brave
Today was a big animation day for me. I watched Brave with my sister and then the season finale of the Legend of Korra. Watching Brave made me think hard about what was being said gender wise in the film, because Lasseter has been on record saying there was an effort made by the studio to actively create their first female hero. The movie itself I would say isn't as cohesive as some other Pixar films. It was almost like two different movies, the first half being mostly about a teenage girl struggling against tradition and the second half about magical snafus.
I don't think the bit with the queen turning into a bear worked 100% mostly because. I don't know. It didn't come out of left field but it was just not as cool a thing as I'd been hoping for. I thought Merida was going to unleash some sort of evil curse on her family the way that the queen kept going on and on and in the end it was just a stupid wish gone awry. I was thinking like battles and evil witches and all sorts of things but it ended up mostly just being a sort of crazy witch who only had one trick.
She turned people into bears.
Like for everything.
She also carved bears.
Out of wood.
The lady had a thing for bears is what I'm saying.
I do appreciate the story of Merida and her mother. Teenagers raging against parental authority is a tale as old as time but the queen was never made to seem unreasonable so much as just logical. Merida would inherit the kingdom and she needed a husband. Many princes have been trapped in the same loop. But I liked how Queen Elinor's strengths were things which define many women. She is poised and organized and "prissy." Yet that did not take from her strength but were the sources of it. This also isn't a new concept to be honest.
My true conflict what the film is the idea of Merida. There have been a lot of strong female protagonists cropping up and in recent memory two were archers. There's Merida and there's Katniss Everdeen. My issue with this isn't that they're female but that they have become in essence honorary boys. Roger Ebert actually said much to the same affect. The thing is, I don't agree with the idea that being head strong, good with weapons, and hardy in the face of danger are things that are exclusively male, that if given to women it makes them merely masculine women instead of simply women. So I like the assertion that women can be these things traditionally attributed to men. I appreciate it on a very personal level because of how my personality is how I'd like to think my personality traits aren't owned by the male gender. That is how I am. As a woman.
So on one hand I love Merida. She is clever and smart and fun and brave and skilled at outdoorsy things. And it's wrong of people to go, "oh well she's just like the boys but as a girl." or something. Yet what bothers me about this whole thing is the lack of feminine, empathetic, introspective, and pacifying heroines. I want to take those girls and give them a sense of purpose beyond the pursuit of lovers and princes. That is what bothers me. To have a truly independent girl we must give her all the qualities mostly associated with men, that if she possesses the qualities normally associated with women there is the automatic tendency to give her the same motivations and story arcs of traditional women. All the Disney Princesses who were heroes of their own stories such as Cinderella, Snow White, or Rapunzel were so through the motivation of some sort of love interest. The ones who weren't, like Mulan or Merida (although Mulan still got a love interest), were so after they'd become tomboys with a distinct lack of femininity and empathy.
Does being "masculine" mean you are now unable to emote and thing about others and relate to people? That you must resolve your issues through force and trying to talk things out becomes womanly?
What I want is an embracing of all things. Merida is a great step. So is Katniss. But now that we have them, could we have someone like the old Disney princesses? But instead of giving them princes and marriage as their main motivation they could have the same ones as Katniss and Merida. They want to save their families. They want to save the world. They're brave AND kind. They're good at surviving AND they are able to relate to others. They're artistic AND empathetic. And while we're at it, let's create male heroes who have traditionally feminine qualities who save the world.
That was one thing I really loved about Chuck. Chuck always wanted to talk things out. He often saved the day just by trying to relate to people. Sarah and Casey would come in with their guns and kungfu powers and then Chuck would resolve things by just learning about people, relating to them. He was emotional and empathetic and he wore his heart on his sleeve but that didn't exclude him from being brave, good with women, or seen as attractive. In fact the REASON why he got the girl was because he was such a genuinely good person. Being constantly rescued by his girlfriend did nothing to detract from his masculinity because masculinity could be defined by so many things. You got your typical alpha male in Colonel Casey but then you got Chuck who could be just as masculine but in a different way.
