#tbh I only realized the possible motive of Giulia's mother having been injured or killed by a sea monster after my fifth rewatch

[nidhogg-of-nastrond]

I really love how Massimo is introduced as this big scary dude who hunts sea monsters and is really aggressive about it for some reason and the audience is left speculating for a moment about why and the two most obvious answers are almost immediately shut down.

Is a sea monster to blame for his missing arm? Nope. "This is how I came into the world." He was just born that way.

Okay, then is a sea monster responsible for Giulia not having a mom? NOPE. "During the school year, I live with my mom in Genova." They're divorced, or separated. Also would love to point out how there's no implication that they hate each other either. Straight people seem to love that trope.

They gave him the appearance of a widower/amputee revenge seeker and then shot those overused tropes down before the central conflict even comes up. He's just a single dad following a common belief that sea monsters pose a threat to humans.

And after spending so much time with one of them he easily drops those beliefs because he doesn't have any old grudge to settle. No recycled revenge plot. No internal struggle over taking revenge vs forgiveness and moving on(which isn't really a good message anyway).

This to me makes the queer reading that much better! While the widower/amputee revenge storyline is just what you'd expect out of a story with a humans vs misunderstood monsters conflict, if we take that revenge plot and add it to a queer reading it would just basically say that there's justification in hating queer people if some of them have wronged you first, even if you stop actively fighting them.

Sure, a revenge storyline is more about "not ALL members of this group are shitty and out to get you" and while that is true... that isn't the point of accepting people's differences. You shouldn't accept people just because these specific ones weren't shitty to you and they just happen to be different. You should just accept that people are different, period, and also accept that maybe your views are outdated and need to be challenged.

Massimo has no reason to hate sea monsters. It's just what he was taught with propaganda that didn't portray sea monsters accurately to how they actually are, which is exactly what people tried to do with gays early on. (All the queers know about the "gays are p*dophiles" propaganda right??)

I think that makes Massimo's change of heart at the end so much sweeter. He sees that the boy he grew a sort of father-son bond with turned out to be part of the group he participated in the oppression of and passing harmful stereotypes off as jokes.(*catches Alberto staring at his missing arm* "*joking* A sea monster ate it.")

But then he sees Alberto's true form, sees how he risked his life for his friends(one being his daughter who he adores), exposed his true identity to help Luca when he was in danger of being outed and Giulia when she injured herself trying to save them and it doesn't take him more than a few seconds to challenge his beliefs and determine that they were wrong. And he's not angry. There's no angst involved in Massimo's decision to defend his boy against his fellow fishermen who aren't as easily onboard with rejecting their beliefs. He's just.. immediately accepting.

And Massimo's support doesn't just end there. He adopts Alberto, asks him to move in, gives him a loving home because he knows that Alberto needs it. He sees a young boy who was abandoned, who probably hasn't been eating properly for however long he was alone, and he wants to give him the happy loving home he deserves and all the pasta he could eat.

Had he seen Alberto as a sea monster first? He probably would've harpooned him first and asked questions later(as seen in the scene where he just instantly attacks a cluster of sea weed before even taking a second to look.) He probably wouldn't have even given Alberto a chance. Not because he has a vendetta against sea monsters, but because he was taught to be afraid of them and the only good sea monster is a dead one.

I'm just so glad we got a new dad character. I love how this movie portrayed someone who so easily could've fit into recycled plots and said "fuck you" to them. Widower/amputee who's tragic loss is the driving force of his subplot? No, disabled from birth single dad with shared custody of his daughter who does his best to support her passion. I hope we get more of those.