Media Consumption
‘Mermaids’ and Mock Chicken Pinwheels
Comfort food (and optional kitchen dancing) inspired by “Mermaids.”
The fourth installment in “Media Consumption,” a series of essays and recipes that take culinary inspiration from our favorite movies, TV shows, songs, and books.
There is great responsibility when someone reverently shows you a movie or TV show that is important to them. Even if it’s not to your taste, you should at least respect their enthusiasm, right? Recently a dear friend showed me the 1990 film Mermaids — it was my first time watching it, but for them it was a childhood favorite, and I promised to give it my full attention.
I was immediately awash with an odd nostalgic feeling — like I’d actually spent my youth rewatching Mermaids on rainy Sundays, carefully writing “don’t tape over” on the video label until the tape warped anyway from hundreds of rewinds. You know those movies? Like The Big Chill, and Sister Act, that weren’t made for young people but which we somehow ended up watching, uplifting yet dark, with a spectacular cast, and usually a reliable soundtrack. Comforting films. I knew before the title credits were done rolling that Mermaids was one such film — and that I adored it. My friend was relieved.
