This setup prioritizes identity-based otherness as the emotional driver, with the interspecies romance serving as a heavy-handed metaphor for queer love, disability acceptance, and anti-normie rebellion, complete with explicit sex scenes that push boundary-breaking normalization. Creator Guillermo del Toro explicitly frames the film as a celebration of 'imperfection,' 'otherness,' and 'invisible people' rising against casual racism, sexism, and traditional norms, turning a fantastical fairy tale into activist propaganda that spotlights intersectional victimhood over genuine storytelling tension.

Disability representation draws backlash for casting a hearing actress as a mute lead in a 'toxic' creature romance, while the diverse casting feels performative against the 1962 setting. Audience reactions increasingly label it alongside other 'woke' Oscar winners, with critics praising the messaging but general viewers finding the fish-human erotica and preachiness off-putting, compromising the film's entertainment as ideology overrides narrative coherence.