Disney has made some recent changes to one of their princesses. Disney changed the look of Merida, who is from the movie “Brave.” The original version is on the left, while the center and right images are the new and “improved” version of Merida. Here is my take on why Disney made an error in judgment by tinkering with Merida’s image.
In most of the recent Disney Princess films the “princess” is not the typical damsel in distress looking for a prince to save her. In “Princess and the Frog” the main character Tiana is a strong woman that works two jobs night and day so that one day she can own her own restaurant. She is bordering on being a loner since she is constantly working and has no time for friends as she only looks to accomplish her goals.
She realizes that life is not all about work and does fall in love with a prince, but the prince did have to actually put work into the relationship. The two didn’t fall in love with just a kiss. After some time together Tiana did realize that making time for friends is needed and constantly working is not healthy.
In the movie “Brave,” Pixar and Disney showcased another non-traditional princess named Merida. She is a girl that is full of life and really doesn’t care about being prim and proper. She and her mother Queen Elinor are always fighting about what it means to be a princess.
Merida would rather shoot her bow and arrow than wait for a suitor. She was constantly trying to convince her mother that it is okay to be different. You don’t have to act a certain way and more importantly LOOK a certain way to be a princess. Merida gets upset when she learns that her mother has arranged three possible suitors to come to their kingdom to possibly take Merida’s hand in marriage.
One point in the film Merida says to her mother, “You were never there for me! This whole marriage is what YOU want! Do you ever bother to ask what ‘I’ want? No! You walk around telling me what to do, what not to do! Trying to make me be like you! Well, I’m not going to be like you!”
The whole point of the movie is to be accepting of others and not to try and force someone into a stereotypical image to follow past traditions. I don’t want to ruin the movie in case you have not seen it, so I will just say that Disney’s new version of Merida goes against the main message that viewers are supposed to take away from the film.
Even one of the original creators of the film Brenda Chapman was appalled by Merida’s new look. Chapman wrote in the Marin Independent Journal,
“I think it’s atrocious what they have done to Merida. When little girls say they like it because it’s more sparkly, that’s all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy ‘come-hither’ look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It’s horrible! Merida was created to break that mold. To give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance.”
I have two daughters that enjoyed the film and loved the independent nature of Merida. My wife and I even got a toy bow and arrow set since the girls wanted to be an archer like Merida. While they were pretending to be Merida they never once said “I am waiting for my prince” or “Don’t I look pretty?” It was all about going around shooting pretend bears and quoting Merida saying, “I will be shooting for my own hand!”
I like that Merida was a positive, strong role model for girls to look up to. When I saw the picture of the “new” Merida I was disgusted. To me I don’t care if my daughters prefer a fancy princess over a rough and tumble arrow shooting princess. I just wish Disney didn’t “update” Merida. There should not be a cookie cutter design for these princesses. With this change Disney is telling little girls that all women should look the same way. That is the wrong message. People come in all different shapes and sizes. We need to embrace diversity.
The good news is that my wife and I do not leave our parenting to Disney so our girls will know that looks are not the be all and end all for how a woman should judge herself. The issue that I have is now more than ever kids are growing up faster than previous generations. I just wish that Disney would abstain from making all their princesses have the same look. They should have kept the old Merida. The whole point of the film is that a person should be accepted for who they are inside and out. It seems that Disney must have forgotten that message.