Sigh. Really?
The Huffington Post on Disney’s makeover of Merida, the heroine of Brave.
She wasn’t hot enough for nine-year-old girls? Nine-year-old girls want hotties for their hero-characters?
Sure. Now let’s put a G-string on Mary Lennox. Let’s give Laura Ingalls Wilder silicone injections. How about a pair of stilettos for Harriet the Spy?
Never fuck with Harriet the Spy. One of my all time favorite childhood reads. I vividly remember the scene of Harriet in the rich lady’s dumbwaiter talking on the phone about how she’d “taken to her bed” and couldn’t be bothered to move for love nor money.
Oh I should have included Eloise, too, especially since Stacy just reminded us of her. Stick Eloise in a hotty dress why doncha.
Fuck. She was a real person, and their goal is to erase everything real about her and replace it with an ugly sort of “perfection” that is hateful to real people. Not to mention the fact that Merida is a cool little kid, not hot and sexy pedophile-bait.
I’m trying to picture Pippi Longstocking in a bikini. No. it doesn’t work.
Anne of Green Garters?
I am soooooo with Josh. Do not fuck with Harriet the Spy! Got that, universe?
Mulan got a similar treatment…
http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/50387401118/do-you-have-an-opinion-on-meridas-disney-princess
Is it just a coincidence that she went from three-dimensional to two-dimensional?
At first glance I didn’t see the problem. Other than the plunging neckline and the smaller waist… am I missing something?
They took away her bow & arrows, replaced it with decorative sash, when she very specifically didn’t like wearing the fancier dresses in the movie. They made her into a character that wears makeup and has saucy poses. They made her a character that has perfect unattainable hair instead of a girl who worries more about how she can change the world than styling the perfect fluffy curly coif. She was the princess for the tree-climbing tomboys, but the restyle changes her into just another sparkly dress and pouty lipped eye candy.
Thanks for the explanation. I haven’t actually seen the movie, so I’m sure that didn’t help with my confusion. No wonder people are angry, then.
Yes Kate, essentially the remake is an inversion of everything the Merida of the movie stood for. Plus some obvious sexualisation and removal of agency (exemplified by taking her bow from her, and the practical belt to hold her quiver). As cgilder notes, she dislikes the fancy dress in the film – but more than that, it’s forced upon her when she is coerced to be married off as the victor’s trophy in a competition (hello, patriarchy!). An archery competition which she enters and wins, having first ripped her gown in order to be able to shoot with her bow.
There’s a petition to change Merida back:
Petition
Sign the petition, people.
But this kind of thing the “Disney Princess” thing has been all about. Many of the princesses were much more independent (Jasmine, Belle), practical and life-like in the original movies, but later spinoffs, colouring books and other merchandise, make them into stereotypical and identical “glittery” versions, who are basically only concerned with their hair, dresses, jewlery, going to balls and dancing with princes.
Every time we have this shit at home, I always point out this discrepancy to my daughter.
Since I dislike the Huffington Post, I followed their references back to a page called “Inside the Magic”. That site bills itself as one for Disney-related news. They posted the following update:
http://www.insidethemagic.net/2013/05/merida-becomes-11th-disney-princess-in-coronation-ceremony-with-first-ever-queen-elinor-appearance-at-walt-disney-world/
Read more for more reactions and counter-reactions.
We’ll see how long this adjustment lasts. It’s a lot easier to change a picture on a website than it is to change the designs for a plague of tie-in merchandise.
Meanwhile, I also suspect that part of the reason for the “older” look is to fit in better with the performers who will represent the character at the theme parks. See the pictures at the link above.
WTF?! Since when did Merdia need ANY kind of makeover AT ALL?! It’s not like the original “Brave” was anything near a flop. There’s absolutely no point to this exercise, except maybe to keep one surplus animator from getting laid off for another month.
Oh well, at least this isn’t as offensive or degrading as the recent “reboot” of Lt. Uhura and Captain Kirk…
OK I am confused. To me, Merida on the right (before the “makeover”) not only looks more realistic, but sexier too.
There was a piece on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour today. Little girls were really angry that Merida the merchandise was not the Merida they loved, who wears loose clothing so she can run about the woods and shoot arrows. Mothers were furious that a princess they could approve of had been dollified and sexualised. I’ve not seen Brave but the non-merchandise Merida has more character and quirky charm.
It’s the difference between Jessica Ennis, the British athlete, and Kate Middleton, the future Queen consort. Both are beautiful women, but Ennis looks splendid and full of achievement and drive, while when you see Kate M you calculate how much her teeth must have cost. You’d far rather your daughter tried to emulate Ennis than Middleton
The heroine I loved when I was a girl was Diana Rigg who played Emma Peel in The Avengers.She raced about in cat suits karate kicking. If they had frilled her I would have been extremely pissed off.
I liked Brave and love love love Merida so this actually makes me feel like crying. Merida was beautiful on her own (I would have been as green as her dress in envy over her hair as a kid) and she had a bold personality and a real passion for life! I’ll never forget the scene at the start where she climbs the waterfall that was a ‘test’ for the kings of old I thought that really showed off the kind of character she is. However I only ‘like’ the movie but love the character because the movie had not nearly enough adventure in it for such a plucky heroine. It works on its own as a touching mother daughter story but I wanna see Merida on a freaking pirate ship waving a sword and daring any one to take her on. If Disney turns her in to yet another ‘pure hearted’ little air head I will weep.