I love Pixar films. I also love fairytales. So the excitement that I had leading up to this movie was great.  Although it did not quite meet my expectations, it was just that close.  Brave is, visually, a jawdroppingly stunning piece or artwork. The forest, horses, settings, fabrics; in everything you see  ”The pixar touch” . The reality of the setting, yet the slightly less realistic people is my favourite category of animation. When Merida’s hair gets wet, her hair does not stay in the kinky curls, but instead elongates and straightens into a stream of wavy red. Her dress does not stay immaculate and pristine, but instead gets wrinkled, dirty, and ripped. Art wise, this is Pixar’s  masterpiece. ‘Tis wondrous fair to look upon!  The Music is indescribably beautiful…it thrills  your heart down to your very bones. From the lovely songs that are scattered throughout to the breathtaking score by Patrick Doyle, the soundtrack couldn’t have been better. It fits the moods and theme of the story perfectly. As for the story…I loved the story. I really liked the way they didn’t make it have to revolve around a romantic scenario, but instead made it center around family relationships. I wouldnae have minded there being a surprise twist with an amazing Prince at the end, mind you, but fairytales are not always romantic, so we shouldn’t think that “fairy tale” and “My prince will come” are synonymous.  The only point in which I believe that “Brave” (more aptly titled “The Bear and the Bow” in my most humble opinion) suffered, was the depth department. While it had good things to say, and it said them, it said them fast, and never returned to the issue. The setting, characters, and storyline are such that all kinds of possibilities could have been explored, deepened, and elongated. Instead, it felt a wee bit as if the main story plot was rushed through without giving proper time to let tears fall, so to speak. You’re barely introduced to Merida’s world before you’re thrown into the conflict between her mother and hersel’, and then all of a sudden witches have been consulted, potions doled, and less than two days to set things to rights. It should have gradually brought you into all this, deepening the character and plot development by taking the side road several times, not madly galloping along the oft used highway.  Another thing. The usually solid Pixar moral is kinda sketchy. It’s as if Disney had to have the follow your heart statement thrown into all fairytales, and Pixar had to make the phrase their own, and so “choose your fate” was born; a statement that, in light of the movie’s story, contradicts itself. This also helps to make the movie’s emotion less deep than it could and should have been. Despite these shortcomings, “Brave” is a wonderful, beautiful movie, which capitalises on the importance of family relationships, submission, humility, and duty and which (finally!) features a Princess who must repent of her pride and selfishness and take  responsibility for the results of her sinful actions before she becomes the girl we want her to be – a true princess. Legends are indeed lessons, and for the most part, this is one that we could all stand to learn.

below are a couple of other reviews of “Brave”. Agree? Disagree? What think ye?

http://www.outside-hollywood.com/2012/06/brave-part-i-art-and-character/

http://www.outside-hollywood.com/2012/07/brave-part-ii-story-and-theme/

This is my response to this review ^^

While I agree with quite a few of your points, and believe that your review is a lot fairer and more accurate than your sisters’,(http://visionarydaughters.com/2012/07/can-we-have-a-braver-princess-please) there are still several things on which my opinion differs. I think that the chief problems of “Brave” lie in the lack of character and plot development. One feels suddenly thrust into a world full of intricate, complex characters that we barely get to meet – and the story goes by so fast it doesn’t really give time to explore all it’s own possibilities. I wish they could have taken a little more time, so as to create an even deeper enjoyment and empathy for the story. The music and the animation is simply breathtaking – absolutely gorgeous. It is a feast for the ears and eyes, and I love the story – it is just in the depth department that “Brave” suffers. I do NOT think, however, that Fergus is an “idiotic, drunken brawler”. He is a kind, considerate, understanding, able, brave, devoted, and loving father and husband. As far as I remember, he was never shown drunk – MAYBE once. Maybe. As for a brawler – haha Well, ancient Germans, British, and Scottish were notorious for their love of fighting, and were rarely chosen as kings or chieftains for their wisdom or diplomatic skills, but for their bravery or valour. That is what makes Elinor such the perfect helpmeet for him – she fulfills those things that he lacks. Also, I don’t believe that the movie is painting a heroic picture of the rebellious princess triumphing over her oppression in Merida – instead, they show that her selfishness and rebellion have serious consequences that must be mended and repented of before the damage is near irreparable. Only after she and her mother begin to “mend the bond” that pride (and lack of communication) had broken, does she start to face up to her responsibilities and become the girl we want her to be. She learns that her mother really does care for her and truly wants what’s best for her, and in the end it is Elinor (not Merida) who is the one to back down from the arranged marriage. I agree with your conclusion, though. Because of the lack of a clear cut morality and values system, the emotion IS undercut. She followed her heart in the beginning, and look where it led her, but that is just what the movie tells us to do in the end.

Brave is the latest movie from the creation of the Disney/Pixar team. Disney/Pixar already has quite a stellar reputation of churning out first-rate animated movies since 1995 and they promise Brave to be another story with a top quality cast, top-notch animation and a story that’s thrillingly entertaining. The question is do they deliver well enough to keep the Disney/Pixar legacy happening?

The story revolves around Merida: a young Scottish princess who’s first-born of King Fergus of Clan DunBroch and Queen Elinor. Merida is an energetic princess from the start as she gets a bow and arrow for her birthday and her passion for archery grows. Her pursuits include encounters with a will-o’-the-wisp to the demon bear Mor’Du. The bear is successfully fought off at the expense of the king’s leg. Years would pass. Elinor would have triplet boys who are totally mischievous. Merida would grow up to be a free-spirited teenager who has a passion for archery and sword fighting. This charms her father but doesn’t go well with the mother as she wants Merida to grow up to be a traditional princess. Merida doesn’t look forward to the traditional life of the princess. She wants more to be the hero and the fighter instead.

Then the day comes. Merida learns that she is to be betrothed to a first-born son from one of her father’s allied clans. Even though Merida is disappointed, Elinor tells Merida the story of a boy who did his own thing and it led the kingdom to ruin. Even though Merida is still unhappy, she decides for archery at the Highland Games to be the decider for her future husband. Disappointed with the contest Merida openly declares open to compete for her own hand and devastates the efforts of the other boys. This disappoints Elinor greatly and the two have a falling out as Merida goes into the woods.

In the woods she’s led by will-o’-the-wisps to a witch disguised as a wood carver. The witch agrees to give Merida a spell to change her mother but in the form of a cake. To both of their surprise, Elinor turns into a bear after eating the cake. Merida heads back to the witch’s cottage only to find the witch gone. The potion in the cottage contains an automated message from the witch that the spell will be permanent unless undone by the second sunrise. She also leaves a riddle to undo the spell: “mend the bond torn by pride.” As Merida attempts to patch things up with the mother, she sees how her mother has become more bear-like. She also flees an attack form Mor’Du and learns that Mor’Du received the same spell from the witch many years ago. She learns she has to mend a family bond to prevent her mother from being like Mor’Du. To make things crazier, her brothers discovered the cake, ate it, and turned into cubs.

Meanwhile tensions grow at the castle as the clans fight over Merida’s behavior. Merida quells the fighting by declaring that children should get married in their own time. The suitors and the lords all agree. Meanwhile the time for Merida to restore Elinor into a human is running out. Merida and Elinor try to head out of the castle only to be stopped by Fergus who mistakes her for Mor’Du. Fergus pursues Elinor while Merida has to free herself to stop them both. It isn’t until all are confronted by Mor’Du that something has to happen. Elinor lures Mor’Du to a falling menhir which kills him. It isn’t until one final professing from Merida that the spell can be cast free and peace can be restored amongst the clans.

