Headscratchers / Splash

• Why is Allen so willing to leave behind his entire life to be with a mermaid he just met and who lied about her identity?
  • Because his life was miserable before he met her. He was a workaholic who stressed himself out managing his company, despite having other people he could delegate some of his tasks to. He was in a loveless relationship that ends when the girl just calls him over the phone as she's literally moving her stuff out of their apartment. He has no social life to speak of. And when Freddie gives him that big speech, he points out that Allen has never been happier than when he was with Madison. And he doesn't take issue with her 'lying about her identity', because she didn't lie; she just said she had a secret she wasn't ready to reveal, and by the time it was revealed in the worst possible way, she had been planning to tell him and the only reason she hadn't was because Allen kept hurrying them along. And after The Reveal, Allen can immediately understand why she'd keep her identity a secret, but quickly comes around because he realises how happy Madison makes him.
• Why did young Madison wipe the tear off her face with her hand? She basically lives underwater and unlike humans, being underwater doesn't appear to damage her eyes.
  • Probably a reflex action.
• When Madison must go back to the ocean, she tells Allen that he can go with her, but he will never be able to return to land. It is never explained why, perhaps it may have to do with the sea hag subplot. Still, he was reluctant at first but accepts readily after saving her from government frogmen. It's somewhat a Bittersweet Ending; the bitter part is Allen will never see his brother, friends, or even Kornbluth again. The sweet part is being with Madison always. So, the question is, why couldn't he return?
  • It's explained in the sequel, as Madison reveals that she was just kidding and that it's actually perfectly okay for them to go back to land, so it's possible it was a test question: how much would a human be willing to give up for his aquatic lover? Once Madison realized Allen was really going to stay with her, it was safe to tell him the truth.
  • It's a leftover plot element from the original script, in which Madison makes a bargain with a sea hag in order to seek out Allen: either Madison must choose to live on land permanently or her lover must join her forever in the sea. The bargain was edited out of the final version and (as the poster above notes) was handwaved away entirely in the sequel.
  • To further this, the original script and its novelization featured a mer-council who are aware of Madison's infatuation with a human. They are the ones who tell her that either she must remain on land with Allen forever, or Allen must come to their world. The original ending was supposed to show Allen turning into a merman as they enter the city of the merpeople.
• How could Allen breathe underwater? Was it the kiss?
  • Seems like it. YMMV, but Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides seems to contain several Shout Outs to Splash, such as mermaids turning human when dry, and back to mermaid when wet. It is explained in the movie that a mermaid's kiss prevents drowning. It is implied to be the same in Splash.
    • The same thing happens in Hook, when Peter falls into the sea and mermaids rescue him and prevent him from drowning via kisses. Is it possible this is connected to mermaid folk stories?
    • Ironically, in traditional folklore it's usually the opposite: a mermaid lures a sailor in for a kiss, then drags him down to drown! But it's easy to see how this older story might get adapted into a Lighter and Softer version when the mermaid is the romantic protagonist.
  • In the original script, Allen is supposed to explicitly turn into a merman once he swims off with Madison. It would have been established earlier in the plot that Madison either had to get him to come with her and join the kingdom of other merpeople of which she was apart of, or she would be either banished.
• Why is Ross, who orders Madison's dissection is so keen on this when he could go down in history as the one who (after an unfortunate misunderstanding), established contact with a new race? Anything gained on the operating table is utterly crushed by the gravy-train of talk-show appearances, Nobel prizes, new history books and other awards piled on top of him.
  • It's because Ross is just a sick sadist who just wants to vivisect a person and then hide under the excuse that she was not human.
  • Also, it's likely that the scientist are aware that if there is one mermaid, there must be others. They were probably going to plan an intense search of the sea to find them. Understanding Madison's biology would help them understand where else to look. The home of the merpeople is seen briefly at the end of the film and it doesn't seem to be too far away as it is. They likely would have found it.
• If Allen's wallet, money and credit cards were in Cape Cod, how'd he get back to New York?