And that's what I want for girls. I want them to have people like Merida and Katniss but I also want them to have people like Rapenzel and Jasmine and they don't have to be tied down by love plots and they don't have to be driven by other men. They can be heroes and friends and what have to without some kind of subtle brainwashing telling them it will never be enough unless they fall in love. It will never be enough unless they learn to be feminine. Or masculine. What ever. All girls can be validated in who they are. That just because you like dresses and nail polish or arrows and swords that you have to also be cowardly or brave or any of that.
Another thing that bothered me about Brave was the lack of women in the film. I know. How weird is it for me to be complaining about a movie starring a female hero having not enough girls. But this is a thing that is always happening! There are three characters in the movie who are women. One is Merida. The other is the queen. And the 3rd is a serving woman whose name I forget. All the other women in the film have no speaking lines and so don't count. Contrast that with the king, the 3 clansmen leaders, their sons, and the triplets. Merida has no female friends. Instead she is defined entirely by the masculine patriarchal society in which she was brought up. She is also in constant battle with her mother over all the traditionally feminine things she is being instructed on.
Ok, so as a side note, I feel like I'm circling myself in my critique of traditional vs. revisionist femininity. On one hand I appreciate it when we have girls who like swords and nature and getting dirty and being aggressive. On the other hand I hate how having girls like that automatically means the REJECTION of the opposite. Because in doing so you alienate the other girls. It's like trying to make fat girls feel better by rejecting naturally thin girls. Can't we just make a blanket statement that all girls are valid?
Anyway, it's incredibly annoying how in providing us with female protagonists there is this sense that filmmakers OVERCOMPENSATE for the lack of male protagonists by filling the landscape with exclusively male supporting characters. We gave you Rapunzel so now I'm going to give you no one else for her to interact with that is a woman other than her evil abusive adoptive mother. We gave you Merida so now we wont give you any other girls her age but we will have her fighting with her mother for half the film.
Since we're on the topic of next steps in film making, could we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make more movies geared at young girls where MOST of the cast is girls? PLEASE? Because this fucking structure of one main female and two supporting guys who are both in love with her is a really fucked up trend I'm over with. Completely. I want girls whose best friends are OTHER GIRLS. I don't understand why that is so difficult.
I don't think the bit with the queen turning into a bear worked 100% mostly because. I don't know. It didn't come out of left field but it was just not as cool a thing as I'd been hoping for. I thought Merida was going to unleash some sort of evil curse on her family the way that the queen kept going on and on and in the end it was just a stupid wish gone awry. I was thinking like battles and evil witches and all sorts of things but it ended up mostly just being a sort of crazy witch who only had one trick.
She turned people into bears.
Like for everything.
She also carved bears.
Out of wood.
The lady had a thing for bears is what I'm saying.
I do appreciate the story of Merida and her mother. Teenagers raging against parental authority is a tale as old as time but the queen was never made to seem unreasonable so much as just logical. Merida would inherit the kingdom and she needed a husband. Many princes have been trapped in the same loop. But I liked how Queen Elinor's strengths were things which define many women. She is poised and organized and "prissy." Yet that did not take from her strength but were the sources of it. This also isn't a new concept to be honest.
My true conflict what the film is the idea of Merida. There have been a lot of strong female protagonists cropping up and in recent memory two were archers. There's Merida and there's Katniss Everdeen. My issue with this isn't that they're female but that they have become in essence honorary boys. Roger Ebert actually said much to the same affect. The thing is, I don't agree with the idea that being head strong, good with weapons, and hardy in the face of danger are things that are exclusively male, that if given to women it makes them merely masculine women instead of simply women. So I like the assertion that women can be these things traditionally attributed to men. I appreciate it on a very personal level because of how my personality is how I'd like to think my personality traits aren't owned by the male gender. That is how I am. As a woman.
