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I'd been anticipating the movie for months, for a variety of reasons. A curly haired princess! With agency! And warrior abilities from the get-go and not after a training montage from a Love Interest! After this post, Husband stopped by the Disney store to buy me a Merida doll to take to the hospital with me during my surgery. That doll became something valuable to look up to: Merida would be strong after surgery. Merida wouldn't cry over a little thing like this. Merida would do what the doctors ordered and suffer lightly the physical therapists and their whims.
All this without even having seen the film yet. Such is the power of our idols, I suppose, but she filled a gap that I needed filling.
I was furious that my surgery prevented me from seeing Brave on its opening weekend. (I seriously considered buying tickets anyway, just to help the opening box office sales. I really want Hollywood to get that strong women protagonist movies like Brave and The Hunger Games are financially a safe bet.) But it may be all for the best that I had to wait a few weeks before I could hobble to the movie theater and sit straight up for two hours, because the four or five girlfriends who wrote saying, essentially, Oh, you haven't seen Brave? I did, and I ... I liked it. Yeah, I think you will too, probably, mentally prepared me for the possibility that the movie, while good, might not set my world on fire in the way I wanted it to.
And, well, it did and it didn't.
Here are all the things I liked about Brave.
I liked that it's a story of a mother and a daughter coming to understand each other, in much the same way that How To Train Your Dragon was about a father and son coming to a similar understanding.
I liked that it's a story that begins with a female protagonist who is strong and independent, and it ends with a female protagonist who is strong and independent. Whatever transformations of character happen from the opening titles to the end credits, never is Merida's essential Strong Independence changed.
And I can't stress strongly enough how important that is: this isn't the story of a weak girly girl becoming strong, because this girl starts out strong. Our first scene of Merida is her getting her first bow as a small child; our next glimpse of her is years later as a young woman, honed into a strong warrior by years of passion and practice in her craft. Merida is badass within the first five minutes of the film, and she's a badass entirely of her own making. (Well, with some encouragement from Dad, but still, the level of dedication that Merida must have put into her training is awe-inspiring.) So let's be clear, this isn't girly Mulan cutting off her hair to go train in a montage: Merida is a fighter from the get-go.*
* Note: There is nothing wrong with a woman being girly. Nor is there anything wrong with a woman cutting off her hair to go train in a montage. I'm pleased with the variety represented by Brave, not with the contrast in and of itself.
Nor is this the story of a strong girl becoming feminine and realizing that she does need a man after all. Merida starts the movie insisting that she's not ready for marriage yet, and she may never be ready for marriage. She explicitly brings that up as a possibility. And the movie does not even try to contradict her. There's no love story here, not even a hint of one. There's no inkling that Merida is falling for anyone or that she ever will. Gods help me, but please don't let them make a sequel to this movie, and then we can all have head-canon of Merida being a lesbian or asexual or any number of all-the-things we're not allowed to have in these kinds of movies. How rare is this, to have a character in a movie -- any animated movie -- that doesn't end up heterosexually pair-bonded by the credits? So this isn't Tiana realizing that dreams and careers are nice and all, but life isn't balanced if there's not a man in the equation.**
** Note: There is nothing wrong with a woman deciding that her life would be better balanced with the addition of love and/or a family. Again I'm pleased with the variety represented by Brave, not with the contrast in and of itself.
I liked that Merida really is badass and her badassitude isn't limited to a few key battles staged for the promos. There's a scene near the end where Merida is defending her turned-into-a-bear mother from her father and four clans' worth of men, and she holds her own. Against her father. With a sword. And it's incredible. And her voice, as she growls out to the crowd that no one is going to hurt her mother... it's such a powerful thing that the memory of it still sends shivers down my spine. This isn't an essentially gentle girl like Rapunzel, only fighting when circumstances force her to; this is a young woman who seems to truly belong on the battlefield defending what's important to her, a warrior in a very real sense of the term.***
*** Note: There is nothing wrong with a woman not wanting to be a warrior or only fighting when forced to do so by circumstances. Just to be clear, I'm pleased with the variety represented by Brave, not with the contrast in and of itself.