Overall Brave does not rank as one of the best Disney/Pixar movies ever nor does it have one of its best-ever storylines. In fact it was Pixar’s goal to make a more mature movie as compared to their mostly kid-friendly movies like Cars, Up, Ratatouille and Toy Story. That could be why many may feel the typical Disney/Pixar magic is lacking here. What it does do is live up to the promise of a story entertaining for any movie audient of any age even with its darkness at times. It also delivers in bringing charming characters to the table and a heroine that succeeds in making the audience want her to win in the end. That is reason enough to consider Brave an excellent movie in its own rite. The unique thing about Merida is that she’s Pixar’s first ever female protagonist in a feature-length film.

The story itself was even written by a woman: Brenda Chapman. She wrote the story to have it in the same tradition as Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. She was also to be Pixar’s first female director but was replaced by Mark Andrews following creative disagreements. The presentation of Merida as a strong young woman who defies traditional convention but has a heart of her own also gives a positive female role model for young girls. Good to have since reality show bimbos seem to be the popularity contest winners right now.

The voice acting had excellent choices in terms of picking some of the biggest names to come from Scotland: Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Craig Ferguson and Kevin McKidd. The addition of English actors Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane and Julie Walters also added to the charm of the story. John Ratzenberger, a favorite of Disney/Pixar, again makes a return appearance. The animation was top notch as one would expect from the Pixar team. Once again detail and accuracy pay off. The music, composed by Patrick Doyle, was meant to have the Celtic feel of being in Scotland and included many authentic Scottish instruments and Scottish rhythms in the score’s mix.

Brave is not amongst the best Disney/Pixar movies ever made. Nevertheless it does take the Pixar team in new directions in terms of storytelling and it succeeds in being entertaining to the audience. That should keep the Disney/Pixar continuing on their positive streak.

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While the heroine and the premise initially seemed interesting, I found the writing jarring. At one point very early on in the book, the heroine, Gillian Key, ex-Marine/Paramortal Psychologist extraordinaire is driving down a road, and then the author suddenly drops you into her background story. It’s clumsy. And then by page 70 she’s having sex with someone in a forest. The author seems to think that showing her character as violently angry equals a strong, independent female character. Ugh. Anyway.

So, I found the idea of a Paramortal Psychologist quite interesting, but I’m very disappointed in how it ended up being handled. Perhaps in the hands of a more experienced author the plot could have been saved.

Verdict? Don’t waste your time or money. If you share my morbid curiosity, borrow it from you local library before it’s sold off in a fundraiser.

Well, it certainly didn’t disappoint! Brave was a wonderful story about family and growing up. Merida was a headstrong heroine that forged her own path not just by force, but by understanding what it meant to be a ruler. Plus, it was so refreshing to see a realistic mother/daughter relationship in animation. It didn’t hurt that Pixar’s scenery of Scotland was gorgeous, and there were plenty of funny moments to be had in the drama.

Of course, whenever there’s something that’s very female-positive or shows women in non-stereotypical roles, there’s just a ton of people who just don’t get it. And Brave has been no exception to this. In fact, I’ve had the worst feeling that if Brave were about a prince and a king going on a journey to reverse a curse, it would be getting much higher reviews all across the board.

Which leaves me here to compile the six most ridiculous things I’ve heard about Brave, and defending it’s honor. Because Merida isn’t real enough to do so herself. Spoilers below for those who haven’t seen it.

1.) “Merida is a lesbian!” – This is the one that’s been coming up the most and it’s the one that’s angered me the most. Basically, a journalist from Entertainment Weekly wrote an article swearing up and down that Merida is a lesbian. Because she’s a rough and tumble girl who likes archery, and isn’t interested in boys. Of course, the media picked this up and this is all that seems to be coming up about Merida. Not that she has an excellent character growth or the fact that a new generation of girls is claiming that they finally have a Disney princess of their own. It’s that she might be a lesbian.

First of all, it’s not that I wouldn’t mind if Merida identified in the queer spectrum. In fact, I eagerly await the day that there’s a canonically queer character in a children’s animated film. Disney, Pixar, or otherwise. What I DO mind about these assumptions of her sexuality is that they’re stuck in stereotypes. Merida likes riding horses and shooting a bow and arrow and isn’t interested in being a girly girl! That means she must be gay! By that logic, Katniss Everdeen has two out of three of those qualifications, and Fa Mulan was probably the first lesbian princess. However, they have heterosexual love interests, and Merida stays single at the end of her movie. Because, again, your sexuality is decided by an interest in physical sports and your lack of interest in boys when you’re 14.

Well, to be fair, I wouldn’t be interested in boys either if I was told I had to pick a husband out of three jerks I had never met before yesterday! 

Seriously. I do NOT get why people keep bringing up her lack of interest in the Lords’ sons when it was very clear that she wasn’t interested in them because she didn’t want to be forced to marry. You tell most girls at 14 that they have to pick a husband for the rest of their life from three guys they barely know, they’re going to be defiant as well! That doesn’t mean they’re all queer, it just means they don’t want to do something you’re forcing upon them!

Of course, people just don’t care about that. They want to know if the princess with the arrows is gay.

2.) “Warrior princesses are only fighting older female antagonists these days, and Merida is one of them!” – Now this is a valid piece of criticism of other films coming from Variety, but I feel like it doesn’t apply to Brave the way the journalist is intending it to. There are two older female characters in this movie, yes, but they are not antagonistic.

The first is Queen Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson). She is Merida’s mother as well as her teacher in all things royal. She is teaching Merida how to be a ruler, but Merida isn’t interested. They argue constantly through the first act, but it’s very clear that Elinor does what she does out of motherly love and regrets the mistakes she makes. Merida realizes her mistakes as well and uses her mother’s teachings in her own way to placate the Lords. So much of their journey in the film is about the two of them learning how to give and take. Merida learns from her mother, but Elinor learns just as much from her as well. Plus, who here hasn’t argued with their mother? I certainly have.

The other is the Witch (played by Julie Walters). While she provides the curse that sets the plot of the film in motion after the games, the Witch isn’t in the film for very long and she’s very much a businesswoman in the whole ordeal. She’s not good or bad. She’s just a woman leading a quiet life making woodcarvings and spells in the middle of the woods. She doesn’t go into battle or try to antagonize Merida and Elinor. She gives Merida the curse and the way to reverse it. She is the neutral party that sets Merida where she needs to go, for better or worse.

3.) “Why does it have to be about women?” – I’ve heard various versions of this across the internet, and it makes me understand why we can’t have nice things.

Female relationships are so rare in children’s entertainment, be they friendships or parental. Parents are often pushed to the side by the narrative, and if there’s a female character in there, it’s usually just as a side character that one character might have a crush on. And if there’s more than one female character, they’re often antagonistic towards each other or don’t even interact in the slightest. When there are positive female relationships, though, the movies are dismissed or the relationships are overlooked. The Princess and The Frog was a big example of this with the friendship between Lottie and Tiana, but no one mentions this at all.

But now that there’s a movie with two female characters in the forefront and people can’t handle that. Why does it have to be about women? Why is it about mothers and daughters?

Because positive mother and daughter relationships are so rare in media, let alone children’s entertainment. We need Elinor and Merida to show that mothers and daughters are allowed to get along and be friends. We need Elinor and Merida to show that women can take the same journeys that men do in media and have positive experiences from it. Brave has to be about women in order to show that we are not just obsessed with romance.

