo. If you’re in the Middle East, it’s streaming now on StarzPlay.
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