I don't normally write about movies...but after leaving the theater tonight, I felt compelled to open people's eyes to the movie that breaks all traditions and stereotypes that Disney has created over the past decades. After Breaking Dawn, Hunger Games, and Snow White and the Huntsman, I walked out of the theater saying to myself, "what the heck did I just watch." There was no wow factor, no surprise, nothing to make me say "now that is a movie to change a generation," not until I saw Brave.
My fiance and I took our three year old son to the see the newest Disney princess installment because he loves the ladies, and Merida really appealed to him He kept asking if she could come out of the TV and play with him. Now it's no wonder I had certain expectations before going into the movie theater. I knew the film would be great because there's no denying that every Disney princess movie is fantastic, especially the last couple ones, Tangled and Princess and the Frog. But come on, let's face it...there is always a pattern.
Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, Cinderella. What do all these princesses have in common? There mother is dead and removed from the story. Princess and the Frog: no father. Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel went on there whole adolescent lives not knowing their families, and once released from their doom, they are off with their prince charming. Disney families always remain broken, torn, or missing. Women are always portrayed in a negative light. Don't believe me? Let's count the villains. Malificent, Ursula, Lady Tremaine, Drizella, Anastacia, Mother Gothel, and Queen Grimhilde.
So you can imagine my disbelief when the movie starts and there lies a complete little family with the father, King Angus, a trio of mischievous triplet boys, princess Merida, and mother, Queen Elenore. What makes Brave so unique is that although the King rules, Elenore is the one with all the power and respect, not only from her family and husband, but from the entire kingdom and all the clans that live under her rule. I was thrown for another loop when I realized that the entire movie was about the relationship between a mother and her daughter. Whoa! Ok this is new! When was the last time, no wait, when was the first time you saw a Disney princess movie that revolved around the love and bond of a mother, let alone a parent, and their child. Nice move Disney....nice move!
Of course Disney has come a long way from their 1937 film, Snow White, to their 2012 film, Brave. So what makes Brave so different compared the 2010 Tangled and 2009 Princess and the Frog? The answer is Destiny. In a time when television revolves around poor body images, high sexual expectations, and extreme gender binaries, Brave steps forward and stops all of those in their tracks. While three clans come to the kingdom with their princes in tow to win Merida's hand in marriage, Merida stands up for her beliefs and breaks tradition, not only in her kingdom, but in Disney history. She not only enters the archery contest and demands that she wins her own hand in marriage, but then she delivers a powerful speech in front of the three clans therefore feeing herself from the chains of the gender binary and making a stand on marriage. In her speech she mentions that her generation should be able to choose who they love and marry and that no one should have the right to choose that for them. Hmmm....gay rights speech? Possibly! Go Merida!
In the end, the hero is no prince charming. Queen Elenore steps up the plate, breaking down all Disney stereotypes, creating a strong female role, and rekindling the hope of family and parental love. Brave ends without a marriage, or even a close suitor, but the love and rekindled bond of a mother and her daughter, and kingdom touched by change and freedom. Merida is the princess of our generation. The one princess that can change the mindsets of young girls across the globe into beliving in themselves and their family and not in the false hopes that a girl can only be happy once she meets her prince.