And Brave has to be about women because girls need heroes like everyone else, and not just a plucky side character.

4.) “The movie was formulaic!” – Yeah, and so is every other major motion picture release!

Brave follows a trope known as “The Hero’s Journey.” The general breakdown of the Hero’s Journey is that the piece of media starts off with our hero as arrogant/vain/inexperienced/cowardly/what have you, and they go on both a physical and spiritual journey and by the end of it, they are a better person and a worthy hero. Last year alone, this trope was used by Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Green Lantern, and Cars 2 just to name a few. The only thing that makes Brave any different is that it’s Scottish and features a young woman going on the hero’s journey.

So why is this movie suddenly the “formulaic” one?

5.) “The men were just plot devices!”/”There are no male role models!” – I had to combine these two just to say this:

Yeah, welcome to the life of women in media. Do you want the long or short introduction?

I will admit that the men in this film were mostly comic relief, but I didn’t mind that. Because that’s probably what would have happened if the film had been about Merida and Fergus or about the triplets. They picked some fine Scottish actors and comedians to play the over-the-top Lords, and it was well executed.

But women in media are constantly reduced to plot devices, but most reviewers aren’t going to call that out. Parents haven’t cried out about the lack of female role models. Well, not often. Merida is a fine role model for growing up, and she shouldn’t have to be “only for girls” because of her gender.

Plus, Fergus is a good father who only wants the best for his daughter and supports her choices in life. He got hotheaded at one point and didn’t listen to the warnings his daughter gave him, but even his anger was driven by a love for his family. How is THAT not role model worthy?

Well, the family supportiveness is role model worthy. Not the not listening to your daughter in a moment of passionate revenge and almost killing your wife in the process because you didn’t know she was a bear.

6.) “The visuals weren’t impressive!” – I have nothing more to say to say about this besides “I’m sorry that rewriting the software for the first time in 25 years to replicate SCOTLAND wasn’t good enough for you!”

Seriously, I feel sad for anyone who looked at that scenery on a big screen and just said, “…Meh.”

Not to mention her HAIR. Oh my god, I have never seen naturally curly hair look so accurate on screen, either in live action or animation.

Well, there are my many thoughts about Brave. At the end of the day, all I can really say about it is to go see it with your own thoughts and experiences in mind. Pixar holds themselves up to a high standard, and Brave is a wonderful addition to their legacy. I can only hope that we don’t have to wait another 17 years to get a female protagonist from them, because while Merida is a lovely character, she wants me wanting more awesome leading ladies from Pixar. I know Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli are a huge influence on their work, and that work includes gorgeous journeys lead by amazing young women.

Next post will be a journey into Moonrise Kingdom.

So many of the films that arrive at our movie theaters these days aren’t really about anything at all. They deliver pulse-pounding action or knee-slapping laughs, sure, but they are the cinematic equivalent of what MacBeth thinks of Life near the end of his Shakespearean tragedy. They are “tales told by…idiot[s], full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Perhaps we want our films to signify nothing because we don’t want to be forced to think about them when we leave. Give us enough explosions or bare flesh or bathroom jokes and we’ll be happy. But wallop us with thematic content that encourages us to reflect on our own lives? That’s the property of indie films or documentaries or — gasp — sermons.

Of course, over the last 17 years, we have come to expect more from Pixar. And the amazing thing is that the company delivers again and again. While I’ll admit that Pixar has fallen prey to some of the sequelitis that has reached epidemic proportions in Hollywood, every one of their original properties is about something more than generating revenue for Disney.

The one that started it all, Toy Story, is about unselfishness and making friends. Finding Nemo shows the values of perseverance and never giving up. The Incredibles touts the importance of family. Wall-E is a scathing indictment of the negative trends of modern society. UP teaches that letting go of grief does not mean you let go of the love that activated the grief in the first place.

I know I skipped a bunch, but I’m writing this off the top of my head and it’s been a while since I’ve seen some of the others. I will say that every Pixar movie I’ve ever seen (and I think I’ve seen them all except for Cars 2) made me reflect on some aspect of my life in a way that a good sermon does.

And that brings us back to Brave. First, the film is gorgeous. Digital animation has reached such heights that I could have sworn that Pixar just flew a helicopter around the Scottish highlands to generate their backgrounds. Wow. Second, the story is at the same time fresh and original while being one of the oldest tales in the book. It starts as a straight up story about a princess who doesn’t want to get married to one of the icky suitors. But that’s just the jumping off point. Pretty soon into the movie, the story pivots into a tale of reconciliation between an estranged mother and daughter.

In a brilliant scene near the beginning of the film, the wizards at Pixar highlight the disconnect between the mother, Elinor, and daughter, Merida. Each has one side of the same conversation, but each is speaking their dialogue to someone else. After the inevitable big blowup between the two of them, Merida turns her mother into a bear using an ambiguous spell that a less-than-evil witch/entrepreneur concocts to change the mother’s fate. Over the course of the rest of the film, Elinor can’t speak because she’s a bear (a prim, proper bear, but a bear nonetheless). This allows her to listen and learn from the daughter she is always trying to teach. And Merida realizes that all of things that Elinor has taught her, which she has rebelled against, are truly for her (Merida’s) benefit.

And still Merida hangs all her hopes on stitching up the family tapestry. She thinks that simple gesture will break the spell. But as is the case with reconciliation, the gesture is less important than the exchange of confession and forgiveness. I don’t want to spoil the end of the film, but I left the theater reveling in the awesome power of reconciliation.

Thank you Pixar for another stellar film about something, and about something important. I hope everyone finds the hour and forty minutes it will take to sit through this one because it is worth it. Perhaps at the end of the film you will reflect on a relationship in your life that has become estranged. And you’ll find that the film has bucked the Hollywood trend and helped you take a first step in healing a rift in your own life.

This is not to say that it was a terrible film. I did like it and there were excellent things about the film – the music and visual landscape made up those excellent aspects. But, Brave won’t go down as one of my favorite Pixar films. It did however have, at least, one biblical parallel I wanted to highlight.

[Major spoilers - the ending is discussed]

As the previews depict, Merida is a very rebellious little girl, however, Elinor is a very dominant mother. Some might even say that Elinor is a little over-the-top. She is constantly critiquing Merida, causing a rift in the relationship. This rift reaches it’s peak when the two are having a ‘discussion’ on who she will marry and what that will look like.

As the tempers between the two are flaring (it’s important to note that Merida has a sword in her hand) Merida swings the sword into a tapestry her mother made when Merida was a child. This tapestry depicted Merida, Elinor and King Fergus holding hands, and it just so happens that Merida slices the tapestry separating her from her mother.

After Elinor has been turned into a bear (not getting into that, just go see the film) a witch tells Merida what must be done to reverse the spell. She says something about ‘Mending the tear’, I can’t remember the exact words but you get the gist. This leads Merida to assume that she must physically fix this tear in the tapestry, this also must be done before the second sunrise.

At the end of the film, as Merida is riding on a horse mending the tapestry, the sun begins to rise. Merida repairs the tear right as the sun is rising and…nothing happens. Elinor remains a bear. The sun continues to come up, and Merida begins to cry. She says, ‘I’m sorry mother. It’s my fault. Forgive me.’ At this moment, Elinor changes back to her normal, human self. The tear had been mended.

You see, the witch did not mean that the physical tear on the tapestry needed mending. She knew a heart-change needed to occur. All the thread in Scotland couldn’t repair the severing of a relationship between a mother and daughter.

