Femi-fist Pump!

This is a pros/cons analysis on Brave with brandon-smith

                ~The Disney Princesses movies have been popular among many generations. Disney/Pixar’s new princess movie Brave challenges societal norms in ways that it has not done successfully in the past with Disney Princess movies. Merida’s urgency to stand up for herself and her success against arranged marriages, while still following the “rules” is a refreshing new concept in the Princess movies. Also the fact that Merida’s voice and opinion is heard and used to benefit her is also a new idea among the typical princess scripts. Finally, Merida was able to use her intelligence and her passion about everyone having the choice to make decisions about their own lives appealing and desirable, even to the men who were fighting for her hand in marriage.~

Brave is a ground breaking movie for several reasons. In Lee Artz’s  article “Monarchs, Monsters, and Multiculturalism: Disney’s Menu for Global Hierarchy” he talks about how all of the Disney movies and products have a huge influence on the population because Disney owns a lot of the media being shown to children. The patriarchal ideologies that are imbedded within most of the Disney Princess movies is not always noticeable, but it is impactful and powerful because young girls begin internalizing these hidden messages about what it means to be a female in the United States and it shapes and affects their lives forever. Besides the three points I mentioned above, and will discuss in further detail later, Brave has many positive and wonderful things to teach young women. One of the most obvious things is that she likes to hunt with her bow, and she is very good at it. In fact, she is better than most of the men in her kingdom when it comes to archery. This is refreshing because the Princesses are not seen with weapons and not seen literally using them to fight. Also, her father encourages her to be unique, even if that means “not acting like a princess should.” Another tidbit I would like to bring up is that Merida rebels every chance she gets against her mother, the Queen’s wishes, to be a “good princess.” A good example of this is when she is forced to wear her dress robes to meet the men who will fight for her hand in marriage. She describes how painful it is to wear the dress. As she is sitting before the kingdom to be presented to her future husband, she rips a lock of her hair out from under her head scarf.  Her mother tries to push it back into place, but Merida quickly rips it back out, and there it stays!   

(See Fig. 1)

The next event I want to talk about, and my first big point, is when Merida finds a loop hole in the rule that says she must choose a husband from one of the four clans of the Kingdom. Her mother explains that this is tradition, and the proper thing to do. Merida is not happy about the idea of an arranged marriage, so she quickly starts using her creative mind and comes up with a plan to get out of choosing a husband, while still following the “rules”. It is decided, by Merida, that they way in which the men will win her hand in marriage would be through archery. After each man attempts to hit the target and fails miserably, Merida surprises everyone and announces that she will fight for her own hand because she would be the fourth contender out of all four clans in the kingdom. Of course, she not only makes her shot, but she also makes the shot for the three men as well. Another interesting thing that happens during this scene is that her dress rips at the seams as she takes position to shoot the target. This in a way is another comment on how the tight dress clothes are uncomfortable and ridiculous.

(See Fig. 2)

The next interesting tidbit I want to share is how Merida proves herself to her mother by using her hunting skills. Merida has always been a “tom boy” and she knows the wilderness well. When her mother becomes a bear, after a witch casts a spell on her, Merida helps her mother by taking her into the woods to find food for her and to keep her safe from her father who happens to hunt bears. The Queen, who is now a bear, realizes that she needs Merida’s knowledge and skill as a huntress and a woman of the forest to survive. It is clear to the Queen that Merida is on to something, and that there is more to life than being the perfect princess.

(See Fig. 3)

My second main point is how Merida is seen as the “voice of reason”. Typically, this is viewed as an oppressive thing because it is always the woman in movies who is the voice of reason. It is the “feminine way”. In this case, I think it is empowering for Merida and for young girls to see. Merida goes to tell her suitors that instead of fighting with each other, they should look back on all of the times when they helped each other in battle and how they need each other. She also tells them that while they reminisce all of the good times the men have shared together, they should realize that forcing someone’s hand in marriage is never the right way. People should have the right to pick who they fall in love with, and the right to make choices about their lives. If the men were serious about marrying her, they would need to woo her, not win her, and if in the end she was not interested, they should find another girl. This speaks volumes and is not the typical scene we would see in a Disney Princess movie.

