Being Brave: Pixar's New Feminist Heroine

I love summer time for a multitude of reasons including the beach, afternoon thunderstorms and brunch outside on a warm Sunday morning. My favorite thing about summer however is the big movie releases. As I ventured through my traditional summer film fest, I recently made a deviation from my usual big budget action pieces and saw the animated flick, Brave. I was expecting to take a much-needed break from reality with the predictable Disney-Pixar format and storyline. A princess meets prince, falls in love, a witch enters the picture and casts a spell, trouble ensues, prince rescues princess, love conquers all, prince and princess get married and they live happily ever after. While all of these themes appear and are discussed in this picture, Brave flips them around and fights the stereotypes that Disney-Pixar themselves created.

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I was inspired and moved by the spirit of young Merida, princess of a Scottish clan that rides fast, shoots arrows and has a smart mouth. Although I probably was not the intended audience, being… well… a bit older, I could relate to this quirky, independent young lady. Not just because I too am a smart-mouthed, curly-haired, redhead of Celtic decent, but I know the stresses of being the first-born girl and the pressure to marry and fit a certain mold that someone else (family, society, etc.) has laid before you. I loved that instead of accepting the norm as law, she fought against what she knew in her heart was wrong. Merida differs from past Disney Princess rebels like Mulan, Ariel and Belle because it is not a man that drives her adventure or saves the day and an extravagant wedding does not lead to final credits. As Kelly MacDonald, voice of Merida, asserts in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “[Merida] makes her own mistakes and then she doesn’t need a Prince Charming to come and make things better. She makes her own trouble, and then she gets herself out of that trouble, and I think that’s a very good message”.

The film also shocked me with a few other elements that differ from the standard. I really enjoyed the mother-daughter story line between Princess Merida and her mother, the traditionalist yet strong in her own way Queen. There are so many stories focused on the father-daughter relationship in animated pictures, which while still poignant and relatable, (especially for this daddy’s girl) it was refreshing to see another powerful, special and sometimes complicated relationship in a girl’s life. Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood examines this special bond by expressing how strength is found in everyone in different ways and it is only when both Merida and her mother take a step back and see things from one another's perspective that they truly learn and accept each other.

The plot did something that most films, animated or not, cannot usually accomplish which was become unpredictable. I knew the basic premise and was expecting a Disney Princess tale, which I got, but with a twist.  I was expecting a whiney little girl character and a love interest but neither appeared. Even the customary “lesson” in Brave was unique and fitting for the changing social climate. She did not have to give up her ideals and compromise in order to please everyone else. She stayed true and with open rhetoric, strength and a little bit of gumption, got her point across while rebuilding those important relationships; all while maintaining the family values that Disney built its reputation upon.

I felt this film was an impeccable picture of feminism in this day in age.  Strong, vocal, powerful, and unruly at times but still feminine, compassionate and understanding. It is not about man-hating or being against marriage. It is about equality and demanding the same rights and control over one’s life as a man. Merida is not protesting marriage; she is asking to get there in her own time and by her own rules. Most of all, she is asking society and her family to allow her to live her own life and to accept her as she is, not what they see as the ideal. I thought Brave had a great message for young girls and was such a refreshing story to watch. I may be ever so slightly older, but that flame haired, unruly little girl inside went home feeling a little more empowered. And also hugged her mama!

Saying Goodbye to the Original Feminist in Film: Nora Ephron

The film-making world lost a legend with the recent passing of screenwriter/director Nora Ephron. She was more then just an impeccable talent that created memorable characters and plots that could reach the masses.  She was a powerful, loyal, sensitive, intelligent and funny lady who wrote to women and for women.  Although her writing was aimed at female audiences, Ephron was able to speak to both genders and became one of the first and most influential women studio directors. With films like Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail, she created blockbuster films, iconic scenes (Hello! Meg Ryan’s now infamous diner scene in When Harry Met Sally!) and characters big and small that would touch so many lives all while proudly calling herself a feminist.

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There were never any feminist stereotypes portrayed in Ephron's projects like man bashing or bra burning and she never showed any disregard to the stories of love; whether finding, losing or reclaiming. Her feminist prose was about speaking to women and relating their unique qualities and stories to the rest of the world. She pushed the boundaries in a male dominated industry by unapologetically portraying strong, silly, complicated female characters while still being able to be humorous and laugh at the ridiculous.

Christy Lemire in her article for the Associated Press speaks about Ephron’s distinct ability in balancing the complexities of the female psyche and portraying the sweet and caring while still unabashedly highlighting the neurotic and overtly verbal traits. Her writing demonstrated the type of feminism that I so strongly relate to as my own ideal. Her stories were not about disrespect for men or the masculinization of women. They were about celebrating women for who they are while creating stories that made us laugh, cry and think about our own lives. Sometimes strength comes from weakness  (Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia); sometimes neurotic can be endearing (Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle); and often losing it all can lead to a happily ever after (Ephron favorite Meg Ryan again in You’ve Got Mail). Whatever the scenario that Ephron wrote about or highlighted on the big screen, strong women prevailed. Women and Hollywood reporter Sasha Stone looks at the influence Ephron had despite being consistently overlooked by male dominated Hollywood. It did not seem to matter that she received only three Oscar nominations and no wins in her illustrious career because she continued to speak her mind and create stories for the audience of her choosing, not the Oscar voters.

I do not have a lot of role models in people that I have not had personal contact with but Nora Ephron is a rare exception. She was a powerful example of a successful and trailblazing woman in the film industry and through all the sadness of her passing, her archive of work will forever be with me.