Brave and Free

Brave, or the story of Merida as we all know it, is a Disney fairytale released in 2012. Is based on a Princess from Scotland whom on the search to change her mother’s mind about an arranged marriage; seeks a witch; and without knowing she puts a curse on her mom turning her into a bear. It might sound like a simple storyline, but for a 7-year-old child that finds out he is going to have a sister after being used to only being his mom and him; this story about freedom, and mother-child bonding was life changing.

As a little boy I was obsessed with Pixar movies, from Toy Story to Cars, I watched them all, and Brave was not the exception. Merida marked the first time Pixar introduced a female protagonist and a princess to its audience, but for me, it became even more personal. My mom had watched it first, and knowing its focus on mother-child relationships, she insisted that we should watch it together. At the time, I was struggling with the realization that it would not just be us two anymore. I felt scared, jealous, and angry at the thought of her focus not being just me, and Brave put those complex emotions of frustration on display making it a meaningful experience for us.

The story starts with Merida being attacked by a bear during her childhood and being saved by her father, the king. Her mother, the queen, spent all of Merida’s early years preparing her for marriage since that was her duty as a princess, but Merida was not happy about the idea;, she did not want that destiny. After a fight with her mother, she ran to the woods and found a witch that gave her a spell to change her mother’s mind, unconsciously, the spell turned her mother into a bear.

Her father, after the bear attack during her childhood, hated bears; so, she knew thatshe needed to get her mom out of the castle and turn her back into a human before her father saw her. They went into the woods looking for the witch only to find that she was no longer there, but she left Merida a message: “For the fate to be changed, look inside, mend the bond torn by pride.” (Brave, 2012). Merida believes that with “mend the bond torn by pride” the witch referred to the tapestry she broke while arguing with her mother, so they decide to head back to the castle.

On the way to the castle the sun starts to set, forcing them to spend the night in the woods, this results in one of the purest portrayal of mother-daughter bonding I’ve seen; as we start to listen Julie Fowls singing “Into the Open Air” in the background, we see Merida and her mother –now in bear form- laughing and bonding while hunting fish in the river. This scene served as a reminder that it is our parents’ first time living too; they make mistakes, they act on impulses, and, sometimes, they do not know what to do.

Merida finally arrives to the castle, but it was almost sunrise, and once the sun was out the curse would be irreversible, so, Merida in the middle of desperation took the broken tapestry and rode the horse to where her mother was, but in a turn of events the bear that attacked her during her childhood appeared to attack her again. Seeing her daughter in danger made the queen gather all her strength and fought with a bear twice her size and killed him just to save her daughter. Right when the sun rises Merida’s mom turns back to human.

Despite the simplicity of the narrative, Brave offers a strong message about freedom, family dynamics and personal growth. It might not be Pixar’s best movie, but some of the lines leave empowering messages that make the story to be relatable to thousands of children across the world, including me. One of those lines is “Our fate lives within us, we only have to be brave enough to see it” telling us that we are the owners of our own destiny, we are the ones to choose the path we take in the story of our lives.

To 7-year-old Kevin, the film made him see that a mother’s love is unconditional, and that having a sister would not make his mother love him less, but in the present, after almost 12 years since the first time I saw the movie, I see the film as a symbol of growth, and freedom; it’s a break from the classic tale about a princess being saved by a man, instead, in this one, the hero was her mom, just like my mom has always been mine.