(See Fig. 4)

My third main point is how Merida is able to accomplish the unthinkable, and makes the men agree with her thoughts and opinions. While this can be considered a negative because she needed to get their “approval” to be free, it can be seen as a positive because her voice was head by the men of her kingdom, and she was able to shed light on them. She has changed not only her life and theirs, but the lives of other men and women by doing this.

(See Fig. 5)

The last tidbit that I want to point out that is important about the movie Brave is that the women are not only the main characters, but they are also the heroes. Merida saves her mother from not only dying, but from being a bear forever. The Queen saves her daughter from being killed by the bad bear Mor’du. Both of the women find the strength to fight and to win without a man’s help! The last fight scene was literally Merida and the Queen as a bear fighting Mor’du to his death.

(See Fig. 6)

Juliet Schor’s article “From Tony the Tiger to Slime Time Live: The Content of Commercial Messages in Children’s Advertising,” explains that advertising and media is used to appeal to children by making them feel that it is “cool”. All children want to be accepted and want to be “cool”. By making a new movie like Brave that is owned by Disney/Pixar which has a lot of power, they are saying that it is “cool” for girls and women to be who they want to be and to break societal norms. It is ground breaking and by far the most successful Disney Princess movie. Myrna Waldro also discusses in her article “Animated Children’s Films: You Say Princess Like it’s a Bad Thing,” the pros of the previous Disney Princess movies. While they are mostly enforcing patriarchal ideals, they have some good to them and can teach young girls good things too. We just have to be aware of what we are watching.

Q: How do critics problematize abstinence only education?  How is abstinence only education related to the topic of teen pregnancy and purity?

                There is much controversy on the topic of abstinence only education verses sex education. Many of us have been taught so form of abstinence only education. The problem with this kind of education is that it is lacking! It does not explain much of anything at all except for “don’t have sex, or you’ll die.” Sex education teaches children what reproduction is and how it works. It also teaches them how to PREVENT pregnancy. Sex education not only talks about reproduction and safe sex but also the diseases that can be passed and how these particular diseases work, and what they look like. By arming the children with this information, it is ensuring that IF they decided to take part in sexual activity, they will know how to do so safely. Many abstinence only programs think that teaching them the TRUE and CORRECT information will encourage them to have sex, but this is just not true. We were all that age once, and we know that if they want to do it, they are going to, so why not arm them with knowledge!?

This advertisement is problematic for a couple reasons. The first reason and the most obvious one is that a seemingly disgusting white fluid has exploded onto this woman’s head. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that this looks fun, but the expression on her face seems to say that it is fun. I think it is safe to assume what the white fluid is supposed to represent…..which is even more disgusting and offensive. Is someone marking their territory?? This ad is actually for face products that will FIGHT AGING!! YAY! So this is the second problem, the ad is sending the message that an aging women is less desirable, and that we should all fight ageing by using their products, which as I said before, looks eerily similar to semen.  So just to recap, old women are scary and undesirable so you should buy Sephora’s white semen products and squirt them all over your face so that you can stay young and attractive.

I just want to ask one question… what do chips have to do with half dressed, big breasted, female rugby players?? NOTHING! I just want to point out that the actual product that is being advertised is very small, and is in the lower right hand corner of the picture. The hyper sexualized female rugby player is the main focus of this advertisement. It is obvious that they are using her sexuality to attract attention and to sell the product. I would also like to point out that in real life, female rugby players DO NOT wear these uniforms to play in…I’ve seen them myself. I also personally take offense to not only the half-naked woman who’s sexuality is being used to sell CHIPS, but also to the fact that the ad states that the it is sponsored by PROUD IRISH rugby, because I am also Irish. This ad is incredibly degrading and offensive!

