Yesterday, wrote an article about my grievances with Merida and Brave, it's been deleted. I realized kind of being unreasonable and unfair to both Merida and her movies. Paying only attention to the negative, ignoring the positive and blowing the negative out of proportion. I don't wanna be a negative Nancy and biased hater. Because then I'd be the type of fan I despise. Especially Ariel haters. So let me start over, with what I like about Merida and Brave.
What I like
-Her relationship with her mother is very well down, and very realistic. And to me, the only bright spot about the movie and Merida herself.
-The animation and music are good which is kind of a given.
-Merida is only princess along with Mulan and Rapunzel, to experience character growth and learn from her mistakes(Note I still haven't seen Frozen)
-I love her little brothers.
-She's absolutely gorgeous and shows that Ginger girls are pretty.
What I don't like
-The movie is rushed, forgettable, half-hearted, lazily made, disappointing and uninspiring. And it realizes too much on cheap comedy. This movie doesn't make me feel anything.
-There's no clear antagonist, we don't need a love interest but we do need an antagonist in my opinion. Mor'du is an obstacle, not a villain.
-The movie slightly perpetuates misandry, thanks to user who taught me that word(can't remember your name, I'm so sorry). I learn something new everyday. It's sending a message that "men are pigs/idiots and women are warriors". Her little brother can only do so much to balance this out. And it could give little girls the wrong idea about feminism.
-Merida is an unoriginal character, she's just a rip-off of the princesses of the Renaissance-era. She doesn't bring anything unique to the table and she has no overt personality trait that sets her apart from Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas or Mulan.
Now, I realized the "anti-romance, anti-fairytale" aspect isn't coming from Brave or Merida. It's the people I see all over the internet (not really on Fanpop) hyping up Merida and the fact that she doesn't have a prince. Talking about her she's this revolutionary character and mocking princesses like Cinderella and Ariel, of all people. "Finally we get a Disney Princess who's this and that and blah, blah" we I think it's pretty much the exact opposite. There's nothing original about Merida, there's her conflict with her mother, but that's Merida AND Elinor. She's doesn't have a prince but what does she have that the other princesses don't?
Don't get me wrong, all the princesses have a lot in common but I can still pinpoint at least one personality trait she can call her own.
Snow White-Eternally Happy
Cinderella-Calm and Patient
Aurora-Romantic and Obedient
Ariel-Bubbly and Rebellious
Belle-Individualistic and Intuitive
Jasmine-Feisty and Flirtatious
Pocahontas-Wild and Free Spirited
Mulan-Cunning and Brave
Tiana-Diligent and Realist
Rapunzel-Multi-talented and Childish
Merida has some of these traits but they're far better exemplified in other princesses. Even being a tomboy is exemplified better by Pocahontas in my opinion. Sure she's got the bow and arrow but every princess has an iconic item. And this is why Merida is not a true Disney princess in my eyes. She's a ripoff of a Disney Princess, she doesn't fit into the "mythology" as Disney would say. You can tell she was created with the intent of subverting the concept of Disney Princess. To me, Merida's true peers are Princess Fiona from Shrek and Anastasia, characters who were trying emulate Disney Princesses and/or put a new spin on them. There's nothing wrong with any of these characters, they're just not Disney Princesses to me.
Now, in the almost four years I've been doing this, yes I've been here for over three years. I pride on being completely unbiased and trying to stay as positive as possible, no negativity. And I was appalled at myself for reverting to that type of annoying unreasonable hater fan that just condemns a character or movie unfairly. But I must be honest and the fact of the matter is Merida is only princess I dislike and the only princess I woudln't have a problem with being excluded from the line-up. And I do get annoyed when people compare her to Mulan. She ain't nothing on Mulan.
This article will probably still have people disagreeing but at least I hope you guys understand it since I tried to give a more fair assessment. Thanks for reading.
What I like
-Her relationship with her mother is very well down, and very realistic. And to me, the only bright spot about the movie and Merida herself.
-The animation and music are good which is kind of a given.
-Merida is only princess along with Mulan and Rapunzel, to experience character growth and learn from her mistakes(Note I still haven't seen Frozen)
-I love her little brothers.
-She's absolutely gorgeous and shows that Ginger girls are pretty.
What I don't like
-The movie is rushed, forgettable, half-hearted, lazily made, disappointing and uninspiring. And it realizes too much on cheap comedy. This movie doesn't make me feel anything.
-There's no clear antagonist, we don't need a love interest but we do need an antagonist in my opinion. Mor'du is an obstacle, not a villain.
-The movie slightly perpetuates misandry, thanks to user who taught me that word(can't remember your name, I'm so sorry). I learn something new everyday. It's sending a message that "men are pigs/idiots and women are warriors". Her little brother can only do so much to balance this out. And it could give little girls the wrong idea about feminism.
-Merida is an unoriginal character, she's just a rip-off of the princesses of the Renaissance-era. She doesn't bring anything unique to the table and she has no overt personality trait that sets her apart from Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas or Mulan.
Now, I realized the "anti-romance, anti-fairytale" aspect isn't coming from Brave or Merida. It's the people I see all over the internet (not really on Fanpop) hyping up Merida and the fact that she doesn't have a prince. Talking about her she's this revolutionary character and mocking princesses like Cinderella and Ariel, of all people. "Finally we get a Disney Princess who's this and that and blah, blah" we I think it's pretty much the exact opposite. There's nothing original about Merida, there's her conflict with her mother, but that's Merida AND Elinor. She's doesn't have a prince but what does she have that the other princesses don't?
Don't get me wrong, all the princesses have a lot in common but I can still pinpoint at least one personality trait she can call her own.
Snow White-Eternally Happy
Cinderella-Calm and Patient
Aurora-Romantic and Obedient
Ariel-Bubbly and Rebellious
Belle-Individualistic and Intuitive
Jasmine-Feisty and Flirtatious
Pocahontas-Wild and Free Spirited
Mulan-Cunning and Brave
Tiana-Diligent and Realist
Rapunzel-Multi-talented and Childish
Merida has some of these traits but they're far better exemplified in other princesses. Even being a tomboy is exemplified better by Pocahontas in my opinion. Sure she's got the bow and arrow but every princess has an iconic item. And this is why Merida is not a true Disney princess in my eyes. She's a ripoff of a Disney Princess, she doesn't fit into the "mythology" as Disney would say. You can tell she was created with the intent of subverting the concept of Disney Princess. To me, Merida's true peers are Princess Fiona from Shrek and Anastasia, characters who were trying emulate Disney Princesses and/or put a new spin on them. There's nothing wrong with any of these characters, they're just not Disney Princesses to me.
Now, in the almost four years I've been doing this, yes I've been here for over three years. I pride on being completely unbiased and trying to stay as positive as possible, no negativity. And I was appalled at myself for reverting to that type of annoying unreasonable hater fan that just condemns a character or movie unfairly. But I must be honest and the fact of the matter is Merida is only princess I dislike and the only princess I woudln't have a problem with being excluded from the line-up. And I do get annoyed when people compare her to Mulan. She ain't nothing on Mulan.
This article will probably still have people disagreeing but at least I hope you guys understand it since I tried to give a more fair assessment. Thanks for reading.
