Seriously though, Disney animation went down the tubes when it became a slave to PC grievance mongering. Too bad Pixar has decided to follow the same path. Perhaps the creative fertilization has been going the wrong way?

"Instead of a young girl’s empowerment it’s about things like responsibility, entitlement, selfishness and communication. Things get much, much less interesting."

So an exploration of those concepts in a children's movie is safe, tired, a retread? Really? What would have made it more unique, then?

"What would have been amazing would have been if her self-empowerment somehow melded with her relationship with the magical world and she could have brought magic back to a land that had stopped believing in it."

…Oh.

So, in essence, the whole mother-turning-into-a-bear-plotline was put into place to show how a teenage girl's attempts at bravery falls flat on its face. Yet another example of how Pixar is completely anti-women and sexist.

***end spoilers****

The only difference between Merida and them, is that it wasn't Prince charming who came to her aid. It was her Mum… All she did to retrieve the spell was SEWING which I think the feminists wouldn't be very fond of, anyway her archery didn't do anything special during the movie. And I also didn't like the fact that male characters in this movie were all bunch of dopes, even Merida's father!! And Merida's father used to love his little girl and probably a better listener than his wife, so I didn't get it when he locked merida in her room and called her insane.

I think disney's Mulan is more like a "Brave & independent woman". While Merida just ends up being a good daughter and free spirited princess, Mulan becomes a hero! And saves her entire nation, not only did she changed her faith, she changed her whole nations' faith.. That's what we call a female hero… hehe.. To me, the real protagonist of this movie was Merida's mother, who started off as an elegant kangaroo-mother but became brave enough to challenge Mordu for her daughter and finally won.. She's the REAL BRAVE one, not merida.

Up until the current spate of reviews, this movie was promoted as Merida's journey. It wasn't billed as a buddy movie. It wasn't promoted as a mother daughter relationship movie. It WAS promoted as a journey of a person who deals with her free choice and the choices imposed on her by family and responsibility.

Are there two films?

Furthermore, with station and privlidge comes responsibility. The arranged marriage is a tradition constucted to preserve peace among the clans and her refusal could result in civil war within the kingdom. Merida is aware of this. Even so, it's not even so much the fact that Merida rejects this tradition that's problematic but the WAY she initally does it, by embaressing the sons of the clan chiefs. Determined to opposed the marriage, the responsible way of handling it would have been to have the exact conversation she had towards the end of the movie at the beginning. The movie is doing a good job of showing how rebellion and the trope of the 'rebellious character' is glorified, but it can be taken to far and have consequences. That sometimes if you take the concept of 'freedom' to far it can also result in a problematic rejection of ones responsibility.

I think it's also interesting to compare Merida with the three sons. While they might not be portrayed as ideal husband material, they're not unkind or awful boys. Towards the end of the movie at least one of the boys admit that they weren't in favor of the marriage either, but went along with it anyway. Although it could be argued that the fact that Merida is a woman is a significant element of reading the difference in actions and motivation when compared to the three sons, I don't think that's as strong an element in the movie's universe. True, Elinor is genteel and feminine, but she is not a shrinking violent or a cowed wife. She has agency, she has clear authority — in fact it is evident in the film that she seems to weild even more authority than her husband, puting a stop to the fighting between the clan chiefs more than once and with them calling for her in regards to a final verdict on the situation at hand.

That said, it still remains a fact the Elinor is also in the wrong and her actions just as problematic at Merida's. She neglects having a genuine conversation with Merida and seeing things from her perspective, in favor of drilling her in protocol and playing the 'do as I say, because I'm your mother, and I know best' card. Furthermore Elinor is excessively idealistic and sheltered — which I think is why her venture out into the wild and the "fishing scene" was so important for her development. It gave her an opportunity to see that skills beyond those she's been teaching her daughter have relevance and that there are things in life beyond her narrowed world view and experiences.

In the end both Merida and Elinor are stubborn extremists who need to see the middle ground. To find the way to balance responsibility with freedom.

The movie's stronger for the bear plot-twist, not weaker. It's a perfect vehicle for empowering not only Merida, but her mother as well, and their relationship.

I think the reviewer is annoyed that Pixar-Disney didn't make the film *he* wanted to see. But they made a very good one nonetheless.