History Headscratchers / SongOfTheSea

** Its magic, it doesn't follow genetic conventions at all. If you want to rationalise, maybe there are no male selkies in this universe (there are in mythology, but they're not the focus of any particular story) or maybe there's the aforementioned contractual obligation to produce a human child and a selkie child. Maybe Saoirse is a partial reincarnation of her own mother, maybe its random luck.

** No, it never directly explains it. Judging by the way white streaks were appearing in her hair [[spoiler: which happens to her daughter when she become ill]], the pregnancy was going badly, so Bronagh needed to assume her seal form to give birth, and afterwards was too weak to transform back; by the time she could she probably thought it was best to stay gone.
*** Maybe the reason she didn't come back is she actually died in childbirth. Maybe that was only [[spoiler: her spirit at the end there. Though none of the other spirits brought by Saoirse's song were *dead*, exactly, I don't think...]]
*** I was confused when she [[spoiler: reappears at the end, the family strangely holds off asking her stay (though her son does pop the question later) and plead her not to take Saoirse rather than plead for ''both' of them to stay', until I realized it's implied they had an understanding that Bronagh cannot reside in the human world anymore.]]

* How come nobody in the movie said anything about [[spoiler:the shell flute breaking apart after Saoirse used it to free Macha's emotions]]?

** Its magic, it doesn't follow genetic conventions at all. If you want to rationalise, maybe there are no male selkies in this universe (there are in mythology, but they're not the focus of any particular story) or maybe there's the aforementioned contractual obligation to produce a human child and a selkie child. Maybe Saoirse is a [[spoiler:partial]] reincarnation of her own mother, maybe its random luck.

* How did the grandmother know that Saoirse was out of bed? And later [[spoiler:that both children had run off]]? She just suddenly wakes up. Is she psychic or something?
** Seeing as being a worrywart is so integral to her character, I think waking up and worrying about her grandchildren could be something that happens all the time. It's just that these two times, she happened to be right about it.

** Seeing as being a worrywart is so integral to her character, I think waking up and worrying about her grandchildren could be something that happens all the time. It's just that these two times, she happened to be right about it.

* Why the heck is the girl a Selkie but Ben isn't? They're both half and half. I wanted to like this movie, but I couldn't get past this massive plothole.

* How did the grandmother know that Saoirse was out of bed? And later [[spoiler:that both children had run off]]? She just suddenly wakes up. Is she psychic or something?

* Why isn't Conor more concerned after he saves Ben from drowning? He's obviously terrified while he's searching for his son, but once he gets Ben back in the boat, it doesn't even look like he checks to see if Ben's still breathing. Instead he picks up Saoirse right away, and doesn't pick up Ben until the poor kid crawls over to him. He never even asks his son if he's okay.

** The shell flute might have just been a symbol of Bronaugh. Ben hated letting Saoirse play or even hold it because it was HIS memento of their mother, that he blamed her for killing. Prior to finding Saoirse, he finds out the true circumstances behind Bronaugh's "death". So when Saoirse drops the flute and breaks it, the fact that he's more concerned about Saoirse's health rather than the flute shows that Ben isn't held back by mourning Bronaugh or his grudge against Saoirse anymore.

** For this kind of folklore, I'd say your grandmother is [[ThereIsNoSuchThingAsNotability as notable a source as any.]] Besides, that fits in almost perfectly with what the film depicts.

** Since magic was disappearing from the world, Bronagh probably no longer had the power to retain her human form- that's why her hair started to turn white. She probably would've died if she didn't assume seal form and return to the sea.

** Another likely explanation: Ben was almost certainly born on land with Bronagh in her human form, while Saoirse was born in the sea, while Bronagh was definitely in her seal form and Saoirse presumably was a seal too until Conor lifted her out of the water.

** A possible explanation for gender-specific features is given on GenderEqualsBreed (third paragraph).

* Why the heck is the girl a Selkie but Ben isn't? They're both half and half. I wanted to like this movie, but I couldn't get past this massive plothole.

* Why the heck is the girl a Selkie but the Ben isn't? They're both half and half. I wanted to like this movie, but I couldn't get past this massive plothole.

* Why the heck is the girl a Selkie but the Ben isn't? Their both half and half. I wanted to like this movie, but I couldn't get past this massive plothole.

** I thought it was just that it wasn't important after that. Remember, the shell flute breaks when Ben has hardly any time left to get his sister back to her coat before she dies, he doesn't know where they are, and when they do get her her coat back he still doesn't have the chance to even think about the flute because he has to get her singing and then there's fairies and his mother and is his sister at least going to be able to stay. It was a very full, what, hour? Two hours? By the time there's even the chance for him to think about the flute being broken it's the end of the film, and after all that it'd seem strange to suddenly have him going on about the flute of all things.