So with all this, why didn't Brave light my world on fire the way I expected?
To be honest, I think it's the plot vehicle of choice. Being Turned Into Something and then Racing Against The Clock is a narrative device that needs to go hibernate for a few decades so it can seem fresh again, in my opinion. The device is as old as The Little Mermaid, and as recent as The Princess and the Frog. And it's not even like the bear angle is new: I don't remember anything about Brother Bear except not liking it -- well, and I do remember Husband fell asleep halfway through and, when roused, specifically asked me to let him go back to sleep, thank you very much -- but I remember that somebody done got turned into a bear. So there's that.
And this is one of those times where I kind of wish I had less experience than I actually have. Because if I hadn't seen the last ten or twenty movies that used the Turned-Into-Something, Racing-Against-The-Clock narrative vehicle, I probably would have thought Brave was the coolest thing since sliced bread dipped in liquid nitrogen. But because I have seen the last ten or twenty movies to use that particular plot coupon, I couldn't help but feel like the movie was a little... draggy at times. So there's that.
I still liked the movie. I liked the characterization. I liked the stunning visuals, the gorgeous music, the incredible pathos of the tension between family members which was then mapped on tension between friends and neighbors. Putting aside the Otherization of the cultures involved -- which is another post for someone else to write, and they should probably throw How To Train Your Dragon into that post as well and examine the movies together because I felt like there were a lot of similarities in that regard -- I enjoyed the juxtaposition of humor and drama within the movie. And if all that sounds like a tentative recommendation, it's still a recommendation nonetheless.
I'll be buying Brave... eventually... once the price comes down to something reasonable. I want to encourage Hollywood to keep it up, to give us female protagonists who are strong and capable from the get-go, who don't get less so as the movie wears on, and who boldly bring up "I may never heterosexually pair-bond, so deal with it" as a genuine, no-kidding possibility. Do you hear me? I want more of this.
Brave didn't light my world on fire from a story-telling perspective. But that's okay because it's still a step in the right direction. Now we just need more. Lots more.
---
Update: Something else that I liked but forgot to work in above, was that the three suitors for Merida were on-board with and instrumental in the acceptance of her proposal to let young men and women make love-matches instead of matches based on combat prowess.
This makes Brave a very rare example of (multiple) young men choosing to buck the Patriarchy in favor of a feminist cause led by a strong young woman, even though doing so is not necessarily in their favor. I say that Merida's cause is not in their favor because the weakest-in-combat young man has already technically "won" the right to Merida's hand, and the other two young men could reasonably expect to win in the case of a rematch. None of them, in contrast, have been given any sign that Merida would choose them for love.
Although there are problematic issues with the way that Brave approaches men and culture, I appreciated a rare and heart-warming example of young men supporting a feminist cause lead by a strong young woman, without any immediate benefit to themselves.
35 comments:
I felt pretty much the same way. The visuals were incredible. Her hair itself was almost a separate character. The characters were all great and funny. But the story was mediocre. When I watched the trailer I didn't get that there were two bears so I actually thought Merida somehow befriended the big evil bear. I guess that would be even closer to How to Train Your Dragon (a movie which I thought looked terrible from the trailers but turned out to be incredible).
I actually thought that Pixar did an excellent job of taking an over-used plot device and injecting some new life into it. I didn't actually see the twist of the mother getting changed, as opposed to Merida herself - that, for me, made it into, "Oh, wow, they really inverted that plot," rather than, "Oh, no, not another Race against the clock to change back," scenario. It also helped that their trailors were fantastically good at keeping that plot point secret.
I absolutely agree with the lack of hetero pair-bonding at the end of the movie. Just one more thing that was different.
And yeah. Merida is a total badass. And an awesome sister. "Boys - get that key." lol
I did see the bear thing coming (I'm way too tropey, I guess), but I didn't think they'd go "whole hog" so to speak and transmogrify the brothers. That was awesome. Actually, just the fact that I ended up LIKING the brothers speaks well of Pixar; usually the precocious identical kidlings thing doesn't go over well with me. But "get that key" was awesomesauce.
