Pearl: “Our fate lives within us, we only have to be brave enough to see it” ~ Brave
My daughter has been wanting to see Brave since first
spotting the trailer. Maybe it was the bow and arrow, maybe the animation,
maybe the likes of another amazingly coiffed Disney Princess, but she's been counting down.
During a preview screening of the
Disney/Pixar movie BRAVE my daughter was studying
every 3D pixel and already wants to see it again.
Something struck a chord.
I questioned the depths of my own
courage and bravery and lack thereof. Incidents throughout my life where I’ve cowered, followed marching
orders and the herd or stood firm and marched to my own beat.
The pressures of living up to your family and ancestors expectations can feel particularly heavy and may lead you down an expected path that's all too familiar but completely foreign from who you are, especially if you are a royal like the Brave heroine Merida.
Brave offers much of the same – girl does not want to marry
out of obligation but for love - story but in a different country, Scotland.
The imagery is beautiful.
Being the first female centered character film by Pixar, the
disconnect between the men and women, is apparent. The men are
crass, barbaric, squabbling, fighting albeit loveable galoots (fools).
The three women in the film are a
queen (mother), daughter and a witch. Each woman is strong and independent
- the mother queen is very
regal, poised, eloquent and clearly the dominant voice in the family;
the raven haired daughter Merida is headstrong, tomboyish and rambunctious; and
the elderly otherworldly witch – well, let’s just say she’s been around the block.
 |
| The Lords |
These ladies stand out amongst the lords of men busy arguing over lore, legend and tomorrow's heroes. Merida is the apple
of her daddy’s eye which buts up against her proper mommas overbearing nature.
Her triplet red headed little brothers get away with everything while she’s
being admonished for everything, including setting her beloved bow and arrow
(weapon of choice a gift from dad) upon the dinner table.
 |
| Not so modern family |
The pressure, perfection and disregard for her wishes sets Merida on a course
to forge her own destiny which is revealed by the way of the “willow
wisps”, (think Avatar pure spirits) that lead her to the
witch’s abode. There she concocts a spell to “change” her mother as Merida
cannot her mother's mind.
The journey fuses the bond between mother and daughter that was torn by pride, obligation and necessity and they both have a change of heart. The young lords follows Merida's trendsetting ways.
The world lays before my daughters feet for her to walk. Like every mother, I wonder:
Am I a brave enough mother to stand back and watch her?
How much of my husband and I's will, will we impose upon her?
How much independence does she need?
Where are the boundaries between not dampening her free spirit to enabling recklessness?
Will I change, adapt and accept my daughter’s destiny or conspire it to my favor?
Am I a brave enough mother to stand back and watch her?
How much of my husband and I's will, will we impose upon her?
How much independence does she need?
Where are the boundaries between not dampening her free spirit to enabling recklessness?
Will I change, adapt and accept my daughter’s destiny or conspire it to my favor?
I’d love for my daughter to grow up with a strong sense of self,
independence and confidence to go after her dreams and charge a course of her own. After all, I am still charging after mine.
In Brave they say "your fate is woven together like a cloth" and "fate is intertwined with others" so perhaps the greatest pearl is the more freedom I grant to my children and others, the more free I will become.
In Brave they say "your fate is woven together like a cloth" and "fate is intertwined with others" so perhaps the greatest pearl is the more freedom I grant to my children and others, the more free I will become.
Facebook: facebook.com/PixarBrave
Twitter: twitter.com/disneypixar
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. My family did generously receive an invitation to an advanced screening.