  • It's likely that Fat Jack was able to find him on the island (since that was where he was going in the first place), then get him back to the mainland. Once he was back on dry land, Allen could easily make a collect call to Freddy, or to a friend or colleague, to either come and pick him up or wire him the money for a bus ride back to New York.
• If the sea hag subplot still applies (even if it was cut and we don't see it), that seems to be the reason why Madison grows legs on land. If that was the case, how did she have them when she saved Allen on the beach?
  • The sea hag doesn't give Madison legs. She just explains the rules to her (that she has to wet her legs every night, and that she must be back after a certain number of days.) The latter seems to be more of a mer-society rule as it seems if Madison isn't back by then, she'll be banished. The former seems biological. If Madison doesn't wet her legs every night, she'll probably be human forever. Either way, it seems the merpeople can turn human when they want.
  • It's also explicitly stated in an older draft that merpeople can't go to the "human society" so it's most likely Madison could use her legs as much as she wanted as long as she stayed away from humans. It would explain how she is as agile with her legs and the hot sand doesn't hurt her feet because she's used to it on smaller isolated islands.
  • However if we are using older scripts, Madison wouldn't become a human, she would simply be forced to "live like them", meaning she would look a human but would still be a mermaid. Originally Madison's transformations were going to be quite painful (think an American Werewolf in London) but this was changed so she would be more appealing and sympathetic to the audience. Meaning that if she didn't get her "daily soak" she would transform painfully against her will, possibly killing her (similar to the mermaids in POTC).
• How does the hotel porter know to get Madison a cab for the mall if, at that point, she can't speak?
  • She sees an ad for Bloomingdales on Allen's TV and repeats that word to him.
• Why wasn't Kornbluth detained for longer after being stopped by secret service for apparently smuggling a gun into a presidential banquet inside a cast? Sure, they would have discovered it was a squirt gun pretty quickly, but he was still acting suspiciously and shouting. It definitely would have looked like an assassination attempt— but in the next scenes, he's free and menacing Allen and Madison again.
• Madison's identity is exposed to the entire world. Not only is she unable to stay in New York City any longer as a result, and not only was Allen constantly harassed by reporters and stared at, but the world now knows merfolk exist. Madison's brethren are bound to be hunted. Why is she still willing to forgive Kornbluth, let alone kiss him (and in front of Allen at that)? Even if he helped her in the end, all the damage cannot be undone.
  • Kornbluth literally facilitated her and Allen getting back together, and rescuing her from being dissected by mad scientists. Madison seems to be a very kind and caring person overall, so of course she'd acknowledge his efforts to undo the mistake he made for her.
• What is Allen actually going to DO all day under the sea? Sure, she gave him the ability to breathe underwater, but he's still slow and clumsy due to not being shaped like an aquatic creature. And there's no TV or entertainment of any sort. How long can you entertain yourself looking at fish, especially if you're not the sort of person who becomes a marine biologist or the like?
  • We can assume he and Madison explore new places together. They get to swim all over the world, and go places humans wouldn't be able. It sounds like a pretty exciting existence for some.
    • Also in the end credits they appear to be swimming towards some sort of Merfolk submarine city. Presumably there are things to do there beyond our comprehension just like how music and ice skating are beyond Madison's.
  • And swimming is a great exercise for getting in shape. Once he gets used to it, he'll be extremely fit.
• Madison has escaped, but now the scientific community and the U.S. government knows that mermaids are real. Doesn't this put the seafolk community in danger? It seems unlikely that the investigation would stop just because the first specimen got away.
  • Humans need resources such as scuba equipment, submarines etc to explore the ocean - and limited time to do it. Madison and other merfolk can stay underwater all the time, and likely outrun any investigations. They're also able to hide on land and pass as humans.
• How does Madison know how to...have intercourse?
  • Since Madison comes from a society of merpeople she was most likely taught how to have sex, or if she's used her legs before she might have seen humans have sex from afar and memorized it.