Something else that I liked but forgot to work in above, was that the three suitors for Merida were on-board with and instrumental in the acceptance of her proposal to let young men and women make love-matches instead of matches based on combat prowess.
This makes Brave a very rare example of (multiple) young men choosing to buck the Patriarchy in favor of a feminist cause led by a strong young woman, even though doing so is not necessarily in their favor. I say that Merida's cause is not in their favor because the weakest-in-combat young man has already technically "won" the right to Merida's hand, and the other two young men could reasonably expect to win in the case of a rematch. None of them, in contrast, have been given any sign that Merida would choose them for love.
Although there are problematic issues with the way that Brave approaches men and culture, I appreciated a rare and heart-warming example of young men supporting a feminist cause lead by a strong young woman, without any immediate benefit to themselves.
To say something, but make this a positive recommendation derail instead of a whiny what-about-me derail, and speaking of variety, I love the way the new My Little Pony cartoon approaches femininity.
You have a main cast of six characters, all girls, each with well-rounded personalities and a number of interests. One is bookish and excitable; one is brash and athletic; gentle and introverted; confident and artistic; hard-working and hard-playing; bubbly and childlike. That's hardly all that there is to them as characters, but they're six very valid ways of Being a Girl.
Now personally, I Identify with Rarity (artistic, often takes the explicit damsel-in-distress role) and Fluttershy (introverted and shy to the point of paralysis). I love those characters. And I feel like in the age of the Strong Feminist Heroine, I don't see enough of them. I'm shy, I'm romantic, I'm not strong, I'm cowardly, and I'm still a good person who could be a protagonist in the right kind of story. Without having to change and become a Strong Warrior in the process.
Which is all why variety in all things is good :) When you have a whole bunch of varying characters all in the same place, you don't have to make a decision about who you represent.
I absolute adored Brave. I think the reason I find it the best thing since the landing on the moon is because I never got around to watching a lot of those other movies you referenced that had the whole turning someone into something and racing against time.
What really hit it for me was that this was a movie that did not turn the mother into a villain. The mother was not absent, and they had a relationship that over the course of the movie was strengthened as they came to understand each other. Here was a mother who was trapped in the jaws of the patriarchy and trying desperately to get Merida to fit in - not because she likes the patriarchy, but because she admits to Merida there is grave consequences if you dare to fight against it. The mother, trapped by the fear of those consequences, can't see that the younger generation may be okay with bucking the patriarchy. This is one of the lessons Merida teaches to her mother. It also shows how the patriarchy effects men and woman differently. It's definitely an interesting critique in that regard. It also had a heavy critique of male privilege gone amok, and how - Merida shooting that arrow for herself - nearly dissolve the kingdom in war. It's interesting how the younger generation is more accepting than the older, which reflects a bit on our own culture as well.
So, others have discussed that better than I, and here are some analysis on Brave that I really enjoyed reading, and which spoke about this stuff better than I could: http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/just-another-princess-movie/
And: http://prospect.org/article/shocking-radicalism-brave
I thought Brave was an excellent movie for all the reasons except the plot. Merida's badassery and her hair were more than enough to go round, but her father basically letting her do all those things as a young girl instead of insisting on her being properly femininely trained from an early age is a big yay. Also, the triplets did not replace Merida as the Most Important Children simply because they were male.
And a willingness to show animated buttocks in situations that called for it, and the somewhat matter-of-fact attitude taken by all around when there were bare backsides (and fronts, presumably, just not seen by the strategic camera angles).
I had some hard-to-put-my-finger-on issues with it, though I enjoyed it. And liked that mom and daughter both learned from one another and seemed to have come to appreciate each other's interests better. And I also liked the scene where Merida, with her mother's encouragement, suggests throwing out tradition and going with love, and getting backed up by others of her generation - guys, no less.