First, I need to point out a few things here. The woman in this ad looks like the stereotypical dumb blond. She has the big poofy hair, the dumbfound look on her face as she is biting her lip. Her body position looks unusual because it is not the body language of someone who is confident about driving a car. The next thing I want to point out is the text in the ad. It says “for simple driving.” The ad is basically saying that this woman or women in general are not good drivers and that they are not competent enough to drive successfully. Since we cannot have bad women drivers running rapid on the road, Mini Cooper did us all a HUGE FAVORE and created the MiniAutomatic, to make driving SIMPLER for female drivers. Wasn’t that nice of them??

What the heck is she wearing?? I do have to admit that I am mildly intrigued by the shoes, BUT what and why, is the woman in this ad wearing that outfit and where would she wear it to? It is absolutely ridiculous. Most importantly, why is she posing for the camera in this position with that expression on her face? I realize that I just asked several questions all at once, so let me answer them for you. The woman in this ad is not actually going to wear this outfit anywhere because it is very inappropriate, my guess is that it was made to be worn so that a man could gawk at her and fantasize about her for hours. I also want to point out the different elements of the outfit. It is see-through for starters. The solid parts of the outfit only cover the absolute minimum and there is also a girlish quality to the outfit because it looks similar to a young girl’s dress, except for the part where you can almost see her private areas of course. Also, her facial expression and body position suggest sexual pleasure and desire. I am not sure what any of these things have to do with clothes, but….oh wait, yes I do! Sex sells! Society loves to objectify women and use them as a tool to sell their products!

Juicy Couture sells a lot of products. In this advertisement, I believe that they are selling jewelry. Let me just pick this ad apart because it is comical to me. One, I would not wear that kind of jewelry with a sweat suit. Two, I would not wear heels with a sweat suit. Three, I would not wear a sweat suit to the beach! This is actually the opposite of what we normally see with half dressed women in everyday situations instead of at the beach. Go figure. Lastly, is she trying to be a cat with the cheetah print jumper and the cat eyes and the crawling on all fours posture? Is Juicy Couture trying to tell me that if I buy and wear their products I will turn into a cat??? Hmm. Anyways, the woman is being dehumanized because they are comparing her to a cat. I have said before that dehumanizing a person can be very dangerous because it leads to violence.

There are many problematic things that we can pick apart in Twilight but I would like to focus on the relationship aspect of the story. The relationship between Bella and Edward and Bella and Jacob are very interesting. Bella is portrayed to be the damsel in distress. Edward is very protective of her. He gets upset when he feels like someone is going to harm her or looks at her and even show interest in her. When Edward leaves Bella, the only way that she can “see him” is when she starts to do a dangerous act. Once she starts to realize this, she continues to try and do dangerous things including kill herself just to be able to see him. It is a very unhealthy and dependent relationship. She spends a lot of time pouting and depressed when Edward is gone, as if she cannot go on living a normal live without him. Finally, once Bella realizes that she cannot keep acting this way, she starts to confide in her friend Jacob who also happens to live her. She values her relationship with him, but she uses him to fill the void in her heart that Edward caused when he left. This is wrong and unfair to Jacob, and Bella ends up dumping Jacob as soon as Edward shows up.

                The relationship triangle that is displayed throughout the movie is very problematic. The movie and book series are meant for teens even though it is popular among all ages.  The problem is that teens are very influential to begin with, and they are usually going through transitional periods with life and relationships at this stage. By viewing and internalizing the ideas from the movie, they may think that they should act like the characters in the movie, and think that this is normal behavior. Men need to know that being over protective and controlling is not ok in relationships. Women need to know that they do not need relationships to be ok. If they are in one, and it does not work out, their lives will not end.

Q: How is race represented in Twilight?  In what ways can these representations of race be seen as problematic?