**Due to recent misinterpretations of some one post
from this blog, a disclaimer is now apparently necessary. If this is your first visit to The
Scratched Camera, please read the introductory post and discover, for yourself, that every typed word that
follows is unabashedly my opinion and mine alone. In said introductory post, which,
shockingly, I did not simply type up for my own good health, I state that we
all read events and characters with our own baggage in mind; no one observes
with a perfectly clear lens—hence the
name The Scratched Camera.
Therefore, it is completely your will to disagree with any material that
follows, just as it is my will to agree and advocate for what is mine.** ~End, irritating obligatory disclaimer~
Princess Merida—Play For Your Own Hand
Merida
was revolutionary, in many ways.
First and foremost, she shocked everyone by choosing to not have a love
interest in the film—paving the way for the likes of Queen Elsa. She could’ve very easily accepted any
of the three princes who were paraded in front of her, although I can’t
honestly say I blame her for not doing so—none of them were exactly what I
would describe as impressive or,
better yet, worthy.
I smile every time I see her step forward
and say she’ll be playing for her own hand. With that one statement, she changed everything. Gone are the days of Cinderella; gone
are the days of pouting and waiting for your prince to show up and save
you. With this one action, Merida
took her fate into her own hands and, in the process, started a new era for the
Disney princess.
Several
critics welcomed this change. One called her a “modern woman in an ancient
world.” This statement had me scratching my head a bit. I won’t deny that Merida is certainly a
modern woman, and that the setting is an older time, far older than any
previous Disney or Pixar production.
However, I’m not so sure the specific societal characteristics we’re
alluding to here are able to be deemed ‘ancient.’
As
part of a generation heavily persuaded by the likes of Bella Swan and similarly
minded characters, I will admit that I feel a particular sense of eccentricity
when engaged in conversation about significant others. In my ripe young age of twenty-three, it
is simply impossible to survive a family function without being asked if I’m
seeing anyone. And, if I am, the
immediate follow-up question is, of course, no matter how long we’ve been
together or whatever our particular level of commitment may be to each other,
if I think he is “the one,” and when, not
if, we will be getting married.
This
is, unfortunately, a theme amongst females. Most of my friends are already married or engaged and in the
process of planning a wedding that is fated to happen in the next six months. Most of those who aren’t already
engaged wish they were. In
addition to me, I can think of maybe one or two of my unattached friends who
feel no need to rush into a long-term commitment in their early twenties. It would appear, then, that I am in the
minority on this issue. Of course,
I do not mean to say that marrying young is always a horrible idea. I firmly believe that we are all very
different and search for very different things. I merely mean to say that some couples are prepared
for the commitment in their twenties and some never feel the need to marry at
all. It is all a matter of
preference, and mine is to not be in any form of a hurry—a preference which
seems less than common.
Despite
the lack of commonality, Merida and I have very similar reactions on this front. She doesn’t understand the need to
strip her of her independence at such a young age. This, for me, makes her relatable in a time when very few
characters—not to mention real life people—feel similarly to me. My marital status may not influence the
fate of the free world, as Merida’s does, but I still can’t help but feel like
she’s a kindred spirit for me. She
not only takes a firm stance on the issue, she sticks to her opinions and seeks
to change the expectations laid out for her.
That
being said, with my flag on the marriage issue distinctly pitched in the
minority camp, it doesn’t surprise me that there has been some resistance to
Merida’s idea on what it means to be a princess. I’ve had a friend or two—coincidentally, the same friends
who always seem perpetually bummed they aren’t engaged yet—who instantly count
this film below others—say, Frozen—solely
on the fact that it doesn’t have a love story. In fact, I would go so far as to say Brave not only is devoid of a love story, it makes a mockery of the
very concept—especially the idea of the Prince Charming as the savior, as I
think we can all agree none of these princes will be doing any saving any time
soon. Although, that one guy did
have quite the nasty bite…
Disney
also attempted to Disneytize Merida, for lack of a better word. In May 2013, they announced they were
redesigning Merida to celebrate her coronation into the Disney Princess
line-up. Below, I have posted a
picture of the before and after concepts for her. On the right we have the original version of Merida,
straight from the film. On the
left is the redesign.
