BRAVE: A Mother and her Daughter Weigh In
Movies and television shows for and about women usually find themselves subject to more scrutiny than other pop culture products. Last summer the critical and commercial success of Bridesmaids (2011, Paul Feig) had reviewers declaring that yes, women are funny, as if no women had ever been funny on film before. Oh Mae West, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, Catherine O’Hara, Whoopi Goldberg, Roseanne Barr (etc.) it’s like you never even existed. And more recently, Lena Dunham’s new HBO series Girls was criticized both for not being funny enough (even though the show was never billed as a sitcom) and because Lena Dunham’s character, Hannah Horvath, is too fat and frumpy to be a credible (i.e., beautiful) leading woman. Place a woman before the camera and eventually, she will be labeled as either not measuring up or as measuring “over.” She will be almost perfect, but not quite. She will be:
too fat
also too fat
also too fat
too skinny
also too skinny
once too skinny…
but now too fat
too twee
too old
too young
too trashy
too stuck up
too sexy
too ambitious
too simple
too complex
Didn’t complain enough about being physically assaulted by her boyfriend
Complained too much about being physically assaulted by her husband
Is this getting tiresome yet? Good. I find it tiresome too. It’s difficult to locate a female celebrity/film character/TV character who hasn’t been characterized as being too something in some way. There are many reasons for this — the 24 hour news cycle, gender inequality, the tendency to judge women based on their appearances, and the hyppersexualization of women in the media. Most germane to this blog post, however, is the fact that there just are not many films and TV shows created by women and/or addressing the lives of women. For example, with so few TV shows written by and focused on women, it should not be surprising that the new female-focused television programs that premiered in the 2011-2012 season (Girls, 2 Broke Girls, and The New Girl) were subject to so much backlash (in which, I will admit, I also participated). We have so many hopes and expectations for women-centered texts that when they finally do appear, we want them to be everything and to represent everyone. They should also be funny. But realistic. And also provide great role models. But realistic role models. Aw hell, here we go again…
So it should not be surprising that Brave, the first Pixar film to ever feature a female protagonist and the first to be co-directed and co-written by a woman (until she was fired and replaced by a man) has been the subject of high expectations and mixed reviews. As Slate‘s Dana Stevens writes “In order to satisfy expectations at this point, Brave would have to not only revolutionize the depiction of girls and women onscreen, but make its audience laugh as hard as we did in Toy Story and cry as hard as we did in Up. Oh, and could it also reinvent computer animation and rake in three times its budget on opening weekend?” Amen.
Below is a summary of Brave‘s strengths and weaknesses, for those keeping score:
The Positive
*SO PRETTY!
Pixar films are gorgeous. Enough said.
* The female characters, Princess Merida and Queen Elinor, are complex and realistic:
Slate‘s Dana Stevens writes: “Elinor is never an evil-queen villain, but nor is she an idealized self-sacrificing mother. Rather, she’s a particular, individual person, devoted but flawed”
*Brave isn’t a movie about women trying to prove that they are as good as men, it’s a movie about one woman asserting her right to choose her path:
New York Magazine‘s David Edelstein writes: “In addition to being fast, funny, and unpretentious, Brave is a happy antidote to all the recent films in which women triumph by besting men at their own macho games, as if the history of male dominance is one of patriarchs suppressing females’ essential warlike nature. Merida wants nothing more than to control her own fate, her rage provoked by the refusal of her mother—for whom duty and subservience are paramount—to see the world through her eyes.”
*There is no love interest for Merida. I repeat: THERE IS NO LOVE INTEREST FOR MERIDA!
The Village Voice’s Melissa Anderson writes: “Where fellow bow-and-arrow expert Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and the titular princess of Snow White and the Huntsman are each one point in love triangles, Merida, resolutely asexual, is nonetheless entangled in the most complicated, all-consuming love- and hate-filled dyad of all: that between a teenage daughter and her mother.”
*Yes, Brave is the rare Disney film in which a mother is both alive and not an evil cannibal:
Time‘s Richard Corliss writes “Disney princesses have a rough time with the women who run their lives. The female authority figure is usually a stepmother — in Disney animated features, the inevitable phrase would be “wicked stepmother” — who offers Snow White a poisoned apple, forces scullery work on Cinderella and, in Tangled, locks Rapunzel in a high tower for her entire childhood and most of her adolescence. The millions of actual stepmoms, among all the postnuclear families in the world, must think of these portrayals as libel. They should bring a class-action suit against the Walt Disney Company and picket its Burbank headquarters.
The Negative
*Brave isn’t as good as Toy Story or other Pixar films:
Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan says: “Shown on its own, without any logo attached, “Brave” simply doesn’t feel as much like the Pixar movies we’ve come to expect.”