I think I was mostly bothered by the scene where her mom is being changed by the potion and Merida is all "is it working, do you feel different" with no concern at all for her mother getting sicker and sicker. It just seemed...wrong. Not because Merida is a girl, but because I'd expect a person, any person, to have more of a reaction to someone - especially someone they theoretically care about (after all, Merida isn't looking for an option whereby she leaves her family) - becoming very ill. If there'd been an earlier scene that established that, well, magic - even beneficial magic - always makes people sick, that would've been one thing, but magic isn't even something everyone in this world believes in. Or if the mom's reaction had been more on the order of "very tired now, going to sleep."
I know it was probably supposed to show just how little connection Merida and... crap, I know she's got a name *googles* Elinor had by then, but it felt so heartless.
I was also a little bothered by the fact that it was apparently a universe in which women were pretty and men were ugly (and more cartoony) than the women. I'd rather have had Merida rejecting perfectly attractive suitors, thanks. That puts the rejection unarguably on the idea of suitors, no shuffling it off to the fact that these were all goofy looking.
But I really liked the mother daughter bonding in the woods and that Elinor got to save the day. That was different, to say the least.
I didn't like that scene, either, and Merida's lack of concern for her mother. As you say, it felt almost over-the-top to me, since she has no reason to assume that the witch is in any way benevolent or competent. Maybe it was a commentary on Merida being too trusting? I dunno.
There's a follow-up post tomorrow, re: some of the excellent issues you bring up with regards to men and the different art style and treatment.
I liked the mother. I liked the fact that the gentle and ladylike mother gets to battle the Big Bad a great deal. I liked the whole family, and the family dynamic. (Also, I am acquainted with a very large red-headed man named Fearghus (my mother points out that being named Fearghus improves your chances of being a large red-headed man substantially), so I loved the king.)
I loved the brawling, and the bragging, and the pure Celtic chaos.
I also liked--I liked this very much--that the busty, giggly nanny lady is being courted at the end by the huge muscle-bound guy. I thought that was very charming.
I did NOT like the plot-line relating to Merida's marriage. Yes, I get it, she's feisty, and doesn't want to marry just because she's supposed to--except that there are ample good reasons for her to do so, and for her parents to want her to do so, and those reasons are never adequately dealt with or addressed. It is not good enough for a deeply ingrained, and politically key custom to be set aside simply because one of the adults suddenly has this great idea that it would be better if we adopted a custom from twenty-first century North America and let the young people choose their own partners, when they're ready!! Problem solved!!
I flashed to the end of "Aladdin", which pulls the same thing, except that in that case, there really is no evident political pressure over Yasmin's marriage. There's a degree of cultural condescension there that just slightly flicks at me.
I don't need her to marry one of the goofy boys, I just need for there to be a better resolution to what is actually a real problem than 'we just won't do it like that any more'.
Also, the gentlemen letting themselves down from the tower with their kilts and walking off bare-arsed was just adorable.
To be honest, having all of them goofy was a bit over the top, but it is nice to have guys that aren't perfect studs as well. For not all men are perfectly attractive. I actually preferred her rejecting the suitors as they were. One of them at least seemed to be presented as the more fit/attractive of the three. Though all the men in the movie were presented as goofy looking.
I personally saw it as a critique on the patriarchy - the men goofy and content in their privilege, able to get away with just about whatever they want - despite how goofy they may act as they puff out their chests and brag. It's amusing also how well they distracted the tribes enough to keep them from considering out right war at Merida's decision to reject all the suitors, and I do wish they would have stressed that a bit more, to show that Merida's mother really meant it when she said there would be consequences. For it would have given Elinor's concern over the consequences of not abiding by the rules of the patriarchy more substance.
Though it seems to me that they really played the satirical card hard when it came to the men. Maybe a little too hard.
The other point you made - Merida not being concerned about her mother when she was eating that cake freaked me out a bit. Why? Why wasn't she worried? Had their relationship really degraded enough for Merida to not care? But then it made me wonder if Merida harbored so much anger at her mother that she couldn't see clearly anymore? Could Merida's anger really blind her to the fact that maybe she was severely harming her own mother?