Isn’t this true in the Christian life? We so often want to do something to earn God’s favor, or seek forgiveness from him or a fellow brother or sister. But, we ultimately can’t do anything. The forgiveness we receive and grant was purchased by Another. Yes we can grant and practice forgiveness, but it’s ultimately something we cannot go out and do – just as Merida couldn’t physically repair the tapestry. And even when we do practice forgiveness, we often merely display empty actions. Actions that are simply done. Done without faith.
We know God sees the heart of every human being on the face of the earth. And, as J.C. Ryle says, ‘Christianity is a religion of the heart.’ This reminds us that all the actions we can muster are not enough if we aren’t impacted on a heart level. That’s why Merida’s repentance and sorrow resonated with me. She was broken, she was sorry, she displayed a contrite heart that was similar to that of king David:

You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. (actions) The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, you will not despise a broken and humbled heart. [Psalm 51:16 & 17]

Merida and her mother, Elinor, disagree about what that place should be. While Merida loves the outdoors and archery, her mother reminds her that princesses shouldn’t own weapons. Mild irritation between the two bursts into strident generational conflict when the time comes for Merida to be betrothed to a son of one of the three neighbouring clans. In desperation, Merida resorts to magic, only to see the spell backfire and her mother turned into a bear, the mortal enemy of her father. The relationship between mother and daughter takes centre stage as Merida seeks to transform her mother back to her original form.

The solution that the film offers is for Merida and her mother to learn to listen to each other. It’s only when Elinor loses the power of speech that she begins to understand her daughter’s world. Similarly, only when Merida starts seeing her people’s story through her mother’s eyes does she understand her place in it. Elinor comes to offer her daughter freedom to discover her own path; ironically it is this very act that helps Merida to locate herself within her people’s story.

Generational conflict is a familiar theme for Christians, both in our family and church life. This story points us beyond a grasping for our own rights; it’s as the two women start looking to the needs of the other that they find relational harmony. In Brave, we hear echoes of James’ words: ‘My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.’

A new type of princess.

Pixar has done nothing for me since Up. I’ve never understood why people like the Toy Story movies as much as they do and the less said about Cars 2 the better. Now in what is a landmark moment that should have come a decade ago, Pixar decided to make a movie about women. Not only is Merida (Kelly MacDonald) the first female protagonist in a Pixar movie, this is the first time a Pixar film has focused on an exclusively female relationship: that of mother and daughter. Though destined to be a Disney Princess (another first for Pixar, getting a character into that vaunted club), Merida is a new breed. Gone is the tacit assurance that finding love and getting married is the apex of womanly existence. You have to hand it to Pixar: when they join a club, they aim to change it. Maybe this is because Brenda Chapman, getting credit both as a writer and director on the project, is a woman. She was the first woman to direct a major animated feature for a Hollywood studio (The Prince of Egypt). So there’s a lot of new ground being broken by Brave behind the scenes.

In terms of quality, well, Brave is every bit as good as the typical Pixar movie. It’s got the same beating heart beneath the action and comedy, the same simple but completely human themes running through its somewhat fantastic story. Above all, it’s really about relationships between people and strong emotions expressed through clear, confident storytelling. This is another one of those cases where they make it look easy over there. It’s got a little The Little Mermaid mixed into its DNA and I don’t just say that because half the characters are gingers. There’s the same narrative of the rebellious young woman only this time, it’s her mother and not her father she’s rebelling against. Add in some colorful secondary characters, a magic spell, and some danger and you’ve got a solid formula that, while not groundbreaking, allows everything about Brave that is groundbreaking to breathe.

There’s a ginger joke in here somewhere.

Merida is on the cusp of womanhood and while her younger brothers have the run of the castle, she is subject to the courtly training of her imperious mother, the Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). With her more fun-loving and indulgent father, King Fergus (Billy Connolly) giving her a bit of freedom to explore her own identity along the way, Merida grows up with nothing but distaste for the life of a princess. It’s not that she wants to be a warrior or anything else really. She doesn’t know what she wants except the chance to find that out. She’s a cypher for the classic teenage coming of age story and even though this is medieval Scotland, it works. It works very well, actually. Brave deserves to be considered among the best of the Pixar films and I honestly don’t get the weirdly mixed reaction it’s getting.

A lot is made in the film of Merida’s skill with a bow. I said she doesn’t necessarily want to be a warrior but she certainly enjoys the option. She likes exercise and physical stuff and looks up to her father, a legendary warrior. She wants to shoot her bow, which she is awesome with, and swing a sword. That’s not womanly, though, and so she wants to even more. There’s something in there about the gender assignment of cultural roles and it’s telling that Merida gravitates toward the trappings of a man while constantly being pulled in the other direction by her mother.

Fergus means well but is totally clueless about the tension between the two most important women in his life. Go figure!

It seems like an uneasy balance has been the status quo since Merida was a child. Now that she’s older, the leaders of the other regional clans have come to bid on her hand and so keep their alliance in tact. Rather than leaving it at “princesses must get married and that’s that”, the film offers a good reason for Merida’s situation. It’s not fair, like she says, but it’s culturally relevant and it’s got a practical purpose.

Bechdel just shat herself.

Because they do the work to set that up, I figured the movie would end with Merida getting married or at least on her way to it. Mostly because this is inarguably better justification for the reinforcement of marriage as a normative than is present in virtually all the other Disney films that end with the “princess” getting hitched. But no, says Pixar, fuck that fucking shit. If Merida don’t wanna, Merida don’t haveta. I think it takes a lot of nerve to keep Merida single by the end of the film, especially when they largely bought themselves out of the usual criticisms by actually taking the time to develop a context and establish some stakes (if she doesn’t, the clans will go to war). So bravo, Pixar. There’s no love story in this movie, except that of mother and daughter.

Most of the movie is Merida dealing with her mother’s stubborn resolve that she marry one of the eccentric clan heirs, none of which are all that appealing to her (or us). Before long, Merida stumbles on that most tricky of solutions: magic. Encountering a crotchety but entertainingly crazy old witch –er woodcarver– Merida gets her hands on a magic cake that will “change” her mother. With the reckless assurance of the teenage mind, Merida immediately feeds this shit to her mom which turns her into a fucking bear.

C’mon, you figured this twist out already.

Elinor is still mostly herself in bear form and it’s hilarious. They managed to create a sort of affected bipedal walking stance that she does in bear form and it never gets old. Slew me every time I saw it. Merida immediately recognizes the harm in what she did and the second act is the two of them trying to figure out how to reverse the spell. The answer is more or less clear, but the complication is that a demon bear named Mor’du ate Fergus’s leg a decade ago and the guy pretty much hates bears. His castle is full of stuffed bears, he wears a bearskin, and the family crest is bears. I mean, the guy has issues with bears.

Pixar tried to keep this whole bear transformation thing mostly under wraps which I don’t get. I could understand if the worry was about unfavorable comparisons to Disney’s Brother Bear (ie: people calling this a Scottish reskin or something) but they don’t hold up so I really don’t understand. After the John Carter marketing fiasco and other weird shit going on over there lately, I just have to wonder if Disney’s marketing department decided to run their business like Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce after too many cocktails. At any rate, I spill the beans here because really, who cares? It doesn’t ruin the movie to know this, in fact it might even be more impetus to see it after the sort of “what is this really even about?” marketing. I mean, they changed the name of the film from (the more interesting) The Bear and the Bow to Brave for what reason? To evoke Braveheart as a way to sell the movie? Is it because they worried “boys” wouldn’t want to see a movie about a girl and figured changing the name would fix it, the same way they determined that John Carter of Mars would scare all the “girls” away from their already doomed movie? I mean what gives, Disney? You used to be good at this shit.

