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Pixar\u2019s\u00a0Brave<\/em>\u00a0is every fairy tale and none of them. It\u2019s every trope and none of them. It\u2019s filled with lovable scamps, bumbling eccentrics, defiant courage, enchanted landscapes, stifling expectations and unintended consequences. And it\u2019s filled with beautiful brogue and wayward redheads.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to talk my way through this movie. It\u2019s 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<\/a>, the cinematic anthem for ex-fundamentalist daughters.<\/p>\n 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!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let that sink in for a moment. Coming of age stories never feature mothers and daughters. They\u2019re a father-son<\/a> genre. They\u2019re often explicitly about separation from<\/a> one\u2019s mother and finding independent manhood<\/a>. Half the time, the main character\u2019s\u00a0mother<\/a> is\u00a0dead, absent<\/a>\u00a0or emotionally withdrawn<\/a>.<\/p>\n Does having not only (a) a female lead, but also (b) a conflict driven not by romance or masculinity but by a daughter\u2019s fight for independence and a mother\u2019s pragmatic (if stifling) plans alter the meaning of the coming-of-age trope? Let\u2019s think about it.<\/p>\n She admits it \u2013 nay, proclaims it: she hates that ladylike crap. Unlike Rapunzel, Merida is not at all afraid to tell her mother how she feels<\/strong>. On the contrary, she\u2019s 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\u2019s whole childhood telling her what a princess shouldn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d rather die than be like you!\u201d<\/strong> Merida howls. Elinor, on the other hand, rolls her eyes and sighs at her daughter\u2019s impulsiveness, stuffs her into a corset and throws her cherished bow into the fireplace. Both women have now destroyed the things\u00a0most precious to each other: Merida\u2019s bow, symbolizing independence, and Elinor\u2019s tapestry, symbolizing family.<\/p>\n Merida\u2019s rebellion is actually that: rebellion. It\u2019s defiant and petulant and generally immature. Which is fine, since the real plot hasn\u2019t even started yet. But it makes her a less sympathetic character to daughters of Christian patriarchy than Rapunzel because, unlike Rapunzel<\/a> and unlike us, Merida doesn\u2019t give a damn about pleasing her mother. She\u2019s the teenager that the daughters of Christian patriarchy would have never dared to be<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, her rebellion is a bit\u2026 well\u2026 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 \u201cchange\u201d her mother and thus allow her to change her own fate. There is something really interesting to the idea that your mother\u00a0is<\/em> your fate<\/strong> \u2013 that\u2019s certainly a message I received as a daughter of Christian patriarchy. That\u2019s the idea I hated \u2013 even though I loved and admired my mother.<\/p>\n There is a softer note, however, sounding underneath the storm of Merida\u2019s frustration: \u201cI\u2019m not doing this to hurt you!\u201d<\/strong> she yells at her horse, a surrogate for her mother, while Elinor admits to Fergus (Merida\u2019s father, in Merida\u2019s 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\u2019t rejecting her, that I loved her, and that this was about survival for me, not rebellion. There\u2019s a note of truth beneath Merida\u2019s immaturity: finding your own fate is necessary, even if it disappoints those around you.<\/p>\n Not only does Merida\u00a0have<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>a mother, and one who takes an active role in her life, Merida has a mother who\u00a0grows with her<\/em><\/strong>. I think that\u2019s a really affirming message. Merida\u2019s manipulative scheming turns her mother into a bear, which puts her in mortal danger. Elinor\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019re both learning the same lesson: turning each other into something they\u2019re not will only hurt both of them.<\/strong><\/p>\n But the witch is gone, as witches tend to go. She\u2019s left a voicemail message bubbling\u00a0in 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:<\/p>\n Fate be changed 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\u2019t be Elinor anymore \u2013 only a bear will be left \u2013 if they don\u2019t fix that spell soon. Fear of her mother ceasing to be herself drives Merida through the rest of the movie.<\/strong> Along the way, Elinor comes to admire her daughter\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n Without reciting the plot of the ending blow-by-blow, I will say how much I appreciated the fact that\u00a0there was no romance<\/em> in this movie<\/strong>. Several critics have claimed that\u00a0Brave\u00a0<\/em>breaks no new ground<\/a> with its dated, 1980s \u201cgirl power\u201d message. In part, that\u2019s bad luck: The Hunger Games broke\u00a0so much<\/em> new ground that we\u2019re all still reeling a little bit from the impact. But I do want to point this out.\u00a0Brave<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t happen. The motley bear is killed and the spirit of the ancient warrior put to rest. Merida doesn\u2019t choose one of the clansmen, either. The ending shows Merida\u00a0and Elinor<\/em> 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\u2019s change of heart. If she finds love (outside of her family), it\u2019ll be in a sequel.<\/p>\n This story isn\u2019t 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\u2019s not how I read it at all.<\/p>\nBrave is a coming-of-age story about a mother and daughter.<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Merida is a total failure as a princess.<\/h2>\n
\n\u201cI want my freedom!\u201d Merida storms.
\nAnd she slices her mother\u2019s family tapestry in half with her sword, right between the figures of herself and Elinor. (SYMBOLISM. In case you didn\u2019t notice.)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/phoenixandolivebranch.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/06\/tumblr_lqmdftfkuz1qzlc6io1_500.jpg?w=300\")
<\/a>It is hard, after all, to reject the life your mother lives without rejecting your mother herself.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Merida\u2019s mother comes with her<\/em> on her journey to maturity.<\/h2>\n
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\nLook inside
\nMend the bond
\nTorn by pride<\/em><\/p>\nBrave<\/em> does not succumb to a Beauty and the Beast<\/em> resolution.<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nMerida wins.<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Merida didn\u2019t stop being herself to please her mother.<\/strong> 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\u2019t about stepping into a role (like the father-son trope), but sidestepping roles altogether.<\/strong><\/p>\n