So on one hand I love Merida. She is clever and smart and fun and brave and skilled at outdoorsy things. And it's wrong of people to go, "oh well she's just like the boys but as a girl." or something. Yet what bothers me about this whole thing is the lack of feminine, empathetic, introspective, and pacifying heroines. I want to take those girls and give them a sense of purpose beyond the pursuit of lovers and princes. That is what bothers me. To have a truly independent girl we must give her all the qualities mostly associated with men, that if she possesses the qualities normally associated with women there is the automatic tendency to give her the same motivations and story arcs of traditional women. All the Disney Princesses who were heroes of their own stories such as Cinderella, Snow White, or Rapunzel were so through the motivation of some sort of love interest. The ones who weren't, like Mulan or Merida (although Mulan still got a love interest), were so after they'd become tomboys with a distinct lack of femininity and empathy.
Does being "masculine" mean you are now unable to emote and thing about others and relate to people? That you must resolve your issues through force and trying to talk things out becomes womanly?
What I want is an embracing of all things. Merida is a great step. So is Katniss. But now that we have them, could we have someone like the old Disney princesses? But instead of giving them princes and marriage as their main motivation they could have the same ones as Katniss and Merida. They want to save their families. They want to save the world. They're brave AND kind. They're good at surviving AND they are able to relate to others. They're artistic AND empathetic. And while we're at it, let's create male heroes who have traditionally feminine qualities who save the world.
That was one thing I really loved about Chuck. Chuck always wanted to talk things out. He often saved the day just by trying to relate to people. Sarah and Casey would come in with their guns and kungfu powers and then Chuck would resolve things by just learning about people, relating to them. He was emotional and empathetic and he wore his heart on his sleeve but that didn't exclude him from being brave, good with women, or seen as attractive. In fact the REASON why he got the girl was because he was such a genuinely good person. Being constantly rescued by his girlfriend did nothing to detract from his masculinity because masculinity could be defined by so many things. You got your typical alpha male in Colonel Casey but then you got Chuck who could be just as masculine but in a different way.
And that's what I want for girls. I want them to have people like Merida and Katniss but I also want them to have people like Rapenzel and Jasmine and they don't have to be tied down by love plots and they don't have to be driven by other men. They can be heroes and friends and what have to without some kind of subtle brainwashing telling them it will never be enough unless they fall in love. It will never be enough unless they learn to be feminine. Or masculine. What ever. All girls can be validated in who they are. That just because you like dresses and nail polish or arrows and swords that you have to also be cowardly or brave or any of that.
Another thing that bothered me about Brave was the lack of women in the film. I know. How weird is it for me to be complaining about a movie starring a female hero having not enough girls. But this is a thing that is always happening! There are three characters in the movie who are women. One is Merida. The other is the queen. And the 3rd is a serving woman whose name I forget. All the other women in the film have no speaking lines and so don't count. Contrast that with the king, the 3 clansmen leaders, their sons, and the triplets. Merida has no female friends. Instead she is defined entirely by the masculine patriarchal society in which she was brought up. She is also in constant battle with her mother over all the traditionally feminine things she is being instructed on.
Ok, so as a side note, I feel like I'm circling myself in my critique of traditional vs. revisionist femininity. On one hand I appreciate it when we have girls who like swords and nature and getting dirty and being aggressive. On the other hand I hate how having girls like that automatically means the REJECTION of the opposite. Because in doing so you alienate the other girls. It's like trying to make fat girls feel better by rejecting naturally thin girls. Can't we just make a blanket statement that all girls are valid?
Anyway, it's incredibly annoying how in providing us with female protagonists there is this sense that filmmakers OVERCOMPENSATE for the lack of male protagonists by filling the landscape with exclusively male supporting characters. We gave you Rapunzel so now I'm going to give you no one else for her to interact with that is a woman other than her evil abusive adoptive mother. We gave you Merida so now we wont give you any other girls her age but we will have her fighting with her mother for half the film.
Since we're on the topic of next steps in film making, could we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make more movies geared at young girls where MOST of the cast is girls? PLEASE? Because this fucking structure of one main female and two supporting guys who are both in love with her is a really fucked up trend I'm over with. Completely. I want girls whose best friends are OTHER GIRLS. I don't understand why that is so difficult.