The Pixar cartoon called Brave is a great example of Oppositional Reading and Media with a Radical Feminist approach that defies hegemony (Sellman, 2010). The site of struggle primarily takes place in and around palace grounds, but also within the monologues of the Princess Merida and the dialogues between her parents, the queen and king of Scotland. The king and queen start out pushing the preferred reading style, supporting the dominant ideology by setting out to shape their daughter into what a “proper” princess “ought to be”, including the “perfection” required of not just princesses, but female leaders, as shown in this clip:
As you can see, instead of the princess fitting the image of a beautiful, fair, graceful, poised, diplomatic, helpless maiden as the hegemonic views of women as objects would propose, the princess is wild and bedraggled with messy hair and constantly gets into mischief.
The whole movie is about the princess defying social norms and doing the opposite of the dominant ideology that promotes women being used as a bartering tool to make alliances between kingdoms, as well as the idea that a girl is expected to get married when coming of age. While her parents are attempting to push her into an arranged marriage, instead she defies her parents and tradition at every turn. For example, rather than allowing men to prove their valor and competency to win her hand, she “fights for her own hand” in the archery competition and out shoots all of them in an attempt to fight for her independence and freedom. This clip depicts that scene and several others showing her strong will and oppositional defiance to societal norms:
Although not completely anti-hegemonic, since the characters are all white as typical of Scotland in that era, it does defy the traditional role of male dominance and female submission, showing a girl doesn’t need a man to be capable, skilled, complete, and influential.
The movie incorporates the bewitchment of the queen as she gets transformed into a bear. While in that form, both the mother and daughter grow, learn to listen to each other, and see each other's perspectives, and ultimately respect each others unique contributions - which eventually helps heal the rift between them and restore her mother to human form. Despite the mending of their relationship, the mother acquiesces and allows Merida the freedom to be her own person without having to identify as a wife, mother, and queen to another kingdom. While standing up for herself in a radical feminist way (Sellman, 2018) the princess stands firm in her quest for independence and self-actualization. Additionally, she acts as a leader, an agent of social change, and the unifier within the kingdom by pointing out ways they have helped and supported each other, showing that battles and war among their own people is unnecessary. This movie definitely fits into the radical feminist regime while bucking societal norms of gender roles, submissiveness, and dependence on men in the male-dominated society depicted in the movie.
What other elements in this or other movies stand as evidence that media is being used as a tool for resistance and social change? Are all social changes good for society long term? What is likely to become of a society where humans defy the perpetuation of their species and kill off their own offspring for the pursuit of their own will and pleasures?
References:
Disney Princess. (2020, March 11). Brave - How Merida changed her fate [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/N5E281PeYPs
Disney Princess. (2024, March 13). Brave - Merida Learns Her Princess Duties [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/N5E281PeYPs
Sellnow, D. (2010). The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Sellnow, D. (2018). Marxist perspectives. In The rhetorical power of popular culture: Considering mediated texts (4th ed., pp. 115–138). Sage Publications.
When reviewing this blog, I agree with many things. I can see where you are coming from when reflecting on how the main character is being forced to perform certain traditions, customs, and behaviors that are more ladylike. It is apparent that she doesn't like them, but she would instead do more masculine activities like riding a horse, shooting a bow and arrow, or going on adventures in the woods. I feel confident that society must change and adjust because of better ideas. However, I also understand that certain customs and traits shouldn't be entirely messed with. So, as much as I know why things need to change for the better. The foundations for every society don't need to change completely, in my opinion. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great analysis. I agree that Brave is an example of oppositional reading and defying hegemony. The other Disney movie that is similar to Brave is Mulan, the Disney animated movie I analyzed on my blog post. I believe that Princess Merida and Mulan have nearly the same site of struggle. You mentioned that the king and queen demonstrates preferred reading and dominant ideology which tells Princess Merida to learn what a proper princess while on the movie, Mulan, Mulan’s parents do not want Mulan to join the soldiers to fight the Huns. I clarify that another reason why Merida and Mulan have similar journey to defy hegemony in terms of gender and societal norms because both characters trained themselves how to fight and defend themselves on the male dominated atmosphere depicted in both movies.
ReplyDeleteI see more cartoon and 3d animated movies that stand as evidence that media is being used to influence audiences about resistance and social change. Not all social changes good for society in the long term. Some people will consider social change due to newer ideas and sometimes due to technology factors. Some others may not believe in social change because depending on their culture, there are traditions and customs that they do not want to be modified.