I leave for the Disney College Program in three weeks exactly. So that's kind of awesome. But to be honest, this post is not about the DCP. I wrote an introspective on Merida, from the newest Disney film Brave today. It was for the Thirty Day Disney Challenge I'm doing in preparation for my trip, but I'm so ridiculously proud of (if I do say so myself) that I wanted other people to see it. And even though I'm not really sure if anyone else reads this, I wanted to post it here just in case. I really hope someone else reads this and can only hope that they see what I can see.
I know Brave only just came out and it’s pretty early to decide a character from it is my favorite, as I’ve only seen it once, but once was all I needed. Merida was such a great character, one who was oh so flawed, and yet, I found myself admiring her throughout the film. I think an important thing to remember about Merida before one critiques her actions is that she was only sixteen. I remember when I was sixteen how often I wished for my mom to change her mind about things, and even more so than that. There were quite a few muttered, “I hate you”s in my adolescence.
What makes Merida such a great character is that she was real, and oh so very flawed. She didn’t realize how important her words were. She didn’t understand the consequences of her actions. She acted without thinking. She was selfish and, for a brief time, she only thought about herself. She was a real, normal teenager, and I think it’s arguably the first time Disney has made one (with the exception of Violet in the Incredibles - she was pretty legit).
Another thing that makes Merida so amazing, and its been said by almost everyone and I’m just going to have to say it again, is that she didn’t need or even want a man in her life. She wanted to have her own life before she created a life with another human being.
These are just some of the factors that makes Merida such a fabulous role model. She can teach young girls that its okay to make mistakes, as long as you do everything in your power to set them right. As human beings, we make mistakes, but don’t let them go at that, learn from them. She also teaches young girls to find themselves before they find a significant other. Too many young girls are obsessed with finding love and the one and they never really figure out who they are. I should know, until fairly recently, I was one of them.
I’m sorry this ended up being a novel, but I felt as if it was really important to say. I think Brave was such a pivotal movie, and I’m thrilled that Disney made it. Many were disappointed by Brave, but I can safely say I was not one of them. Was it what I expected? No. But it presented me with an opportunity to discover a character who I believe should be a role model to girls and women everyone. It takes some women a lifetime to figure out what Merida realized in the course of a one-and-a-half hour film. I hope Merida inspires in others what she inspired in me, because she is truly an amazing heroine.
Thank you Disney, because I think you gave me, and thousands of other girls, the heroine they’ve been waiting for.