Thankfully Pixar have created another masterpiece that should transcend any marketing or title issues.

Pixar makes warm movies, and it’s treatment of Scottish motifs and characters is the warmest use of stereotyping ever.

The setting and cultural material derived from it act as a character in the film, basically. The movie sometimes presents us with familiar, Scotland-lite cliches (haggis, unimaginative names, etc) but there’s a real love for both Scotland and the Celtic mystique that goes a bit beyond window-dressing. It’s present in the art of the film, the plentiful shots of mists and glens, lochs and woods, and the detail of the character design. Everything from knotwork to woad paint finds its way into this movie, and the warrior tradition of the Scots, including the virtues of bravery and honor, are embraced without stopping to dismiss violence to preserve the kiddie-movie shield. Of course it isn’t a realistic film, but it is authentic.

Brave is not as action-packed as the trailers may have suggested. It has its share of 2012′s omnipresent bow porn, but it’s not like Merida is Mulan. Where its heart truly lays is in family drama, not dissimilar from The Incredibles (which had more ambitious scope but a less intimate story at the heart), with a heavy dose of comedy. Brave is a really funny movie, actually, though some of the best moments were in the trailers. Fortunately, all the stuff with the “wee devils” (Merida’s three brothers) is just for the movie. They are seriously a comedy trio of epic proportions.

When there is action, Pixar isn’t afraid to get nice and dramatic.

For all that the other stuff works, the best part of the movie is Merida and Elinor. They are both compelling versions of familiar characters and Pixar makes sure to show their work, as per usual, giving viewers reasons to sympathize with both and understand them even when they’re being horrible. Merida is as stubborn and selfish as she thinks Elinor is, and Elinor is too concerned with tradition and duty to see who her daughter even is. They both learn a lot about themselves and each other and it might sound cheesy, or even be cheesy, if Pixar’s writers and directors weren’t the absolute best at this kind of story. The care taken with these characters and this truly uncomplicated story is an embarrassment to all movies that try to shorthand these types of relationships on the way to getting to the stuff no one cares as much about: self-involved mysteries, mindless spectacle, obligatory romance, etc. With some charm and wit, you can give even the simplest stories wings. And that’s Pixar’s secret. They know this and they know that the simplest stories, at their emotional core, are always the best and the most resonant.

This is the kind of heroine I want my own daughter to identify with.

Maybe Brave, female-centric as it is, would have been impossible a few short years ago. Things have changed, though, and the evidence is everywhere. Nice to see Pixar getting on board. Brave is another in the vein of movies that I feel like are most “for” the young women who’ve grown up interested in traditionally boyish stuff, whether it be a heroic narrative or swords and archery. Girls and young women who don’t automatically gender activities, objects, or points of view as they are so often brought up to.

Just today my kid lamented that they don’t make enough “girl LEGO” and while I frown on her even caring about something like “girl LEGO”, I understand where she’s coming from at the same time. LEGO is a heavily masculinized toy and while I’d prefer it if Haylee wasn’t the kind of kid who cared about that, it’s not really her fault that she does and it’s kind of true that LEGO skews heavily to the normalization of a gender divide in their toys. That said, she also loved Brave and understood Merida so I can’t worry too much. Gotta trust that she grows up to put what she wants in her hand, whether it’s a bow or a hairbrush, and sees past whether it’s “for girls” or “for boys”. I hope the same for the potential audience of Brave. It’s a feminist movie, or maybe a post-feminist one, and that can only be a good thing for both boys and girls. Especially since, at heart, Merida’s story isn’t about being a girl but learning to recognize the space between duty to the self and duty to others, a major part of growing up for all genders and sexes in all cultures.

The real twist is that Merida’s mother kinda becomes her boyfriend. Because feminism.

]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/phoenixandolivebranch/2012/06/27/libby-anne-reviews-brave-and-comes-to-different-conclusions/ Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:45:52 +0000 Sierra http://www.patheos.com/blogs/phoenixandolivebranch/2012/06/27/libby-anne-reviews-brave-and-comes-to-different-conclusions/

Libby Anne at Love, Joy, Feminism reviewed Pixar’s Brave right after I did. Apparently, we saw it at the same time! Check out her review here:

A Brave Review: My baggage gets in the way

I always find it really interesting when Libby and I come to different conclusions about popular media or issues, given that our backgrounds are so similar and we understand each other so well. One such example was our differing choices on changing or keeping our last names after marriage. (Libby wrote a follow-up post discussing last name choices here.)

I came away from watching Pixar’s Brave last Friday feeling a little let down by the high expectations I had after Tangled, but otherwise impressed. I was excited to see a film about a mother and daughter actually doing things together. In contrast, Libby Anne was worried about Merida’s willingness to give up her own dreams for her mother, and the one-sided message from the witch that put the burden of reconciliation on Merida alone.

I take her points to heart. If the writers intended to tell a story about the importance of putting your family’s approval above your own dreams, that’s a problematic message. I didn’t interpret it that way, but I can definitely see how Libby Anne could. The difference in emphasis that we each took away from the movie probably reflects our own present family situations post-fundamentalism.

My mother and I have reconciled. Libby Anne and hers have not.

This is not a judgment on Libby Anne. I count myself lucky to have my mother in my life, actually supporting me. I didn’t always. It has been a rough several years. I don’t think that I could have (or should have) made our reconciliation happen without my mother, like Elinor, having a change of heart.

I tried. I reached out to my mother from the very first day I left. I was sometimes reactionary, imputing meanings to things that she said that weren’t really there. (She once called me a “rebel” in a positive sense, and I interpreted it as a judgment because our church castigates rebellion.) But I tried to keep in regular contact with her, supporting her and listening to her as she cared for my dying grandmother and I was states away (and soon, countries away). But I never offered to come home, “make things right” with my abusive father, or return to the church. Eventually, my mother decided to accept me without demanding those things. I experienced reconciliation as something my mother had to choose to take part in, not something I could do by myself.

Libby Anne’s mother is not so flexible. She does demand that Libby return to the “truth” and apologize to her father for living her life without his permission. The burden of reconciliation, from her mother’s point of view, is completely on Libby’s shoulders. The cost of reconciliation is Libby Anne’s whole life. And I agree that the price is far too high.

My mother and I never would have come to an understanding if she wasn’t willing to put her relationship with me ahead of our differences with respect to religion and my father. I’m glad that she did. If she hadn’t, I’d be in Libby’s position now, forced to live with the knowledge that my mother disapproves of me, and that the cost of her approval is my freedom.

So when Libby and I watched Brave, I saw a reiteration of my own eventual coming-to-terms with my mother, and she saw that same set of demands. I think the movie lends itself to both interpretations. Is that a problem? I don’t know. What do you think?

Pixar Animation Studios’ new film Brave is both a grand return to form and an exciting new avenue of storytelling from one of the greatest studios in the history of film-making.

After the commercial success of Cars 2, which I found to be the worst of any of their 12 films (in spite of its zippy storyline and always beautiful visuals), I was hoping for a return to what Pixar does better than anyone else: tell amazingly original stories which are filled with heartfelt emotion, speaking to the deepest part of its audiences.

Brave does not disappoint.