Maybe it depends on what you're coming from, too. I guess I encounter enough media in which the men are goofy looking and acting and the women are pretty that it didn't feel like a critique so much as more of the same. Of course all men aren't perfectly attractive, but we're a lot more likely to have media show us imperfect men than we are imperfect women. To me, a movie that dared to present imperfect women would be far more progressive.
Gotta agree about playing the satirical card just a bit too hard with the men, though. Though they were capable of seeming genuinely dangerous, too.
I actually found Merida’s lack of concern over her mother to be consistent with her character as presented at that point, given that, if the potion had worked 100%, it would have essentially brainwashed Elinor. Generally, I just didn’t find Merida to be a character worth rooting for, except insofar as she was a person trying to fight for her agency.
And thinking about the film some more, I’m not sure what to make of the fact that Merida thought that it was her mother that needed to change, rather than say, any of the men. While it’s kinda necessary for the plot, and the mother-daughter themes, it’s one of the things that make me feel that, if Pixar intended for the film to be a feminist one, they failed.
@Mime_Paradox -
"And thinking about the film some more, I’m not sure what to make of the fact that Merida thought that it was her mother that needed to change, rather than say, any of the men. While it’s kinda necessary for the plot, and the mother-daughter themes, it’s one of the things that make me feel that, if Pixar intended for the film to be a feminist one, they failed."
Merida's thinking here makes sense to me - from the beginning, we're shown that Fearghus and Elinor have different styles of parenting and ideas about what is appropriate for Merida. She gets her bow, likely her horse, and permission to do her own thing from her father, who sees her as a valuable warrior and battle friend, while her mother seems to want her to restrict herself, both figuratively and bodily, at every turn in search of this mythic idea that she should be "a lady". And because there are no other princesses or noble ladies around, Merida concludes (at least with teenage logic) that if she can get Elinor to change her mind, all the pressure and restrictions will go away and she'll be able to be happy as she is.
I think that's how the film wants us to see things, and then the Triplets, as both young and male, provide us with the story of ideal space for Merida - they can run about and do add they please and their father isn't telling them how to behave and their mother isn't trying to get them into corsets and restrictive dresses and to cover up their hair.
I actually found Merida’s lack of concern over her mother to be consistent with her character as presented at that point, given that, if the potion had worked 100%, it would have essentially brainwashed Elinor.
Ah, but there's visible harm and invisible harm. Brainwashing is awful and wrong, but it's invisible harm. It's much easier to not realize that you're hurting someone that way. But someone who's becoming visibly ill in front of you? You'd think that would raise concern, even in someone willing to commit invisible harm.
Which is not to say that I had no issue with Merida leaping straight to brainwash mom as a solution. But I think she felt like her mom was trying to change her in very hurtful ways and a potion that would change her mind about that seemed like less harm than what Elinor was trying to do to Merida. At least from Merida's point of view. So it was wrong, but understandable... right up until Elinor started getting sick and Merida didn't care.
There was also the unaddressed question of whether Merida could have stayed Merida and married. The only person we're shown trying to make Merida a lady is her mom. There is no sense, at all, that other people care. Even Merida's arrow shooting thing only threw people off because she was claiming her own hand. It feels like a giant world building hole.
But I think she felt like her mom was trying to change her in very hurtful ways and a potion that would change her mind about that seemed like less harm than what Elinor was trying to do to Merida.
Yeah, I kinda read "change my mom" as "get her to see my point of view, dammit". But I tend to be charitable, since I can see myself being a bit like that at her age. (EXCEEDINGLY restrictive upbringing over here, to the point where I internally bristle at the word 'lady' when it's applied to me. Bad connotations, lots of unfair expectations on me, etc. etc.)
I actually agree that Merida's thinking makes perfect sense for her; it's only in the greater context of the film that its troublesome. If one argues that Elinor and the men are both equally responsible for mantaining the patriarchy, the fact that it takes an agency-stripping spell for Elinor to come around but only a speech for the same to happen to the men feels to me awash in unfortunate implications--especially since in my view, Elinor was already a much greater cheerleader for oppressive traditions than the men were.
particularly once one considers, like depizan notes, that it is only Elinor who is particularly gung-ho on keeping with tradition.
