So this is the latest news. Merida, the main character from the Disney/Pixar animated movie Brave, is set to become the 11th Disney Princess. This “official” recognition of her as a Disney Princess™, was a big deal.
And why exactly is the entirely fictional royal ascension of an entirely fictional character, a big deal?
Well, because of what it represents, of course. If you’ve seen the movie, you’d know that Merida is anything but the image which pops into your head when you read the word “princess”, much less a Disney Princess. The concept of the phrase ‘first image’ here is important, because what I mean of course, is that physically, Merida is the exact antithesis of what a Disney Princess is. She’s not “beautiful” in the classical sense of the word, not elegant, and not as refined as the others on that list (Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, etc. etc).
What she is, though, is strong, confident, adventurous, real –
…and Brave.
I liked Brave. It was a traditional Disney tale – forming strong familial ties, or reinforcing them, with lots of good animation and acting. But the reason why I liked it was deeper than that. One reason, was that the real villain in that movie turns out to be not a singular figure, but an abstract concept of not accepting who people are, lack of communication, and ultimately, a lack of understanding.
The OTHER reason was that there was this Old School vs New School of female Disney characters going on in the movie, namely, the conflict between Merida and her mother, the Queen Eleanor.
Queen Eleanor was the perfect Disney princess/queen figure – in essence, a template for all Disney female leads and Princesses, who wanted her daughter Merida – who is the exact opposite of all those standards – to conform to what is expected of a princess. In the end however, is the happy ending – everyone is accepted for what they are, and accept the fact that things which make people great, differ from individual to individual.
So let’s recap what Disney had done with Brave, shall we?
Disney had made, basically, a Disney Princess movie while completely breaking away from the mold of what a princess was supposed to be. It had a thematic element and message where it challenged antiquated norms, and, reinforced – and I say reinforced since the idea itself is already out there – that a female can be the exact opposite of what traditionally is supposed to be the perfect woman, and still be a princess. One’s inner nature is what makes one worthwhile (In this case, royalty) – and NOT how they look or act. Since every princess figure in myth can be attributed to the creators’ vision for a perfect woman, can’t it?
….And then, at the unveiling ceremony in Disney World, Orlando, FL, on May 11th, 2013, Disney undid ALL of this work done by Pixar and the creators of the movie, by unveiling the new, redone, canon, character design of Merida.
Let’s put that in a better perspective for you.
Here is a comparison image, with the original design on the left, and the new design on the right. A “Before and After” shot.
Changes? Lower neckline on the dress, exposing more skin. More organized hair – better conditioned and made up. Brighter gown of a more fancy material. Gold lacework on the dress. Bow and strap for holding the quiver gone, replaced by a fancy royal looking sash/belt.
*Sigh.*
Imagine being an artist/animator/creator. Now, you made a character who isn’t stereotypical, is awesome, does absolutely amazing things, and is an inspiration for people who see her as a role model.
THEN, the company who hired you to make this character, and a movie about this character, tells you, “Hey, congrats! You guys did a great job! This character you made is really popular, she’s amazing and everyone loves her! Buuuuuuuuuut…….uhm…….its not up to our standards of what this character SHOULD be like, to sell well as a brand. You feel me? So, we gotta redesign it!”
And off they go, redesigning your character.
They completely miss the point of your character, and squeeze her into colorful, bright, gold laced gowns and give her a makeover, because that’s their norm for a Princess, and anything else wouldn’t sell, in their eyes.
Remember this scene from the movie? It’s where Merida is squeezed into layers of pretty dresses and expensive material in which she can hardly breathe. She finds it absolutely uncomfortable but puts up with it for the sake of her parents’ honour. Then comes the realization that one of those men will “win” the right to her hand through a competition. It is then when she takes to the field with her bow and arrow, proclaiming to challenge for her own hand and not have it given away to someone.
But when the time comes to shoot the arrow though, she is restricted by her dress, which is too tight. She then stretches her arm anyway, tearing the fancy dress in the process. It’s thematic – because her tearing through the dress to make room for her arm, symbolizes her breaking free of her barriers of femininity to do what is good for herself.
And that is a major facet of this particular Disney Princess. Which Disney completely misses with their redesign.
I get how this is all an intensely commercial move on Disney’s part. They saw how Merida was their most famous female character in ages. Given the tone of the movie, it’s a perfect business decision to make her a Disney Princess, their 11th one. I find this great news, actually. For reasons mentioned before, it would send a great social message. Disney princesses are supposed to be a great influence on young girls everywhere, and having one who ISN’T the stereotypical elegant princess would definitely do a world of good, where young females wouldn’t feel pressurized to stand up to the standard of the Cinderellas and the Snow Whites, but a more realistic, reasonable person who refuses to admit that the old, traditional, outdated, classical Disney Princess is a good model for young girls – and sets about making her own path, and being her own person.
But the problem lies in what they did after that – the character design change. They felt that Merida in her original form would never sell well as part of the Disney Princess line of toys, lunchboxes, bedsheets, bags, and so on. Their most unique princess would also be the one which sold the least, and they couldn’t have that. Thus the change.
The worst part about all this, is that from an absolute commercial standpoint, given the immense popularity of the Disney Princess line’s main competitor – Mattel’s Barbie, it’s very clear that in that cutthroat competition, it would’ve been an unsafe decision for Disney to NOT have made that character change and ‘princess-ize’ Merida more, before giving the all-clear to the launch.
What’s unfortunate about that, is that Disney should not have to be put in that situation in the first place.
Parents, who buy these toys and lunchboxes and whatnot for their girls, should be parenting more. They should realize what or who they can provide for their children as role models, and something to strive to be like – and what to be avoided as such.
Why should Disney have to choose between taking a huge financial hit and doing the right thing? Surely parents should know better which one of Barbie and Merida is the better role model for a girl child of the 21st century?
Because if they don’t..? And if these current lousy standards of what makes people (PEOPLE, not only females, mind you) more appealing , continue to thrive in this market..?
These unnecessary and exhausting changes will no longer be limited to toys, backpacks, lunchboxes, crayons, etc. They will extend to the films themselves, with no one wanting to take the “risk” of designing normal, non stereotypical, realistic characters for fear of financial losses.
It is now up to us to stand up and be Brave.
[Images Courtesy : NBC, Yahoo, Insidethemagic.com, Clothesonfilm.com, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Disney]
Graceless Reflections 