I will be honest–it’s the first Pixar film where I did not anticipate what would happen, even knowing the film’s big twist.  Nor did I anticipate the emotional reaction the film’s final arc would spark in me or the loved ones I saw it with last night.

If you’ve seen the trailers, you know what the basic story is: Merida, a Scottish princess with flaming red hair and a way with a bow, doesn’t want to follow her mother’s wishes and marry the available suitors who have arrived at her castle to fight for her hand.

What transpires because of Merida’s headstrong rebellion is brought to life through a beautiful tapestry (literal and figurative) of family emotions and dynamics full of thrilling adventure and lighthearted comedy.  Ultimately, the story is about the bond between a mother and her daughter, and the final moments of the film will make any woman remember those moments in the mother-daughter relationship that have slipped into the past.

It’s a sumptuously animated film, like any Pixar creation.  Every shot is beautiful, bringing to life the beauty of Scotland like they brought to the world of cars or toys or balloons.  From ancient stones to gorgeous sunswept cliffs, castles to witch’s cottages, the film is filled with beautiful visuals that highlight the wonders of the filmmakers’ art.  And Merida’s hair in itself (which they spent two years in figuring out how to animate) is a beautiful creation, a testimony to the sheer art of the digital animation.

Voice acted with perfection by Kelly McDonald (Merida), Emma Thompson (Queen Elinor), and Billy Connolly (King Fergus), the three main characters are a reminder of the art of family dynamics Pixar first showcased in The Incredibles.  Every person in the family has their own foibles and troubles, but they feel deep affection and love for each other.

They respect each other, even, which is a rare thing to see in film families these days.  Even the teenage rebellion which drives the story is not born out of dislike of her parents, but out of the frustration of identity and dynasty that every teen–even those who love their parents–feels.  The genuine feelings that the parents feel for their offspring, and each other, is a wonderful thing to see in a contemporary film.  It’s quite a refreshing change from family humor that comes from snark and sarcasm.

The design of the film is beautiful, crafted in such a way to highlight some truly innovative character design and color choices throughout are spot on.  It’s a genuinely lovely film to look at.

The film’s score, by composer Patrick Doyle, is full of Scottishness, something he understands well, being a Scot himself.  Whether it’s in the main theme or the pounding drums of the music highlighting the games, it’s easily one of the composer’s best works.  Songs by Julie Fowlis, which speak to the emotions Merida feels as she “let[s] my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen firing arrows into the sunset,” and as she deals with the consequences of her desire to change her fate, are pleasantly Celtic in their feeling.  The end credits song, “Learn Me Right,” by band Mumford & Sons and performed by Birdy, is a beautiful and moving piece and–like Doyle’s score–should be remembered by the Academy come Oscar time.

Here’s a sample of the theme, a track called “Merida’s Home.”

An exciting change is Pixar’s desire to break out of a contemporary setting in its story.  Unlike their last 12 films, Brave doesn’t have a contemporary setting, aiming for a more mystical, old-fashioned story style.  There is no reference to the present (although the ubiquitous Pizza Planet truck from the original Toy Story does make its 13th appearance), and the tone of the film is much like Up in that it doesn’t shy away from a more mature feel.  Much like Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon and Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Tangled, the film shows that CGI-based animation doesn’t have to have a contemporary setting to be a success.

Ultimately, though, what makes Brave a triumph is the heart of the story.  Merida’s relationship with her mother is what the film is all about. There is no prince, no love story, not even an ending where Merida gets to choose which of her suitors she wants.  The film is about the bonds of family and the powerful love which transcends tradition and dynasty.  When tested, there are no stronger ties.  This is something Merida and Elinor both learn, and something the audience reacts strongly to.

The original title of the film was The Bear and the Bow.  The significance of both in Merida’s life are played out beautifully in Brave , showing that although the tapestry of our lives may be woven by other hands, it is how we respond to what “fate” throws at us that ultimately determines our destiny.

The final moments of the film are where all the threads of the story, the tapestry that the Pixar artists have carefully woven, come together.  This is the “return to form,” where the gift Pixar has always had for telling stories that have heart really shines.

And when Merida throws her arms around Elinor and cries, “I just want my mother back,” every person who has ever fought or argued with their parents will understand.  In my own family, where my wife lost her mother less than two years ago, Merida’s cry and longing was especially poignant.  Anyone who has lost a parent understands what Merida finally realizes in this moment.

In the end, the battles and disagreements aren’t what matters.  It isn’t the traditions or trappings.  What matters is the love that weaves our lives into a beautiful tapestry and the bonds that hold us together.

Image from: filmofilia.com

Obviously, I chose to see this movie in 3D because, let’s face it, Pixar movies are the reason for 3D—not Clash of the Titans. If you respect the depth and time Pixar puts into its graphics, then please go see this movie in 3D. Also, as with every Pixar movie, there was an animated short. This one was La Luna, which (again) showed the audience that Pixar doesn’t even need comprehensible dialogue to tell you a story.

Any way, onto the plot! Here is how Disney describes it: “Merida (Kelly MacDonald) is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson), and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch (Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.”

To read the overall review and see the letter grade, scroll past the spoilers to the “End of Spoilers.”

*SPOILERS AHEAD* *SPOILERS AHEAD* *SPOILERS AHEAD* *SPOILERS AHEAD*

Things That Were Awesome:

• Honestly, I expected this movie’s plot to take a completely different path than the one it did, which is why I think this movie was so refreshing. Most plots (especially the animated fairytale ones) with a female heroine often center entirely around her falling in love—because, you know, that’s all women can do besides make a sandwich. But Brave didn’t do that. No, the focus of this story was on the relationship between Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor. Now, the quarrel between Merida and her mother is that her mother pushes her to act like a lady and choose a husband from one of the three Scot clans, none of which are appealing to Merida. After getting frustrated enough, Merida has a witch put a spell on her mother in order to get out of having to choose a suitor. Unfortunately, the spells turns Queen Elinor into a bear. Now, her becoming a bear might seem like a silly plot point until you remember that King Fergus lost his leg in a battle with a vicious bear, Mordu, that dwells in the forest and looks similar to the bear the queen becomes. Seriously, as an audience member, it was a nail-biter every time the queen (in bear form) was near the king because you knew he would kill her if he saw her. Any way, the only way the spell could break was if Merida and her mother could mend their broken bond. Pixar really created a fantastic story because, not only did they shy away from the “Look at me, I’m in love!” plot, but they also put layer upon layer of tension in this movie only to work the story through each of those tensions. God, I have such a story boner right now.
• Three words: EPIC BEAR FIGHT.
• Merida’s three little brothers and their constant shenanigans were the perfect comic relief in this movie; and what I mean by that is they didn’t overwhelm the film. It was just enough that, when they appeared in the scene, you knew something ridiculous was about to happen. Whomever did the screenplay for this movie obviously has a good understanding of story arcs and the balancing of comedy and drama.
• The graphic design of this movie was unbelievable, both of the characters and the setting. They really captured the beauty and mystery of Scotland so much that I felt like I had really been there. And Merida’s hair! I read somewhere that it took Pixar months to get her hair just right because there was an individual movement for every single curl of her hair. I think they also did the same thing with Merida’s horse, Angus. Remember what I said about Pixar’s attention to detail? Yeah, this is what I mean.
• Speaking of attention to detail, did you notice the tartans of the Scottish clans? (For those of you who don’t know what a tartan is, it’s the pattern of a specific family, clan, or region. Generally, they wear them on their kilts). For example, Lord Macintosh—one of the clan leaders in the movie—wears a red and green-striped tartan; and that’s the actual Macintosh clan’s tartan. I didn’t check all of them, but I was curious enough to look up most of the tartans. Somebody please high-five Pixar for this shit.