Oh, how I hatehatehatehatehate this computer. Aside from making it super-hard to post, it also makes it impossible for me to edit them once I'm done. Ignore the last bit please.
One thing to bear in mind is that Elinor's word apparently carries enormous authority with the men. Note the recurrent scene where Elinor, or eventually Merida, walks into the hall, and the chaos dies. Elinor carries real political authority, and you could argue that one of her own transformations in the film is learning that she can use that not only to preserve, but to make change.
I find the specific form that change takes and the way it's presented cheap and unconvincing, but there it is.
Dezipan, from what I remember of the movie, they weren't just thrown off by Merida's shooting the arrow. The other tribes threatened war, and Ferghus had to entertain them and do everything he could to keep them quiet as his wife tried to talk sense into Merida and find ways to deal with this so the tribes were satisified. I'll go watch it again to be sure, but I'm pretty dang sure they threatened Ferghus and his family with war over that arrow shooting. I don't really call that "throwing people off" for that phrase sounds a little too light for the concept of war.
Dezipan - oh, thought I replied already to this, but just wanted to say, that yes. I definitely agree that we're coming from different angles here. I've seen too many movies and shows were the girl are acting goofy (usually by being clumsy in the most ridiculous situations) and the guys are in-control and attractive.
I realize "thrown off" was minimizing how they reacted, but my impression was it was her refusal to marry, not her expertise with the bow that caused the problem.
And the movie seemed to minimize the threat of war - half the time it seemed to take it seriously, half the time the guys were having a grand old time after the contest. It made it very hard to figure out how great the threat really was. As did the fact that the threat evaporated at Merida's speech.
Yeah...they set up a realistic threat of the peace dissolving, and then it sort of...got forgotten, except as a formal reason for the plot line to keep going.
There were a few moments of the men seeming like genuine threats, but most of the time they were just comical. There had to have been a better way of setting up that story arc - there's a tradition of the peace being kept through marriage, but if you want the tradition to have outlived it's usefulness, show it. Go with shock and dismay and a mixture of threat of the alliance breaking and concern that the alliance will break - that is, plant the seeds that the alliance is more important than the tradition (which maybe some of the goofiness was supposed to, but didn't work very well for me), and then by the time we get to the speech, it feels more plausible because it's standing on a more solid foundation.
I know the movie was really about Merida and Elinor and their relationship, but there needed to be more thought in the world building and the support story of the need for (or lack of need for) marriage. It also really bothers me when I think about it that civilization rests on the women. It appears that the reason Merida couldn't marry and be herself (something that the movie never really seems to consider, actually) is that the men aren't capable of civilization without Elinor type women around. That's got all kinds of unfortunate implications.
It just occurred to me - I think that Brave fails the Bechdel test. Despite being a movie about two women and their relationship. Because it's always about men.
I think, somehow, that underlying issue drives a lot of the other issues that we have with the movie. We have a character who should be able to pass without a problem, and yet the only other woman that she had a conversation with is obsessed with men...
We have a character who should be able to pass without a problem, and yet the only other woman that she had a conversation with is obsessed with men...
That, in itself, could make for an interesting story, but there would have to be self awareness involved.
the reason Merida couldn't marry and be herself (something that the movie never really seems to consider, actually)
Except that we have no way to gauge that. Yes, Elinor wants to stuff her into a tight dress because it looks nice, to Elinor, but we never actually get any indication from any of the men that they think her shooting, riding, chaotic hair, etc. is inappropriate, or something they would put a stop to if she married their son. None of the sons seem to care. There is never any actual hint that she couldn't be entirely herself once out of her mother's sight, and be perfectly accepted by the triumphant clan who bagged the princess.
What IS a problem is her disinterest in learning what queens do, and as is traditional in these sorts of stories, that is heavily jumbled up in 'traditional girl hobbies', but Elinor is also clearly trying to educate her in history, political alliances, law, the ability to run a household...and those are things where, I don't care if you just like to ride and shoot, you gotta learn this stuff.