There
are several key differences. She’s
apparently been dieting, as she’s lost a bit of weight. However, it must’ve been a very special
diet of strictly silicone, as she appears to have gone up a cup size in her
chest, rounding her out to have a more traditional Disney Princess figure, of
which there are precisely two choices—hourglass, and far too skinny to be
healthy. She now has distinct hips
as well, which are accented by a belt, which slings across where her arrows
used to go. Of course, she
probably no longer has use for her arrows, as clearly her shooting time has now
been reallocated towards completing a daily regiment to control her hair and
put make-up on. But, perhaps she
simply got Hermione Granger to help tame those wild curls with magic. After all, I doubt a meager comb would
do the trick. Her dress also seems
to have walked through a glitter mind-field explosion, in which a pound of
glitter was obtained, in addition to several inches of fabric being destroyed
from the top of the dress, giving us a better shot of the silicone improvements
I mentioned previously.
Needless
to say, when I originally read the press release announcing these changes, and
saw the very picture posted above for the first time, I was extremely enraged. Merida was the one princess that had
anywhere near a realistic appearance.
She wasn’t skinny, nor was she exactly pretty. She was a plain, average teenager with hair that never
obeyed. It had been a breath of
fresh air. To see Disney undoing
all the revolutionary road paved by Merida incited a fight in not only me, but
in a large portion of the viewers of the film.
Critics
spoke out against the changes. The
director fought the redesign, telling Disney that Merida had been purposely
created to break the mould they were now attempting to squeeze her into. Petitions were started. Twenty thousand
signatures were acquired in one week.
Claims were made that, by changing Merida’s look, Disney was condoning
our society’s belief that, to hold value, you must conform to a set idea of
‘attractive.’ By initiating these
changes, Disney not only condoned this belief, they were encouraging it.
Thankfully, even Disney couldn’t
ignore a petition with over twenty thousand signatures. The redesign concept drawings were
removed from their site and they announced that, while they had intended to
only use this updated version of Merida to celebrate her induction as a Disney
princess, they would keep her as she was initially designed. However, every once in a while, while
wandering through Target, I will see a large display for Merida in the toy
department, and the rendition will be far too close to the Merida on the left
as opposed to the Merida I know and love.
The
response to the updated version of Merida both shocked and pleased me beyond my
ability to express. Honestly, I
had never expected such an outright reaction. There’s a reason Disney attempted to change the look of
Merida—we, as a society, tend to like pretty people. As much as it pains me to admit this, Kyle Kingston wasn’t
necessarily wrong in Beastly. In fact, I would dare to say he was
impeccably accurate with his observations. We tend to have a warped society where the pretty succeed
and the less attractive are expected to fail.
However,
this strong reaction gives me hope that characters like Merida are doing what
they were designed to do. Merida,
at her very core, is a perfect role model for Disney’s demographic. Young girls and teenagers not to
mention, women my age need someone like Merida to reassure them that
appearances and marital status aren’t everything.
From Bella to Katniss:
Is Merida a good role model?
She’s forceful, outgoing, determined and can defend herself. Merida isn’t far from Katniss on this
scale—rather fitting, as I’ve heard she was based loosely on Ms. Everdeen. Not only can she handle herself, she
makes sure you know it, without falling pray to the Fronting Feisty Female
complex. For those of you who are
new here, this is a character—ironically, typically a female of the redhead
variety—who has just enough feistiness to catch a man’s attention and keep it,
yet not enough to manage to take care of herself and, therefore, is perpetually
waiting for someone typically male to come and save her. Merida isn’t perfect—her hair is a
mess, she refuses to wear make-up and she clearly enjoys eating. With this, she models that perfection
isn’t perfect—but imperfection might
be.
Role Model Rating:
9/10
From Lorelai to Wonder Woman: Is Merida relatable?
As stated above, Merida joins me in the seldom-held mindset that a
significant other might not be the solution for every problem. Therefore, while she may be
particularly relatable to me, I’m not certain whether she would hold the same
influence over others of differing points of view. However, her imperfection works to her favor here, as there
is nothing every day people can relate to more than that. Her mother’s perpetual disappointment
in her also applies to her relatabiliy, as I think I would be hard-pressed to
find someone who has never disappointed a family member at one point or
another. In essence, Merida is
just a girl with a rebellious and independent spirit who wants to be free to follow
her heart, especially even if that leads her away from getting married
next week. If there’s anything
more relatable than that, I’m not sure what it is.
Relatability Rating:
7/10
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