*END OF SPOILERS* *END OF SPOILERS* *END OF SPOILERS* *END OF SPOILERS*

Overall, I don’t think I can even describe how beautiful and well-crafted this movie was. If you don’t believe me, let my tears be the proof. The graphics, the story, the characters—everything about this movie is absolute perfection. Hell, the only thing I could find wrong with it was just a minor detail that made me clutch my pearls! Beyond that, this is a movie that will entertain both kids and adults alike. And for people, like me, with Scottish heritage, it should make them feel proud to be a Scot! Now, I need to go back and watch this movie for the hidden hint of Pixar’s next film (which they’ve been doing in every movie since Monsters, Inc.). Seriously, if anyone else finds it, you better tell me! I’m already nerding out at the thought of the next Pixar movie.

Brave: A+

I’ve made it known that I’m not the biggest fan of Cars 2, Pixar’s effort from last year. But over the years they have generated such good will on my part that they always get me to come back for more – I have seen every single Pixar film in the theaters, and will continue to do so, unless they constantly drop the ball.

That moment hasn’t happened for me.

And Brave brings us an amazing new world, with new characters, and their first female lead, Princess Merida.

Each film has seen a leap in design, characters, landscapes, fabrics – the creation of entire believable worlds. The hair work on Merida alone in this film must have been an amazing nightmare, it’s layered, curly, askew, and gorgeously rendered.

Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) is a rebellious, determined and out-spoken young woman, but her mother, Elinor (Emma Thompson) is teaching her to be a proper princess, and one day a queen.

Her father, Fergus (Billy Connolly), indulges her in her less ‘lady-like’ pursuits, horse-riding, rock-climbing, and archery, while her three younger brothers, the triplets, or the wee devils, cause havoc about the castle.

Elinor and Fergus have arranged for the other three clans to come to the castle to submit their sons for betrothal to Merida, who upon learning this, argues for her freedom, her own life and choices.

All Merida wants is to live her own life, and all her parents want, is for Merida to do her duty for them and Scotland.

Merida storms out atop her horse Angus, fleeing in anger and frustration after a huge blow out with Elinor in which neither of them listen to the other.

Stumbling into a stone circle, she is led by a series of will-o’-the-wisp to a tiny cottage where a witch, sorry, wood-carver (Julie Walters) agrees to help Merida change her fate.

At its heart, the film is not only about our responsibilities, but about our relationship with our family and parents, in Merida’s case the mother/daughter dynamic. You can see all the things that Elinor wants for Merida, that she is doing things from a point of caring, even if it’s confined to the social structures of the time. Merida, is also completely understandable in her actions, she wants to live her life, make her own choices.

The film is directed by Mark Andrews (who previously did the short One Man Band), Brenda Chapman (Prince of Egypt) and Steve Purcell, and the three of them work together to craft a wonderful film, filled with laughs, tears, and real emotions (yes I had a couple of teary-eyed moments, but I tend to really get into my movies).

And that is the beauty of a Pixar movie, you forget that you are watching a series of computer-generated images you are watching a character, a story, and an emotional arc unfold.

I don’t want to give away too much of the film away, because that was all I knew going into the film, and then was delighted at the twists and turns that the film presented. (Though I’m sure you could find complete story breakdowns if you want to – but do yourself a favor and don’t – it was so much more fun that way).

The film is gorgeous, fun, and a return to the Pixar I know and love, strong characters, a good story with a message (without being preachy), and enough to keep both the big kids (being me) and the younger ones entertained (though there are somethings that may be too scary for younger viewers).

Scotland is brought to digital life, and looks amazing! Patrick Doyle works up a fantastic score, and perpetual Pixar good luck charm John Ratzenberger makes his token appearance.

Is it the best of the Pixar films?

Probably not.

But it’s still red-headed and shoulders above most of the other animated fare that is out there.

Brave is a fun, fanciful, magical tale, and the short beforehand, La Luna, is priceless, and down right enchanting.

I’ll be seeing this one again.

Have you seen it?

What’s your favorite Pixar film?

Brave is one of the most suspenseful children’s movies that I have ever seen. For young children, it can be a little scary. That same child managed to climb into her mother’s lap during the movie and was being held tightly. Even my nine and a half –year old wanted to leave during some pivotal battle scenes. I had to have her bury her head into my shoulder and hide her face from some truly gut-wrenching scenes. At one point the little girl started to whimper and her mother told her to cut it out. Though maybe not the best approach, I did understand.

You see, the Brave trailers that I saw on television did not exactly portray the story. I was lead to believe Brave was a movie about a young princesses coming of age who chooses her destiny to be a warrior instead of the wife of a prince. While that was a subplot, it was a small part. The movie is not about the young lady coming into her destiny, but the unintended consequences of choosing one’s path. Plus, the bravery it takes to pursue your destiny when others have a different plan for your life. In Merida’s case, it was her parents, especially her mother. Brave is a mother-daughter movie.

It is a good movie for mothers to take pre-adolescents, especially in relationships where tension is rising as daughters search for their independence. The catalyst in the plot is a relationship between a strong-willed adolescent and a mother who “knows” best. Though sometimes the battles were hard to watch, I, like the other mother, wanted our daughters to fully embrace the message of the movie. It was during the battle scenes that you saw the fierce loyalty and devotion of the mother and the daughter to each other. And I do mean fierce literally. But, to children, seeing one’s mother in danger as Merida experienced is hard to watch, regardless of how outstanding the animation.

And I am not sure what exactly what Pixar is, but I loved the animation just the same. The transformation of the bear in the story is mesmerizing. I am sure I enjoyed it more than my daughter, who asked me to take her to see it. She was looking for the comedy of the mischievous little brothers and a little girl power. She got more than she bargained for. As a mother, I appreciated the growth of Queen Elinor and Merida as well as the expression of the depth of the mother-daughter bond. I also like to see women kick a little butt. I would like to see it again in 3D. All in all, I thought it was a very original movie.

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Pixar’s Brave is every fairy tale and none of them. It’s every trope and none of them. It’s filled with lovable scamps, bumbling eccentrics, defiant courage, enchanted landscapes, stifling expectations and unintended consequences. And it’s filled with beautiful brogue and wayward redheads.

I’m going to talk my way through this movie. It’s currently 10:30pm. I left the movie theater 30 minutes ago, oddly silent as I tried to figure out what the message was that I got from that film. What follows is my first attempt to process the story, and to figure out whether or not it follows in the footsteps of Tangled, the cinematic anthem for ex-fundamentalist daughters.

My review will be full of spoilers. If you prefer to watch the movie unspoiled, please stop here. Below the jump is where the wild things are: any plot point is fair game!

Brave is a coming-of-age story about a mother and daughter.

Merida and her mother both have some growing to do.

Let that sink in for a moment. Coming of age stories never feature mothers and daughters. They’re a father-son genre. They’re often explicitly about separation from one’s mother and finding independent manhood. Half the time, the main character’s mother is dead, absent or emotionally withdrawn.

Does having not only (a) a female lead, but also (b) a conflict driven not by romance or masculinity but by a daughter’s fight for independence and a mother’s pragmatic (if stifling) plans alter the meaning of the coming-of-age trope? Let’s think about it.

Merida is a total failure as a princess.