Reminds me a bit of the beginning of Mercedes Lackey's Vanyel books. Yes, you're supposed to sympathize desperately with poor, poor, oppressed Vanyel, but it's his father that my heart has always gone out to. Forget the sexuality business. You're the lord of a small chunk of land on a hotly disputed border, and your oldest son and obvious heir doesn't like to visit the villagers with you, because they look at him as though they expect something. Goddamn right they expect something! No wonder Dad is going out of his mind.
(Vanyel, of course, then falls directly into a line of work where you ride around being expected to save everyone from everything all the time, but for some reason he's had a complete change of personality by then, through coming out, and suffering unspeakable loss, and all that good jazz.)
To be frankly honest here, I can't stand the Vanyel books. I really don't see how people praise them so highly. Yes. Vanyel is gay, except he falls into the stereotype of having the most angst filled life ever in a world where no one cares about your sexuality. Why? The world-building there makes no sense whatsoever. So his dad is homophobic, but no one else in the entire country is? Why the constant angst? And his ending is the most angsty, awful thing I've ever read. No, I'll never consider those books a good representation of gay people. :/
That was a slight side track, but yes. I'm noticing a trend here with my agreeing with your thoughts on Brave.
To me it seems that the kingdom was set up with Elinor doing most of the diplomatic work and her husband doing more of the military work. They really did seem like a team. The problem is that the other tribes didn't have that teamwork feel, nor did they bring any wives with them - why? Why not bring them? Did they not have any?
I honestly feel like the movie never took the time to develop the men of the movie, for the focus was entirely on Elinor and Merida working out their differences.
This makes more sense to me. Yes, the movie did minimize the threat of war, mostly because they never took the time to really develop it. The movie was too light-hearted, and the men served as comical relief and as a satirical look at society more than anything else. So they were never given much substance beyond a place for people to laugh. This, of course, would definitely minimize the threat of war, especially when they make the threat, have some fun with each other despite the threat, and then let the threat go after Merida makes her great speech.
Having said this, this doesn't diminish the fact that they do seem capable of aggression and ferocity that makes them seem dangerous. This especially comes to light when they are trying to corner the bear, especially in the end fight scene. Their danger to Elinor is intense at that point, and it allows Merida a chance to stand up to save her mother, despite no one believing her. I also really like how Elinor, in bear form, gets a chance to defend her family since usually this is her husband's job, so it's an interesting switch of roles. Her husband saved her and her daughter at the beginning of the movie, and here is Elinor saving him and their daughter at the end of the movie. It was a nice circle created there.
Another question however, in regards to Merida calming them with her speech: Does Elinor really have that much influence on all the tribes? To have Merida speak in her stead and it calms them all? Perhaps she doesn't realize the extent of her power? For I know she is more into the managing the details of the kingdom - notably the diplomatic parts - and her husband seems more like the manager of the military aspects of the kingdom. So I get the feeling they were trying to create a team with the two. I get the feeling the movie tried to show that Elinor and Ferghus has a more egalitarian marriage, but at the same time, they show Elinor showing extreme concern about upholding the patriarchy and abiding by its rules. She actively fears the threat of war if Merida does not agree to the marriage, but this isn't backed up as well as it could have been by the men. If the men had been more well-rounded, less comical relief, then they could have shown that Elinor's worries about breaking the rules placed on them by the patriarchy would have a lot more substance.
I suppose they didn't develop that part of the plot more because it could have affected the happy ending. Merida may not have been able to get her wish of not marrying if they had been more serious about the threat of war and Elinor's concerns about going against the patriarchal rules.
I know it all boils down to the typical lack of world building in a fairy tail, but without a glimpse of what other lord's wives were doing and without any sign that Merdia as is was somehow not acceptable (to anyone besides Elinor), part of the driving force for Merdia's actions is missing. It becomes Elinor wants her to be a princess and marry, not that's how the world is (the threat of war seeming more realistic would've helped there, too, but if they wanted to avoid that, they could've had her be unacceptable to the other lords or at least had them be doubtful). It really gives the story some unfortunate implications.
