You know, I was so disappointed with Brave. It had so much potential… and it floundered. Let me offer my interpretation…
(spoiler alert!!! Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, don’t read this!)
A precocious little girl (I love precocious little girls – my daughter is one) grows up and challenges the status quo (this part is good). But then she goes and uses witch craft to change her destiny, rather than her using her intelligence and strength (bad – like a girl can’t change her destiny without witches or acting like a spoiled brat). And her actions have horrible consequences for the entire kingdom. She is the one who brings disaster on the kingdom. So, now this Girl needs to figure out how to fix her mistakes, how to undo the problems she caused.
Merida is not a Hero, nor is she Brave. She’s just a silly, head strong rebel who finds herself having to deal with the consequences of her own impetuous actions! And at the conclusion of the movie, it is not even her that saves the day. It is her mother. Sure, Merida stands up to all the men and gives a nice speech, but in reality, her mother is the one who saves everyone. And changes Merida’s destiny.
This is not the Heroine I am looking for. I am so disappointed.
Even my Daughter is disappointed – she kept commenting through the movie, “Mummy, why did she do that? Why is she talking to her mother like that? Why is she being so naughty? Why is she being mean to them?” Normally she wants to watch movies several times. But this one, she has never asked for it again.
And what about the way the men are portrayed! Yet again, we have a bunch of stupid, impotent oafs, who are capable of nothing more than fighting and drinking and flatulence. Why does feminism need to emasculate men in order to order to portray a ‘Strong Female Lead’? That is not equality or empowerment. That is just another form of subjugation. And a display of the weakness within the feminist ranks.
How about a kids movie with a Heroine who is fighting REAL enemies and dragons, who has strong family relationships, and isn’t bent on making stupid decisions. They were half way there in Tangled & Shrek, with strong, decisive female leads – except that they still had the ‘knight in shining armor’ coming the rescue. (And what’s wrong with the knight when the princess is fighting the dragons along side him??)
I love the Images of Brave. When my daughter saw these images of the Capable Heroine, she begged to see the movie before she even saw a trailer!! But the story itself left so much to be desired. Even Miss Five felt cheated!
We can do better than this for our daughters. We need to ask for and expect better than this from Disney and other movie makers.
And on a side note, a friend recently pointed out that the title of the French version of Brave is “Rebelle”. Quite an apt title for this movie, as it translates as dissident, insurgent, disaffected, rebel, wayward.
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