Braving it

So I saw “Brave” last week because Pixar movie + female heroine + red hair = automatic ticket purchase. And in a summer of somewhat disappointing movies with female leads (Oh, how I wanted more from you “Snow White & the Huntsman” and “Prometheus”) I had high hopes pinned to this one. It being Pixar and it being Pixar’s first movie with a female lead and all. So what did I think? I liked it. I liked Merida. I liked her journey. But, and so damn sadly there’s a but, I didn’t Pixar like it.

You see, it was a perfectly serviceable movie filled with adventure and bravery and heroism. But Pixar movies aren’t just any movies. They’re the movies I carry around with me everywhere on my phone. I have both “WALL-E’ and “Finding Nemo” at my fingertips at all times. If I’m feeling a little down, “Finding Nemo” is my cinematic chicken soup. And “Brave,” well, “Brave” isn’t going on the phone.

That’s not to say I hated it. I really enjoyed it as a fun little romp. But for Pixar, something was missing. The best Pixar movies at their heart show up a fantastical world filled with universal truths. We all struggle to gain our independence, even “lucky” finned little clown fish. We all fall in love, even robots designed to withstand ecological catastrophe. We all regret that one thing, even grumpy widowers who just want to be left in their houses alone. And while Brave had the hallmarks of that universal theme, it’s just harder to feel the same resonance. It’s certainly not because Merida is a girl, so don’t go getting any ideas movie executives.

Perhaps it’s that teenage rebellion, even when Pixarified, isn’t nearly as sympathetic as little kid or little robot or little senior citizen shenanigans. But I think the real problem was in the story itself. The more conventional story of “Brave” – a headstrong daughter disobeys her mother and then they both pay the price – didn’t lend itself to the delicate, thoughtful characterizations we’ve come to expect from Pixar. “Up” took less than five minutes to make me cry and care, ridiculously deeply, about Ellie and Carl.

In a way, “Brave” is like the best Disney Princess movie yet. It reminds me a bit of “Tangled” and “Mulan.” I greatly appreciated the movie’s message of independence, bucking of convention and embrace of non-traditional gender roles. This is not the Princess meets her Prince Disney fairytale, and for that I an endlessly grateful.

And while we’re talking princeless princesses, let’s address the whole “Is Merida a lesbian” thing. Because I feel two ways about this. 1) Awesome, rock on little red-headed baby dyke! And 2) Come on, every tomboy isn’t gay. Still, if she is or if she isn’t, she’s still a major milestone in the world of kiddie movies (that grown-ups like me secretly enjoy). That Merida exists at all to be a different kind of heroine, one she shapes her own fate, is what makes the movie special after all.