A Brave Critique

My husband and I took our babies to go see Disney/Pixar’s new movie “Brave” this evening. Ok, truth be told, I whined and nagged until they took me to go see it, but who cares.  Visually and even musically it was stunning.  I love any movie where the characters have accents, and if it’s a Scottish burr, than all the better!   The scenes were beautiful, the music was beguiling, and the artistry was incredible.  

Here’s my complaint: the story, as it were, was not merely pockmarked and flimsy, it was also inconsistent.  

Here’s the reason for my complaint: THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR CRAPPY STORYTELLING IN DISNEY!

There’s actually no excuse for crappy storytelling in any forum, but that’s another rant.   There is such a wealth of legend, lore, and myth in the Celtic culture that to try to cobble together a new story in a land steeped in folklore is just lazy.  Water-horses, forest sprites, Arthurian legends, the Loch Ness monster, for crying out loud!!  None were to be found in the vast, sweeping views of “Brave”.    The misty bits of magic that did make an appearance were so ambiguous, that they seemed more (to me) to be space-fillers than central to the story.  Of course, there is a purveyor of magic, and a giant battle of man vs. beast as well the internal man vs. self struggles¸ all of which are crucial elements of any Disney flick.   But there seemed to be two separate story lines (that of the Bear, and the struggle between the heroine, Merida and her mom) and rather than offer mutual support to the other, they acted as two ropes of a rickety mountain bridge with naught but scraps binding them together. 

In an effort to avoid spoiling the movie, I realize that I’m lacking quite a bit of articulation, here.   But, truly, I hate to have the ending given away to me, so I’m trying to keep myself in line.  I have another long standing critique of movie makers that I must needs voice as well, but I’m almost through.

That being said, I’ll summarize and be gone.

 As I mentioned earlier, the movie is visually stunning.  It also bears the marks of true Pixar genius- one must watch the whole screen in order to avoid missing cleverly placed or implied quips and comedy.  The actors who lent their voices were also incredible.   With all those elements in place, I feel that so much attention was focused on those facets that the story was let slip on by.   In researching a bit of the background, there seemed to be some changes in the mix that may have contributed.  The initial director (a woman), was found to have artistic differences with the studio, and was replaced (by a man) with about 18 months left before release.  I know, I know, it’s politically incorrect and sexist to be calling out gender qualifications.  But in a film where the central story revolves around the relationship of a mother and a daughter, is having male direction really the best way to go?  (C.S. Lewis has a phenomenal statement on the uphill climb male authors have when trying to write from a female perspective, but I can’t find the blasted quote that I want for here!).

As for my longstanding gripe about all movies in recent decades- studios seem to think that there cannot be both a strong female lead alongside a strong male presence.  The nearest exceptions to this rule that I have seen in recent years are Mr. Incredible, and Rapunzel’s father in Tangled.   Mr. Incredible does a great job, although his tragic flaw definitely trips him up.  Rapunzel’s dad is an admirable figure, but has nary even one vocal line with his daughter.  We assume the best of him, but maybe that’s because he shows up as a constant, despite only being on screen for a mere handful of frames.

Brave’s father figure, Fergus, suffers a more traditional fate.  While obviously gifted with great strength, and just as obviously loves his wife and daughter, he fails to truly champion either when their need is the greatest.   Rather, he is ruled by his passions, and hands over all of the actual ruling (all that we see, at any rate) to be handled by his wife.   Don’t get me wrong here- I love strong women characters!!  I’ll take an arrow slinging, horseback riding, betrothal-bucking Celt over a simpering namby-pamby waiting-on-Mr. Right-to-save-me any day of the week.  But I do not feel that emasculating our men makes us stronger women.

  Pixar at its peak is the family dynamic in The Incredibles.  It’s the self-sacrifice evidenced in Cars, and the tenacity and hope in Finding Nemo.    Brave, for all of its visual glory, falls short of that mark.