Brave's Merida will join the Disney Princess Hall of Fame tomorrow (May 11) but before her big day, she's going to get a little "sprucing up." And it makes me absolutely livid.
When I saw Brave (Pixar, 2012) this past summer, I was thrilled. Finally Pixar had a female protagonist, a strong one who got the name of the film as her callsign, who was part of the front lines of battle, not the front lines of the welcome home party. She is an archer, my #1 fantasy skill, which made me even more predisposed to it. According to UnrealityMag, "It’s an anti-princess tale of sorts, and the grand pursuit is not of the affection of a boy, but rather reconciliation between a mother and daughter. Not a bad play for Pixar’s first female-led feature."
Merida is the most un-princessy princess to join the cadre of animated stars, and I loved her for it. Even if it didn't push as hard against the traditional paradigm as other Pixar features historically have, it was still a beautifully brought to life step in the right direction. (Merida's hair. Case in animation point.) But now there is this. This unnecessary bastardization of everything Merida represents is appalling. Thinner waist, smoother hair, bigger eyes--all traits that make her more vulnerable, more fragile. Everything Merida pushes so hard against. When the movie first came out, a Huffington Post blogger, Kristen Howerton, wrote that Brave could be considered the "first feminist princess movie," but this "redesign" pretty much whitewashes that whole message. It was never about being brave, it was always about being pretty. It is exactly this kind of thinking that made Merida so angry when her parents tried to force the whole marriage-by-circus-contest thing. If anything, it should be the other way around. The other "princesses" have a thing or two to learn from Merida. (Except for Alice. Alice could pretty much take care of herself.) And even though Merida only has the voice she was written with, we can add our voice to people like Kristen Howerton's and A Mighty Girl's and say HELL NO to this dumb revamp. So please for god's sake, sign A Mighty Girl's petition on MoveOn.org. Keep us moving forward. A princess can be a feminist.
Source: Merida From 'Brave' Gets An Unnecessary Makeover, Sparks Change.org Petition (PHOTO)
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