She admits it – nay, proclaims it: she hates that ladylike crap. Unlike Rapunzel, Merida is not at all afraid to tell her mother how she feels. On the contrary, she’s a frothing bundle of anger at ridiculous gender norms and the restrictions of being a role model to her clan and its allies. She throws some serious barbs at Elinor (her mother), who has spent Merida’s whole childhood telling her what a princess shouldn’t do.

“I’d rather die than be like you!” Merida howls.
“I want my freedom!” Merida storms.
And she slices her mother’s family tapestry in half with her sword, right between the figures of herself and Elinor. (SYMBOLISM. In case you didn’t notice.)

Merida shakes a sword at her mother, Elinor.

Elinor, on the other hand, rolls her eyes and sighs at her daughter’s impulsiveness, stuffs her into a corset and throws her cherished bow into the fireplace. Both women have now destroyed the things most precious to each other: Merida’s bow, symbolizing independence, and Elinor’s tapestry, symbolizing family.

Merida’s rebellion is actually that: rebellion. It’s defiant and petulant and generally immature. Which is fine, since the real plot hasn’t even started yet. But it makes her a less sympathetic character to daughters of Christian patriarchy than Rapunzel because, unlike Rapunzel and unlike us, Merida doesn’t give a damn about pleasing her mother. She’s the teenager that the daughters of Christian patriarchy would have never dared to be.

In fact, her rebellion is a bit… well… overblown. She rebels so hard that she runs off to the woods, meets a witch and sells her heirloom pendant in exchange for a cake that will “change” her mother and thus allow her to change her own fate. There is something really interesting to the idea that your mother is your fate – that’s certainly a message I received as a daughter of Christian patriarchy. That’s the idea I hated – even though I loved and admired my mother.

It is hard, after all, to reject the life your mother lives without rejecting your mother herself.

There is a softer note, however, sounding underneath the storm of Merida’s frustration: “I’m not doing this to hurt you!” she yells at her horse, a surrogate for her mother, while Elinor admits to Fergus (Merida’s father, in Merida’s place) that she had her doubts about that whole courtship thing, too. That rang true to me. Even when my mother was convinced that I was in rebellion against God and my father for selfish reasons, I tried over and over again to tell her that I wasn’t rejecting her, that I loved her, and that this was about survival for me, not rebellion. There’s a note of truth beneath Merida’s immaturity: finding your own fate is necessary, even if it disappoints those around you.

Merida’s mother comes with her on her journey to maturity.

Not only does Merida have a mother, and one who takes an active role in her life, Merida has a mother who grows with her. I think that’s a really affirming message. Merida’s manipulative scheming turns her mother into a bear, which puts her in mortal danger. Elinor’s husband, after all, lost a leg in a battle with a bear and has dreamed of settling the store since Merida was a child. Realizing that she has put her mother’s life in jeopardy, a regretful, panicked Merida helps Elinor (in bear form) escape into the woods. The two set off to undo the spell. In a sense, they’re both learning the same lesson: turning each other into something they’re not will only hurt both of them.

Merida and Elinor stumble into a ruin, not feeling quite so brave.

But the witch is gone, as witches tend to go. She’s left a voicemail message bubbling in a cauldron, instructing Merida that the spell will become permanent by the second sunrise after Elinor ate the magical cake. The key to undoing it, however, is a riddle:

Fate be changed
Look inside
Mend the bond
Torn by pride

Yeah, you see where this is going. We follow Merida and Elinor back to the castle, as Merida believes sewing up the tapestry between her mother and herself is the way to restore her mother to her former self. Along the way, we get to see Elinor loosen up a bit. She learns how to fish like a bear, then accidentally starts to act like a bear and scares the both of them. Elinor won’t be Elinor anymore – only a bear will be left – if they don’t fix that spell soon. Fear of her mother ceasing to be herself drives Merida through the rest of the movie. Along the way, Elinor comes to admire her daughter’s skills, and the two take turns saving each other from various perils like exploding cauldrons and cursed ancient bears who used to be selfish men (the prior visitor to the con-artist witch).

Brave does not succumb to a Beauty and the Beast resolution.

Without reciting the plot of the ending blow-by-blow, I will say how much I appreciated the fact that there was no romance in this movie. Several critics have claimed that Brave breaks no new ground with its dated, 1980s “girl power” message. In part, that’s bad luck: The Hunger Games broke so much new ground that we’re all still reeling a little bit from the impact. But I do want to point this out. Brave is the only female-led movie I have ever seen that does not even hint at an impending romance. Even the Hunger Games, groundbreaking as it is in its raw exposure of the obligations and dangers involved in romance, still shows Katniss wrestling with her feelings for two boys. This movie does not.

I was practically gnawing my fingernails waiting to see the curse of the ancient bear (the selfish man who visited the witch first) lifted and the motley creature turned into a handsome prince for Merida to wed. Doesn’t happen. The motley bear is killed and the spirit of the ancient warrior put to rest. Merida doesn’t choose one of the clansmen, either. The ending shows Merida and Elinor riding together on the hills. This story begins and ends with their relationship: a suitor is not even thrown in as a reward for Merida’s change of heart. If she finds love (outside of her family), it’ll be in a sequel.

Merida wins.

This story isn’t just about Merida learning to please her mother. As a daughter of Christian patriarchy, I sat through this movie primed for and dreading the possible conservative moralizing about the importance of obedience and getting along. Indeed, some reviews have called the movie traditionalist and interpreted the storyline as an ode to the unity of the nuclear family. That’s not how I read it at all.

Cinema Autopsy calls Brave a ”moralising tale about the importance of obeying your parents.”

No, it’s not. Merida does not obey her parents. Not even in the end. She apologizes to her mother for her rudeness, for humiliating her, for not valuing her mother’s skills or trying to understand her point of view. But Merida does not apologize for disobedience. Instead, her mother has a change of heart, too.

What’s the outcome of this story? The end of arranged marriage. Merida, finding sudden power in her mother’s courtly manners, talks her clan and its allies out of going to war over her. She apologizes because her behavior has caused the ruckus, but the solution she proposes is not to choose one of the suitors. It’s to change the paradigm.

Merida arrives at this solution with help from her mother, who mimes a speech to her while pretending to be a stuffed bear at the back of a crowded dining hall. The speech instructs that the clans release their children from political-economic restrictions and allow them to marry for love. Merida and her mother share a long look of mutual understanding and love: both of them had to bend a little to reach peace.

If there is a moral to this story, I don’t think it’s about squashing rebellion or pleasing authoritarian parents. It’s not even really about compromise: in the end, Merida gets what she wants. She doesn’t have to get married unless she wants to.

Brave is about a mother and daughter learning to see each other as individuals.

It’s about a mother and daughter appreciating one another’s different personalities and even enjoying them. It’s about learning to be a family without sticking to prepackaged roles. Brave is about telling your mother that you love her, even if you don’t want to be just like her. Which is what real, adult love looks like.

Merida didn’t stop being herself to please her mother. She became a kinder, more thoughtful version of herself. Elinor, too, learned to be a better version of herself. She let go of control of her daughter and began to enjoy their relationship, free from hierarchy and rules. This coming-of-age story isn’t about stepping into a role (like the father-son trope), but sidestepping roles altogether.

Brave may have arrived in the shadow of the bombastic Hunger Games (which I love, too, don’t get me wrong), but it has plenty to offer in its own right. Even though Merida is a princess, even though the trap set for her is a traditional one (arranged marriage), her path to independence takes a few unexpected turns. She learns that she can have her freedom and her mother’s love, too.

That’s radical.