I've had several emails asking me who the ONE freediver who didn't like the story line was, and why he didn't like it. Look, I can't say who it was - that would be so wrong. As to why he didn't like the story - in very general terms, he thought that the internal conflict faced by the main character, and the way he resolved it, are not good propaganda for the sport of freediving. He thinks, evidently, that freedivers should always be portrayed in art as unconflicted, saintly, and not likely to cause any trouble.
I understand where this critic is coming from, but respectfully counter that while the kind of depiction he'd like to see would be fine for advertising, or for a public relations piece, it wouldn't make for very interesting art. Drama, as I think I recall from school, emerges from conflict. The freedivers in The Big Blue were certainly not unconflicted saints, and I think it's a fair bet that the freediver's in the upcoming James Cameron movie won't be, either. While one could reasonably say of the character in The Greater Meaning of Water: " Wow, I wouldn't do that if it were me.", it is well to recall that a good story doesn't neccesarily send the message "Be like the hero in this story".