Chicago Tribune‘s Micael Phillips writes: “At this point in Pixar’s history, the studio contends with nearly impossible expectations itself. This is what happens when you turn out some bona fide masterworks. “Brave” isn’t that; it’s simply a bona fide eyeful.”
Boston Globe‘s Ty Burr writes: “Uh-oh: “Brave” is the first Pixar movie that doesn’t feel like a Pixar movie.”
*Too much teen angst, not enough action:
Boston Globe‘s Ty Burr writes: “The first half-hour bumps along with humor and a striking lack of direction.”
*We’ve seen these characters and plots before:
A.V. Club’s Tasha Robinson writes: “These kinds of lapses don’t seriously harm the movie, but they do enhance the feeling that it’s skating along a series of broad stereotypes—martinet mom, browbeaten but resistant dad, rebellious teenager, bratty kids—without finding the depth in them that, say, The Incredibles did.”
Slant Magazine’s Richard Larson says: “But ultimately the film offers nothing more than a caricature of a well-worn conceit (a princess doesn’t fit into her shiny box, so she just breaks all the rules and does what she wants), neatly repackaged for another generation of young moviegoers who haven’t met Princess Jasmine from Aladdin and don’t realize that they’re eating yesterday’s leftovers.”
Whew.
So what should we take away from this conversation, other than the fact that my 6-year-old knows what a vasectomy is? First, it is significant that she likes Merida better than her previous favorite princesses (Belle, Aurora, and Tiana) because Merida is “brave.” Clearly my daughter has been conditioned to understand the film through its ubiquitous marketing campaign (“Merida is BRAVE!”). But still, I think it is significant that a 6-year-old moviegoer recognizes the value of a young woman defeating a large, scary bear. It is important that a 6-year-old girl understands the value of a woman who is brave. Second, it is significant that my daughter does not view Merida’s bravery as a male character trait being co-opted by a female character, like it’s unnatural. The film is so female-centered (yes, we have the slapstick moments with the four clans, but that is comic relief, not the film’s heart) that female bravery makes sense. Of course Merida stood up to that scary bear — who else was going to save her mother?
So while much of the critique of this film focuses on its bait-and-switch tactics — trailers and posters promise a film about a brave young girl fighting battles but delivers a mother-daughter melodrama, the film promises Pixar but delivers a Lifetime-style tearjerker — I don’t see it as a bait-and-switch. Rebelling against your parents’ repressive visions of your future and being willing to sacrifice your life in order to rectify your mistakes is brave behavior indeed. So while Brave is not a perfect film and Merida is not a perfect character, both are good enough. And I think we can all agree that good enough is sometimes good enough.
So did you take your children to see Brave? Did they like it? Why or why not?
judgmental observer 
July 9, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Awwww, lovely and entertaining as usual. 🙂 Has M seen THE INCREDIBLES yet? Yes, it reinforces marriage, children, etc., but it’s much more female-centric than (I think) people give it credit for.
July 9, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Thanks Kelli! Maisy did see THE INCREDIBLES 2 summers ago. But I don’t think it made much of an impression because (surprise surprise) it is not a “princess” movie. Someone on Twitter asked if she had seen MULAN yet and I think we’ll rent that one soon (I’ve never seen it either!) so I can ask her if Mulan is as “brave” as Merida.
July 9, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Oh yeaaaaaaah, princesses… I’ve not seen MULAN either. Perhaps we should all watch and report back. 😉
July 9, 2012 at 2:15 pm
MULAN Roundtable: you, me, and the 6yo.
July 9, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Mulan is okay, but still completely focused on completing the hetero-marriage requirement.
July 9, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Mulan *is* as brave as Merida, but she takes a boatload of shit for it in the film, and the film isn’t titled BRAVE, so I don’t know if it would come across to a six-year-old. It would be interesting to find out. Mulan is, though, possibly my favorite Disney movie.
July 9, 2012 at 2:17 pm
I love this post and Miss M’s blog debut. Kudos to you both (and to M for knowing “chromosomes”). This is something I’m thinking through in my work on women soldiers. And I love this: “Nothing is a boy thing or a girl thing!”
July 9, 2012 at 2:19 pm
When she said that I started to freak out “I completely agree with you Maisy! Good job!” All these years of telling her that it is OK for a boy to wear a dress (she is very interested in drag queens) have paid off!
July 9, 2012 at 2:25 pm
I hope you don’t mind that I’m chiming in despite not having kids, but after seeing the movie twice over the course of the week (it was see Brave again or see The Amazing Spider-Man again, so it was an easy decision), and after reading this post, I had some thoughts I want to chip in.
The big thing, and related to overall theme of your post about not only compulsory heterosexuality (though there are against the grain readings that rest on stereotypes) but on how, when Merida decides to play by the rules of patriarchy, she gets punished.
