Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Disney's MERIDA "the Tomboy"

According to THIS ARTICLE, "Disney Pixar's first film with a female lead protagonist also marks a first for Disney: Merida is the only tomboy to enter the famed Disney princess ecosystem, and the first one who doesn't wind up with a prince at the end of her story.  There's more from the article:

"She can save herself. She's not on a quest for 'happily ever after,'" the film's director Mark Andrews tells Yahoo! Movies. "She's on a quest to find out who she is. And that's very different,"  he adds of the archer and sword-wielding red-headed heroine who revels in adventuring through the forest atop her enormous Clydesdale, Angus."    They call her THE TOMBOY in the title on Yahoo...I think TOMBOY might be interchangeable with another word, don't you?

Z: Pity the little girls today........will they know that there IS nothing better than living "happily ever after" even if it's not happy every minutE?  And, will they learn that it is okay to "wind up with a prince" who can "save her"?  .......It's the sweetest thing any woman can ever feel.  Are those lovely days of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty really over? I'm great with young women 'learning who they are' (ugh, pardon the psychobabble), and developing their talents and being independent but............gee, it's nice to have a wonderful man; no job, no hobby, no nothing can compete with that.  Must we have films through which the producers, developers, etc., are trying to teach a lesson like this? 

What are we doing to our children?

Z

20 comments:

Disney princess wall decor said...

All of my kids really waited for this.

Anonymous said...

Z, I wouldn't overthink this one.

Don't you think Joan of Arc was a tomboy?

She was and she's a hero in French history.

Much more than the queens/princesses we've had.

FrogBurger

Always On Watch said...

FrogBurger,
Joan of Arc was chaste (vow of celibacy), wasn't she? I'm not sure that Joan of Arc was a tomboy in the same sense as Merida.

Silverfiddle said...

Having daughters, I see nothing wrong with movies that have smart, strong girls being heroic.


Having said that, this is part of a larger trend that stretches back more than a decade. More and more popular movies and pixar cartoons show the male character to be cowardly, mousy and dithering, while the female characters slap them into line and lead the charge.

I could go on about agendas, but I'll stop before I start sounding too curmudgeonly...

Anonymous said...

I don't know if she was. All I know is she was a warrior and led men. If that's not being a tomboy, then what is?

FrogBurger

Ducky's here said...

She's a LESBO?

Damn, the homosexual agenda is everywhere.

Ducky's here said...

Having said that, this is part of a larger trend that stretches back more than a decade. More and more popular movies and pixar cartoons show the male character to be cowardly, mousy and dithering, while the female characters slap them into line and lead the charge.

------------

You would have a very difficult time demonstrating that trend.

Brooke said...

I've got to disagree. I just saw this at the drive-in Saturday with the kids, and it was a very good movie. Merida chaffed against an arranged marriage which caused a breakdown in the relationship with her mother. The story was a tale of a mother and daughter mending differences and realizing that they could love each other despite them.

Merida overcame selfishness and acted heroically, as did her mother to defend each other and come to that understanding. It was actually a very well told story, if a bit simple, but then it is a kid's movie, too.

Brooke said...

Oh, and the story didn't say that she couldn't have a happily ever after, but that she should have the freedom to make that happen.

Z said...

Brooke! That's a relief. I could only 'report' on what Disney says and they left all of that out.
The quotes in my post are theirs.

Disney Princess (?)...sounds like they'll enjoy it, according to Brooke. I hope so.

FB...As I said in the post, being a strong woman is a good thing... heroism is great!
"Overthink?" Maybe...but the quotes speak for themselves...it's not fun with a new kind of heroine; it sounds like agenda, the same suggested by...

SILVERFIDDLE... It does make us sound curmudgeonly, but we should be talking about it and talking to our kids about it. TV commercials, particularly (shown day in and day out) show snotty kids sarcastically mouthing off to the wimp father. My GOSH, "he forgot to buy their ..." He never quite seems to 'get it' according to the little entitlement kids. They demand, they get on TV ads. The women are getting stronger and stronger and not always in a dignified, honorable way.

Ducky "Damn, the homosexual agenda is everywhere."
This post isn't about that but I knew you'd remark on that, it's why I threw the line in :-)
And yes, it certainly is. Only someone who isn't looking wouldn't notice.

Always On Watch said...

FrogBurger,
she was a warrior and led men. If that's not being a tomboy, then what is?

Maybe she was merely a warrior woman?

Ancient Women Warriors

Women in warfare and the military in the ancient era

In my view, tomboys don't necessarily NOT need me. I am thinking of a fictional character as I type this in: Jo of Little Women. She was clearly classified as a tomboy, but she married.

Ducky's here said...

Well, z, this one clearly mirrors The Hunger Games and there wasn't much clutching of pearls over that one.

We've had Ripley and Sarah Connor in American film but I'm not sure where the female warrior started. Interesting question, I'll say King Hu's Dragon Inn.
Something else to blame on the 60's.

Z said...

aow..."Jo of Little Women. She was clearly classified as a tomboy, but she married."

She could be a woman (I believe Alcott gave her nine sons or something, in LITTLE MEN, no?)! and be a writer and stand up for herself.

All I think needs to be told to girls is they can be what they want to be.
But NOT TO RULE OUT A WONDERFUL MAN'S COMFORTING AND PROTECTIVE ARMS! That's all!

Ducky, I don't know HUNGER GAMES, never saw it.
I wonder if you're reading the post?
Females have ALWAYS been warriors....but warrior can also mean protecting your children, not just conquering worlds and stepping over men.

Brooke said...

Ducky said:

"We've had Ripley and Sarah Connor in American film but I'm not sure where the female warrior started."

Ripley is one of my favorite (at least in sci-fi) heroines! Well, at least in the first two movies. The rest of them, BLECH!

Z said:

"Females have ALWAYS been warriors....but warrior can also mean protecting your children, not just conquering worlds and stepping over men."

Which is EXACTLY what the mother in Brave did!

Anonymous said...

How about Xena the Warrior Princess? :)

FrogBurger

Always On Watch said...

Z,
But NOT TO RULE OUT A WONDERFUL MAN'S COMFORTING AND PROTECTIVE ARMS! That's all!

Well, I DO agree with you.

All a matter of balance, I think.

Z said...

FB....I just feel that girls need not be preached to with themes as those suggested in the quotes in my post from Disney people; I was relieved Brooke saw it and says it's not at all as anti choice as suggested.

AOW...absolutely a matter of balance. xx

Kid said...

God yes, Look at all the women who bought into that whole "I can go make the bacon, bring it back and fry it up in the pan" thing.

Women are still infatuated with the multi-tasking nonsense. Hell, they can talk on the cell phone, text, put on make-up And change pantyhose all while [not] driving.

Kid said...

I like the idea that women do take some responsibility for their own protection. There are too many being taken off the streets.

Ladies. Forget kick-boxing. Some 180 lb guy wants you he has you. Ok?

Learn how to use a semi-automatic pistol and get a CCW.

From another POV that agrees that there is something amiss here, I do find these shows that have 120 lb models running around kicking guy's butts to be totally absurd AND dangerous to women by creating the impression that they can defend themselves without weapons. 999,999 out of 1,000,000 cannot.

And I just find it logically/believably offensive as I do pretty much 99% of TV btw.

Z said...

Kid "Women are still infatuated with the multi-tasking nonsense. Hell, they can talk on the cell phone, text, put on make-up And change pantyhose all while [not] driving."

And letting nannies raise their kids. :-(
part of the problem we're having because kids are losing GOOD CHARACTER.