I can't help thinking that the movie would've been more progressive with some of the same characters, less sitcom-slob men, and a slightly different plot. Because Fergus and Elinor's marriage did seem very equal and in many ways, she seemed to be running the country. That's cool. Her getting to save her family was cool. But it got all snarled in the princess plot and went astray somehow. For me, anyway.
(And, yeah, as Makabit points out, it had the usual confusion of girl stuff and necessary stuff. And, of course, the problem of treating girl stuff as bad, kind of, rather than just not-for-Merida.)
I almost want a version where Merida doesn't want to be a ruler and the problem is solved by making her brothers heirs or setting up some other chain of succession.
To me it seems that the kingdom was set up with Elinor doing most of the diplomatic work and her husband doing more of the military work. They really did seem like a team. The problem is that the other tribes didn't have that teamwork feel, nor did they bring any wives with them - why? Why not bring them? Did they not have any?
Well, perhaps the wives stay home to run things, as they would do in times of war. But that does sort of cut out any chance we have to see if the 'you must be ladylike, as well as a diplomatic bargaining chip' is Elinor's personal quirk or a culture-wide thing, or some combination thereof.
I'm uninclined to say the wives would stay home for something like this - a meeting off the clans to handle succession and marriage? Sounds like a great time to negotiate treaties and other things that need everyone there. And if the women truly are the diplomatic corps here, that would mean they are accompanying and their shires are in the hands of stewards.
If only we could have seen more women. Or more of the society. (If only to establish how much Merida absolutely hates having to run the kingdom.) Or something else that would give impetus to Elinor's obsession.
I liked Brave a lot. Yes, some parts were far from perfect (the wisps being friendly/helpful, ALL the men being buffoonish), but when they weren't piling on the physical comedy with a shovel, I thought the interpersonal relationships were well done. Elinor and Feargus felt like a real, married couple who have been together for ages to the point where they know what each other are thinking without having to say it out loud. All too often in movies we get either the Constantly Arguing couple or the Meek Mom, Domineering Dad couple.
I do wonder if a big chunk of Elinor's backstory was changed/cut at the last moment. She seems weirdly obsessed with making sure that Meridia is not just prepared, but Perfect. There seemed to be an element of 'I will make Absolutely Sure that my daughter does not make the same mistake I made' - which made me wonder just what that mistake might have been. And then we have the ruins and other traces of The Fall of the Previous Kingdom. And then really unsubtle hints that Mordru, the Big Bad Bear, was transformed by magic. And then, when Elinor has been bear-ified, it seems like She Knows The Way To The Witch's Hut - as if she'd been there before... in short, I was fully expecting to find that Mordru had been one of Elinor's suitors (or her father?) and that SHE had tried to change HIS mind, with disastrous results. Eventually as I watched the movie it became apparent that this Probably Wasn't The Case, but i was curious what the real answer might be. But, we never got one - we never do find out what Elinor's big Mistake was, or why she seemed to know the way through the fog to the witch.
For me - I don't think we were SUPPOSED to support Merida's actions in attempting to brainwash her mother, nor her initial unconcern when the potion begins to take effect. It strikes me as a legitimate character flaw to be overcome.
To 8me, Merida and Elinor start out at opposite extremes: Merida is entirely self-centered. (Which isn't necessarily bad.) She wants to live life her own way, no matter who it affects. Elinor, in contrast, is entirely other-centered. (Also, not necessarily bad.) She lives, and wants her daughter to live, to please others and live up to their expectations - even if it means neglecting their own wants and needs. A major arc of the movie, then, was both of them learning to temper their innate personality with a little bit of the other's mindset. Merida, when she steps into her mother's diplomatic crowd-control shoes, discovers the value of soft skills and thinking of others' perceptions. Elinor, having to literally fight for her life against the man she loves and other she respects, learns to take her own needs seriously. (An oversimplification but you see what I mean.) At the end of the movie, it' clear that both of them are still their own selves, just less harmfully extreme - they've both grown wiser.
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