I didn’t pick up on it the first time through (realized it on the second viewing), but she has every right to shoot for her own hand because she is the first born. The traditions and rules didn’t specify first born son, so, really, she’s perfectly within her rights to do what she does. And that, for me, was the more revolutionary aspect of the movie (along with it being, at its core, an animated maternal melodrama, something I don’t even get to point all that often in anime), that it was showcasing this enforced double standard of behavior.
So when Merida says it isn’t fair, she’s not being “bratty,” as Turan accuses her of being; she’s actually pointing out a major societal problem that she, and the clans as a whole, are experiencing.
I do like that Elinor’s role in this arrangement is complicated a bit as well. I think it’s safe to say that she’s the running the kingdom (she’s seen with papers a couple of times), but she’s also complicit in furthering the status quo by pushing gender norms on Merida that are outdated, at least in the castle that they live in.
And I think all of that is really great to see play out in the movie, and one that I think, like your interview with your daughter proves, that there’s a real take-away to be had about it that parents should be discussing with their kids, boys and girls alike. 🙂
Do let me know what your daughter thinks about Mulan in comparison to Brave when you two get around to watching it. Like I mentioned on Twitter, I think there could be an interesting discussion there as well about gender roles (and gender bending) and notions of bravery and action as gender neutral traits.
July 9, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Hi Noel
I’m glad you’re in this conversation and thanks for the link to the piece on gender performance and sexuality in the film, which I will read soon!
I don’t think Merida was being “bratty” either. She has a right to be annoyed with her situation and, after she completely screws up, she acts the way any teenage girl would act: guilty and defensive.
Although the marketing of this film was intended to widen its market, in the long run, I think it’s going to really hurt the film. I was going in expecting an ass-kicking action film. Instead I got, as you point out, a “maternal melodrama.” I happen to LOVE maternal melodramas, so that was fine for me. But there are going to be a lot of disappointed moviegoers out there–which is a shame, because this is a good movie.
And yes, Elinor is a great character. I love that she claims all of these traditional gender roles for herself but in practice she is breaking them all of the time! Where else would Merida have learned such behaviors?
July 10, 2012 at 11:44 am
This conversation reminded me of something that I forgot to add to this post. In the past, when I have asked my daughter why she likes a certain female film or TV character she would often use a physical characteristic as an explanation. She likes Aurora because she’s “beautiful” and Tiana because “she has a pretty dress.” This was one of the first times I remember her saying that she liked a female character for a character trait–namely bravery. That makes me happy.
July 21, 2012 at 2:34 am
[…] the show has reminded me of Amanda Ann Klein’s great post where she interviews her daughter after seeing Pixar’s Brave, as it offers some tremendous insight into how a film often framed as progressive in its approach […]
July 21, 2012 at 4:43 am
I’ve taken my children to see it twice – and while they definitely like it, they’re two and three, so getting them to talk to me about it mostly results in “It has bears!!” (They are, however, disappointed that the Merida action figure is sold out at our local place – we got the triplets-who-turn-into-bears, but we’re still waiting on a Merida!)
I did want to say, though – because I missed it the first time around – is that it’s Elinor who defeats Mor-du. It was a bit of a sneaky surprise, because of course I’d expected that Merida would defeat the big bad, but it’s actually Merida’s mother whose combination of wits and strength saves the day.
Dunno if you’ve read Just Another Princess Movie yet, but it’s hands-down THE BEST meta I’ve read so far about the film, pointing out all the ways in which Brave is, well, brave for telling the stories it’s telling.
July 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm
Interesting – I especially like the way you begin your post, with all the ways women are perceived as Doing It Wrong. I was disappointed in *Brave,* because I love the smart-assery of Pixar, and as a historically-and-geographically-bound narrative, Brave couldn’t do the kinds of play that other Pixar films can. One of the criticisms a friend of mine made – though on the whole we all liked the film – is that she wished Merida had to reject suitors who weren’t so clearly unsuitable. There’s the arrogant one, then there’s the one who can’t be understood by anyone, and the third who is portrayed as possibly mentally disabled? Or at least dumb and out of it? These latter two boys do appear really socially deficient at least, in some important ways, and the arrogant “Pict” boy just seems like a jerk. Who wouldn’t rebel against those “options”? We would have liked to see Merida meet three average boys, none of whom are rude caricatures, but none of whom are so awesome they overpower her love of archery and doing her own thing. To be confronted with fools and jerks and say “no thanks” is easy; to be confronted with potentially appealing boys but still not be interested in the hetero plot? THAT would have been awesome.
I *did* like that the boys were very quick to agree at the end, though, when Merida says “let us make our own choices.” It’s a nice moment that shows how this oppressive tradition isn’t good for *anyone*.
Mulan’s got some problems, but it does include – as a really key plot point – some drag queening. There’s super-interesting gender stuff going on in that movie – the lyrics to the “make a man out of you” song are just mindbogglingly weird.