![]() ![]() By throwing their lives into chaos, Merida accidentally achieved her goal – her mother can see her point of view.Īfter failing to find the witch and encountering a snarling bear villain that is sure to return, the pair return to the castle, looking to mend their torn tapestry. Merida was never going to grow up to be Elinor. We not only see Elinor learn to adapt, to fish, and even to trust her daughter (a difficult task, given what had just happened) – we start to see her realize the woman Merida is becoming. Elinor is forced out of her comfort zone and lands in Merida’s world, where skills her daughter has acquired are no longer pesky distractions, but essential strengths. Mother and daughter escape to the woods and begin working on their next moves. Elinor still maintains her authority and demands respect, no matter what shape she takes. A favorite moment of the script I’d forgotten before rewatching for this write up is that the triplets, at first seemingly scared by the shadow of a bear, quickly fall into line when the bear begins to order them around as their mother. Forced to work together, the grief-stricken, confused Elinor and shocked but resourceful Merida have to make their way out of a castle full of warriors. Instead, we see Elinor transform into a bear, throwing the movie into chaos.Īs it turns out – and lucky for Merida, who could have destroyed her family and her future – the witch had her best interest at heart. For a brief moment, there is a fear in the audience that she has poisoned her mother (a far cry from any other Disney princess movie we’d ever seen). Without a second thought, she returns to douse her mother. This leads to an uncomfortable sequence where she seeks a redeeming potion to cure all her woes from a questionable witch in the forest. At her breaking point, Merida seeks a solution – she has to change her mother’s mind. In a dramatic fight (and perhaps with too obvious symbolism), their family tapestry is torn, showing their separation, and Merida’s bow is nearly burnt in the fire. Merida is unaware of this, confused why her loving mother is insistent on such silly gender-based traditions. She instead fears Merida’s lack of control, and like many parents who struggle with their teenage children, she resorts to alienating her daughter when trying to help her find the right path. She doesn’t care that Merida tears through the woods in her free time, shooting off arrows and embracing her wild nature. Unfortunately, the way in which she does this is to try to mold Merida into someone like herself, because she understands the strength of her own position. ![]() This is her voice, and it is the one thing she seems desperate to instill in her daughter before time has run out. She also knows something Merida doesn’t – in their world, this is her saving grace. She has figured out that when a room full of overgrown man-boys goes wild, she can step in with authority and draw the line of what she finds acceptable. Let’s be honest – this could easily have been the stock mother character, side-eyeing all the shenanigans and cleaning up everyone’s messes. This leads to inevitable conflict with her mother Elinor, a queen saddled with a boisterous husband, a rebellious daughter and triplets that spend the entire film causing havoc. Merida wants a world of adventure, and she despises being held back from it because of her gender. She takes after her father, a fun-loving, loud mouthed ruffian who loves his exaggerated stories. Merida, our frizzy-haired princess, is nothing like her Disney counterparts. Pixar managed to sneak a film about motherhood into their canon by disguising it as their princess movie, and I have always wondered if that’s part of the reason it doesn’t get its due when we are discussing Pixar’s best films. Alternate poster by Greg Ruthby Eurocheese
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |