Out of all the original films Pixar's
released in the past decade or so, Brave was the one with the most potential to do something genuinely interesting. And considering how much the film gets right,
I think it's really unfortunate that it's remembered as an uneven, broken film. I've thought about Brave probably more
than I'd like to admit. Ever since I saw it in the cinema, I've felt that it was one of those films
that could've been... should've been.. a lot better than it ended up being. Merida is a free-spirited, energetic
princess living in medieval Scotland. She doesn't conform to the role that
society expects of her. The way the societal pressure manifests itself in
her life is her mother, Queen Elinor, who is basically everything
her daughter is not. The film sets up and establishes over and over again this three-way
relationship between Merida, Eleanor, and the society they live in. In a sense what the film is really about are these two conflicting views of femininity and
womanhood and how they function and interact within the society or as Mark Andrews, one of the directors
on the film, said: It's important to note that a no point does
Merida try to be masculine in any way. She is not Mulan masking away her femininity to take part in these activities. Merida fully takes them on as part
of her identity as a woman. She is most free on the few off days she gets when she's able to minimize the societal
influence on her life At these times, she embraces
the feminine qualities that she likes. She still wears a dress and lets her long hair out to flow even while riding, shooting arrows, and climbing Expressing that these two sides are not
contradictions, they are not mutually exclusive. To her, it is the most natural
thing that they go hand in hand that they are part of the same person. [Music] [Elinor]: A princess does not place her weapons
on the table. [Merida]: Mom! Elinor on the other hand is eloquent, graceful. She enjoys the arts and music. She is the ideal version of femininity,
according to this society. And she clearly enjoys the role she plays. She owns it You see her smile and talk about it with pride. [Elinor]: Above all, a princess strives for.. [Elinor]: ..well, perfection. She's most herself when she's able to take part in all that society expects of her. However the film also makes it clear that it doesn't place a judgement
on Elinor for her preferred version of femininity. In fact, it does the opposite. First explicitly through mocking Merida's viewpoint.. [Fergus]: I don't want to get married, I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind, [Fergus]: as I ride through the glen, [Fergus]: firing arrows into the sunset. Putting it on equal footing with a
mother's viewpoint. But, more importantly, visually, through its storytelling. During the welcoming ceremony, this is made clear by showing her indirect power
through the king.. [Fergus]: Uh, for...uh.. [Elinor]: ..the presentation of the suitors!
[Fergus repeats] But later when the whole thing collapses into a brawl, her direct power is all but stated by the film. All the Queen does is walk forward
sternly and everybody stops fighting. They are in such awe of her poise and grace
that they literally part like the Red Sea. In this world, grace is power. And the graceful Queen holds all the power. [Clan leaders mutter apologies] [Fergus]: I'm sorry, love. I..I..I didn't..but [Fergus - defeated]: Yes, dear.. Later when Merida rebels, everybody
looks at the Queen for guidance, not the King. He's not even in the frame. Even Merida comes to accept this as fact later on. If we go back to the walking
scene I feel like this moment emphasized with *this* close-up was supposed to be
the first moment Merida sees her mother's influence and the power
in her way of life. Because along with these two
opposing views of femininity are two opposing views of power, each with a different relationship
to society's expectations. Elinor, a soft power of diplomatic skill, privileged in comparison to her daughter, because society allows her to take
full advantage of this power. And Merida a hard power of physical skill, oppressed and stifled, while the men have no problem
expressing that same hard power [Arrow Thud]
[Crowd Gasps] [Young Macintosh screams] [Merida - sarcastic]: Oh, that's attractive! In fact, setting Merida apart from the
way society puts a masculine coating on her favorite activities is a point the film makes. She's clearly shown to enjoy fighting, and physical activity is a release for her. But when it's framed in the context
of this toxic masculinity, she just rolls her eyes she has no interest in it this way. Compared to her father, who fucking loves this. He basically
agrees with the mother and with society's expectations of his daughter. His encouraging attitude towards
his daughter's subversion has more to do with a personal indulgence and his incompetence in maintaining the status quo, rather than any empathetic views of his own. [Fergus]: Princess or not, learning to
fight is essential. He kind of delights in all the nonsense
suffering going on. There's this throwaway line during the four-way fight.. [Fergus]: None of your sons are fit
to marry my daughter! But it's not like that opinion holds any water. It feels almost like just an excuse so he can fight. He doesn't really factor into this main conflict, mostly relegated along with
everyone else to the society pile. [Elinor]: The lords are presenting their sons
as suitors for your betrothal. [Merida]: What! [Elinor]: The clans have accepted! [Merida]: Dad! [Fergus]: What? I..I..you..she..Elinor! [Elinor]: Honestly, Merida, I
don't know why you're reacting this way. The Queen's flaw isn't that she embraces
and enjoys her role so much. It's that, due to that role basically being second
nature to her she's completely blind to the fact that it goes against everything
her daughter stands for. *This* is so natural to her that she has a warped
view of *this* [Merida]: It's not fair! [Elinor]: ugh..Merida, it's marriage.
It's not the end of the world. The Queen is blind to the fact that she herself is extending the oppression over her daughter. Merida, on the other hand, is initially blind
to the power her mother actually has and her change must be to embrace
some of what she's been taught. But, to be fair to Merida, her actions aren't so much a result of her not observing correctly, like her mother, as it is rebelling against the idea of being forced
to live a life she doesn't want to. [Merida]: I suppose a princess just does what she's told! [Elinor]: A princess does not raise her voice. [Elinor]: Merida, this is what you've been
preparing for your whole life. [Merida]: No, it's what you've been preparing me
for my whole life. Now, the whole marriage route the film starts
to follow actually fits really well. It's basically society barging in and
re-emphasizing its place in the stalemate between Merida and Elinor. But to be more specific, it's society being brought in by Elinor, without even
telling Merida beforehand. [Elinor]: They've all accepted! [Merida]: Who's accepted what, mother? The arranged marriage plot
establishes a game of wit and strategy presenting Merida opportunities to show
what she is actually learning from her mother. Merida's first scene of rebellion is, in a way,
taken right out of her mother's playbook and adapted to fit her
own way of doing things. She completely plays within the rules that Elinor sets up. [Elinor]: Only the firstborn of each of the great leaders may be presented as champion. [Merida]: Firstborn? [Elinor]: ..and thus compete for the hand
of the princess of Dunbroch. She uses soft power tactics to give herself
an opportunity to express herself in the hard power abilities she so prefers. [Elinor]: It is customary that the challenge
be determined by the princess herself. [Merida]: Archery! Archery! [Whispers amongst the crowd] [Merida]: I choose...archery. But she does this in a way that emphasizes
how much she has left to learn. By humiliating everyone, she also antagonizes them which just ends up working against her. [Elinor]: You embarrassed them.
You embarrassed me. [Merida]: I followed the rules! [Elinor]: You don't know what you've done!
[Door slam] We got a bit ahead of ourselves. Let's take a step back. So we can talk about that archery scene
for a second because it's a masterpiece. [Music] There are so many ways to talk about this sequence that I really don't even know where to start. We have the symbolism of the stifling wardrobe
Merida has been forced into. The power of the moment we
finally see her full head of hair, an iconic marker for her character
and a symbol for her freedom after nearly 10 minutes of it being tucked away. The fact that the only way she can
actually shoot an arrow is by literally ripping the symbol
of her oppression apart at the seams. [Merida]: Curse this dress! [Fabric ripping and crowd gasping] God, this is such a good scene! All the parts that have been set up
fit together so naturally and hint at the directions the film
can continue to build on it. [Music] Remember that stern walk
that the film set up as a visualization for the Queen's power? Well, here it is again, at the pinnacle
of their first confrontation. while both are armed with
their preferred method of power. The film even goes so far as to frame Elinor
in her stride, through the bow. Behind the safety of her bow - her weapons and
particularly her bow being a symbol for her hard power - Merida is able to face her mother's authority In fact, I would even argue that the whole thing with her
having to take a deep breath and focus for that last arrow has less to do with getting a bullseye,
even one through another arrow, and more to do with standing up to her mother,
who at this point is at full stride. The walk increasing in aggression as Elinor starts to lose her control over the situation and desperately attempts to regain it. She goes from speaking somewhat gracefully
to walking sternly to speaking aggressively with a threat. [Elinor]: Merida, I forbid it! And it seems the only reason Merida is
able to stand up to her mother at this point is because she has this weapon in her hand And with it, she publicly contradicts her
for the first time. [Music and Sound Effects] This..is the real struggle of the film Merida learning what's necessary to
stand up to her mother and society. [Elinor]: I've just about had enough of you! And to emphasize that this was just a small victory and that Merida still has a long way to go, in the next scene when she's still full of adrenaline, she miscalculates her current authority
and rips a symbol or even *the* symbol of her
mother's soft power. [Merida]: I'll never be like you..
[Elinor]: No, stop that! [Merida]: I'd rather DIE than be like you! And what does her mother do? The walk returns and this time it works! Elinor uses this moment of power to get
rid of Merida's weapon, specifically her bow, the tool Merida just used so
effectively to stand up to her. We get a triumphant close-up with the bow, pan,
glaring close-up with the mother. So, it's no surprise in the very next scene
she would get rid of that bow. [Merida cries in shock] Honestly, this is all pretty amazing.. So far the film has set up a hell of a complex conflict and there's no real villain. [Whispers] Because society is the true villain This whole sequence is the perfect
inciting incident. It was a conscious decision Merida made. Her relationship with her mother
has now crossed a threshold. There's no going back. And it drops the early hints
of both of their character arcs: Merida cower was the moment
she realized she went too far and the Queen gets an even more explicit one, as she tries to salvage the burning bow, [Elinor]: Oh no! What have I done? showing her subsequent regret. While praising the finished film, Amanda
Marcotte defended the other plot, the one the film actually follows, stating: But I think that kind of misses the point. She isn't out-manning the men, because
she isn't even competing with the men. She's competing with her mother and they're each using their own strengths. The film emphasizes this dichotomy because the only characters with any type of depth are Merida and her mother. Everybody else is basically a caricature, pieces on the chessboard in
this game between mother and daughter. This was honestly less Pixar's take on
the princess movie and more of 'A Man for All seasons'
or 'Becket', by way of Pixar. Using interpersonal relationships
within the context of political struggles to discuss larger themes on society and and more intimate themes
on opposing viewpoints of life. And I'll say it again.. It was amazing. [Music] Mother Bear.. [Fergus singing song about Mordu] [Merida]: I didn't you ask her to change you into a bear! [Merida]: I just wanted her to change..you [Cub bear roar] [Bear freaking out] [Tanana]: Aaah, settle down..settle! [Tanana]: Kenai..Ken.. [Tanana]: Uh, this isn't gonna work [Merida]: Mom? [Bear trying to speak] [Tanana]: Kenai, honey..shh shh shh [Merida]: Sorry, I don't speak bear. [Tanana]: I don't speak bear.. [Sitcom laugh track and clapping] This is the point at which Merida
runs off, meets the witch, and without intending it, turns her mother into a bear. In a Cinemablend feature Kristy
Puchko talks about the atmosphere following the press screening in New York City: If you haven't seen the film
and you're just following along, I cannot overstate just how much
this moment deflates the film. All these years later, I still remember the collective ennui that everyone in the cinema
settled into when it was revealed that *this* is what the movie
was going to focus on. They took a storyline that just put you at peak intrigue, one that made you genuinely curious
about how it was going to develop, and then they introduced one so rote that before Merida even realizes that
the bear is her mother the next 30 minutes of the film have already
played out in your head. [Merida]: You're a bear! You know, without a doubt, what the film needs to do for this new story to at least function. You have the initial confusion followed by the slapstick and the escape from the castle. You have the bear acting like a human. You have them trying to find the witch. You have them getting an info-dump on how
the magic works and what they need to do. You have the low bit when they're
emotionally distraught, followed by the high bit of them connecting preferably in a montage with some happy
sounding indie music. [Happy music from Brave] And you have one more magic info dump
with the stakes raising..so on and so on By the time we've reached the climax
with the bear being chased by everyone in the rain, we're so far removed from
where we were that it might as well be a completely different film. completely different film, completely different film ["Different film" repeating, slower and slower] ["Different film" repeating,
but speeding back up to normal] That it might as well be a completely different film. You have the initial confusion followed by the slapstick. You have the bear acting like a human. You have them getting an info-dump on
how the magic works and what they need to do. You have the low bit when they're
emotionally distraught, followed by the high bit of them connecting, preferably in a montage with
some happy sounding indie music [Happy music excerpt from Brother Bear] And you have one more magic info-dump
with the stakes raising..so on and so on By the time we've reached the climax
with the bear being chased we're so far removed from where we were that it might as well be a completely different film [repeating] that it might as well be
a completely different film [Cacophony of noise from all four films] [Silence] [Distant from mic] Hollywood, can we retire
this fucking plot? The plot bear-bear plot
doesn't work on a number of levels Remember this three-way relationship
that was set up? The plot completely removed society from the equation, disempowering her mother. While the Queen is a bear, they are not on equal footing. It's no longer the game of wit that was set up earlier You could say, "oh but the point was, now with the mother out of the way, Merida has to step up." And I would agree but that story beat was
supposed to happen regardless, and the bear thing just
needlessly complicates things. You could say, "oh but they bond over the
struggle of the mother being a bear and they have to adapt to this situation." But that's like my least favorite defense for any story, 'cause two characters can bond while
solving any problem. Merida and Elinor could have bonded over
baking a cake throughout the film, it doesn't really justify the plot they
decided to focus on. What the bear plot-plot bear does
is it shifts the film's focus from this high tension conflict, in which Elinor and Merida held
fundamentally opposing views to this MacGuffin scavenger hunt for clues
to turn the mother back into a human. [Merida]: I know you're scared, you're tired,
you don't understand.. [Merida]: but we've got to keep our heads. In the next chapters, I'm gonna talk
about structure and character arcs and theme and story flow
and all the important stuff Now, I just wanna complain. Because the rest of the film's running time is used
to set up an internal logic for a spell that the film clearly doesn't have much confidence in. So, please indulge me.. [Merida]: Why a bear?! [Merida]: Oh! That scaffy witch gave me a gammy spell! Why does the witch's spell turn everyone into a bear? That seems pretty random. No story reason is specified. Maybe because everyone else in the film hates bears? Or, perhaps, it turns you into what you're most afraid of? I'm sure there's some reason that makes sense.. Right? [Mark Andrews]: We had these questions come up of [Andrews]: "Why a bear? Why does
the spell always turn people into bears?" [Andrews]: And we finally just made her this wood carver and all she carves was bears [Andrews]: because she's just obsessed
and just left it at that. Ah, so for all we know, the witch
is a furry and has a bear fetish. [Typing noise] Which like.. I'm not shaming.. Fine, let's say ultimately it doesn't really matter
why it's a bear. So then.. [Merida]: The witch gave us the answer.. [Merida]: The tapestry! What does the tapestry have to do with the witch? It's not like the tapestry was a cursed artifact or had a spell or some
supernatural effect on it, like the rose or the petals, as far as it's set up, *this*
has absolutely nothing to do with *this*. They are mutually exclusive for the
whole film, until a connection is made [Merida]: Split..like the tapestry [Dramatic whooshing] A connection I find as flimsy as.. You might say "Oh chill,
it was just a symbolic connection" but that's definitely not the case. *This* was subtext and *this* was subtext. but *this* and *this* are absolutely key plot elements. They have to go back and
physically stitch it up. What actually happened here with the tapestry was that
in a previous version of the script there was a plot point where the magical
relics relevant to the wording of the spell had been sewn into the tapestry by the mother. But then they changed the words of the spell
and never removed the tapestry as a plot point. [Witch]: Mend the bond, torn by pride. And now it just sits there,
begging you not to think about it [Witch]: By the second sunrise, your spell
will be permanent. You know, if Merida had to stitch it up, then, did the prince in his
time have to like superglue it? [Andrews]: This whole scene is everything
coming together, right.. [Andrews]: She's realizing the story that mom told her
is true because there's the evidence [Andrews]: but, not only that. [Andrews]: it's what the witch said about a prince
that came to ask for the strength of the ten men.. [Andrews]:"Oh my god, it's the same freakin guy!" [Andrews]: So, it's all like... [Andrews]:..kind of big epiphany on her face, right.. [Andrews]: And-and that
terror that..that sinking feeling [Merida]: Oh no.. [Andrews]: That we go 'The stakes just got
bigger in the movie' By the way, as a side note, since
one of the symbols was given so much significance, you would assume the other one
would be made more important too. You know, the one the film equates in value
to the tapestry and then proceeds to use as the first sign
for the mother's doubt. Buuuut..no, that's completely forgotten about and when the bear plot kicks in,
Merida just has a new bow Look, I'm aware I've just been nitpicking
for the past five minutes and I feel no shame about that because as I said the film stops dead in its tracks
to set up and solve the mystery of how the witch's spell works. So, the least they could do was
have it make sense in some way. At its core, yes, I think the bear plot-plot bear
is inherently dumb, but my main issue is that I just wanted the two halves
to feel like they belong to the same film. Say what you will about Brother Bear
but, by the time the switch happens, it had been really set up. Both plot-wise and character-wise. It felt cohesive. In Brave, the whole shift just doesn't ring true to almost anything the film was doing up to that point By the end, when they're back at the castle and the marriage comes up again you're just like The story's pacing feels like.. Alright, stick with me for a second. It feels like a car that has limited petrol and is on a street, approaching a roundabout. The plan is to continue straight, but it missed the exit when the bear plot got introduced. Now it has to make its way all the way around, explaining the different magical elements. Then, it gets back to the exit
originally wanted to get on, and it tries to continue the thematic
beats it had set up on the main route, but now there's only 15 minutes left,
and it has to rush everything. This is all a result of the film's structure. If you look at its timeline, you can see that
it's basically split its running time in half to accommodate for two different plots [DP/30 Interviewer]: And when the bear happens
is there any..moment of like [DP/30 Interviewer]: waiting to make sure
that you haven't lost them? [DP/30 Interviewer]: Or you're comfy cozy? [Andrews]: I'm comfy cozy. [Fear - muttering]: ..Joy and Sadness are gone, [Fear]: I have to do stupid dream duty.. [Merida]: I'm the princess.. [Bagpipes start playing,
Elinor sighs] [Merida]: I'm the example.. [Fear - scoffs]: Yeah, I'm used to that one.. [Dramatic music] [Merida] I am Merida, firstborn descendant
of Clan Dunbroch [Merida]:..and I'll be shooting for my own hand. [Crowd gasps
Fear spits out tea] [Elinor]: What are you doing? [Scary music builds up] [Merida gasps] [Fear]: Boo! Pick a plotline! [Music] Let's say, for the sake of
brevity, that there is a story and the way it manifests itself is through its plot. So, in this case, these two plots have
the same base story. A mother and daughter are at odds with each other, a conflict arises as a result, and lessons
are learned as they overcome it. Is there something that connects
the two plots in the film? Yeah sure, there are these transitional scenes. The second plot uses scenes from
the first plot as an inciting incident, and since the introduction of the second plot follows
the strong a sequence in the film, which ends with possibly the strongest scene in the film, we're on board and we wanna go
where the film takes us. Now...does that connection ma - NO! Each of these plots develops the story in different, almost contradictory, ways. This is most obvious when we break down
the character arcs in each plot. For example, let's look at Merida's. in the first plot Merida is the one being
wronged by her mother, and society by extension. After trying and failing to solve the situation
with the full force that she's used to, she must adapt her methods, overcome her flaws
and find a viable solution that combines her own character traits
with some of her mother's methods. In the second plot feeling, Elinor was never there for her, Merida wrongs her mother
and makes a "big mistake" and in the process of undoing that mistake, she must learn that she was wrong all along
about how she saw her mother. Notice a problem here? These are two serviceable plots
with functioning character arcs. One is clearly superior, but on their own they're fine. But when you try to put
them together in one film, you end up making Merida's character arc
muddier than this poor Pixar employee's face. For example, in the climax of the film
when Merida says [Merida]: You've always been there for me. What? Always? Not in this story, not in the way Merida defined it earlier [Merida]: You're never there for me! [Merida]: This whole marriage is what you want! [Merida]: You ever bother to ask what I want? [Merida]: NO! And she's right, Elinor hasn't been there for her
in the story we've seen so far. But the problem is this beat appears at
a different point in each character arc. On top of that, one plot requires Merida to be right, her mother was in fact oppressing her, so that Merida can rightfully stand up
to her mother and stop the marriage. Whereas the other plot requires Merida to be wrong, for this to be a false read of the situation
stemming from Merida's character flaws so that she can realize her mistake
at the end of the film. And it gets really messy when the film tries to meld
both character arcs into one scene, the big speech scene. Here, Merida shows mastery over the soft power
or diplomatic skills that her mother basically had
a monopoly on in the first half. She walks in with the grace that is wont of her mother and unites the four clans. That she does so through stories about
their victories when they were united is a good call back to the mother's storytelling earlier. And that it's all done in a way to feed into their masculine egos is also a nice touch. This is probably the way would have happened,
even if there was no bear plot. But the mastery Merida is showing kind of
comes out of nowhere. If this was Merida's first attempt to play
within her mother's rules, and this was supposed to be
the big character arc climax, There clearly should have been at least one more moderate attempt, or build up, or something in between the two. It's especially weird when you consider how much
setup there was for that first attempt. We knew Merida loves to shoot arrows. We knew she's rambunctious. We saw how stifled she was
by the whole marriage situation. We saw her put two and two together and then come up with the idea of choosing archery. We even saw her get ready for that plan. We learnt that she was smart and capable, but also that she has a tendency
to not think things through to the end. This scene, which is supposed to be
the next major step, has none of that. There's no build up, there's no intelligence,
there's no continuity. There's just...this,
out of the blue. And the truth is there's no adjustment you can do
to this scene to fix that problem, because it's a structural problem. [Dingwall] Is that so? [Merida]: Aye, it is. See the scene is caked on either side
by the stupid bear plot. If we zoom out, we can see the two plots
are interweaved together in such a way where the first plot is basically abandoned altogether to develop the second, less interesting one. That one is stopped dead in its tracks so the first plot can get some type of conclusion which they then hope to transition in some way
to the second plot's conclusion. And trying to conclude both plots
within minutes of each other leads to what is by far the biggest issue with this scene. [Merida]: I've been selfish. [Merida]: I tore a great rift in our kingdom. [Merida]: There's no one to blame but me. [Merida]: And I know now that
I need to amend my mistake [Merida]: and mend our bond. [Merida]: And so, there is the matter of my
betrothal.. She's basically on the verge of
going through with the marriage, making you wonder what the fuck she actually learned. Near the highest point of her victory, Merida is
suddenly forced to turn 180 degrees, admit fault for an entirely different plot, and try to correct it by doing the exact opposite of what she should be doing at this moment. The film has these character arcs intersect at the point when they couldn't be farther apart. [Repeated audio from Merida's speech] [Merida's voice get deeper and slows down] It's just a mess.. Throughout the entire conclusion
when Merida says stuff like [Merida]: I've been selfish [Merida]: There's no one to blame but me. [Merida]: This is all my fault. That's the film equating
the marriage protest with the potion in one big confused menagerie of meaning. Streamlining them through
cliche dialogue and sad music to trigger a familiar feeling of stories
with more coherent conclusions. And hopefully masking the fact that this
climax is playing with emotional peaks it has not earned. [Andrews]: We thought we needed
to spend the time with them [Andrews]: so that they can earn their reward at the end.
They could - they could actually have a longer journey. [Andrews]: But we get every moment [Andrews]: and by the end they still earn
this - this journey With all this, there's the added benefit of having
the last 10 minutes of the film play out like "It's all my fault" "Nah, chill, you don't need to get married" "Yay!" "Wait, it really is all my fault" "Nah, I said chill, I'm no longer a bear" "Yay!" [Merida] : *gasp* The tapestry! But if Merida's character arc is
complicated and muddies the themes of the film, it's Elinor who really... [Cacophony of regret and apologies] In the first plot, you have a mother who feels compelled by tradition to force her daughter into marrying. Despite her efforts, she's unable
to connect with her daughter. At the end, after she sees Merida take
what she's taught her and give it new life, she reconsiders how she saw her. She's filled with pride for her daughter and comes to terms with how she had been unintentionally oppressing her. In the second plot, she's... [monotone] mean and old-school [monotone] and then she gets turned into a bear [monotone] and becomes hip and nice afterwards.. I'm sorry I know I'm oversimplifying, but
there just isn't that much in this plot. Her arc here starts her in regal clothes
with braids then she's a bear and out of her element, and in the film just ends with these
quick shots of her with her hair let loose riding a horse alongside
her daughter. This ending is one of the worst cases of
character derailment I've ever seen. and the change she goes through is superficial, at best. I just don't understand why they felt the only way
they could show Elinor's approval is by having her morph into a version of her daughter. Wouldn't it have been a lot stronger to continue in the direction the first plot had set up? Showing that the difference between them
is fundamental to their characters. Elinor doesn't understand it, at her core.
She may never understand it. But her love for a daughter goes
beyond her inability to get it. By the end she learns to accept and approve of who Merida is, even if that may clash with who she is or who she expected her daughter to be. What parent..what-what person hasn't gone
through that experience with a loved one? Hasn't been confronted with some part of
the other's character that they just don't get? And hasn't had to eventually learn to overcome it and realize that that person means more to you than your inability to understand. You can't change them. You need to adapt and accept them
for who they are. And despite the fact that you could say your love for them was undeniable, when you re-examine the dynamic,
you might realize that without ever intending it, you were harming them, oppressing their self-expression,
stifling their growth. So you need to make changes in the way you see them and what you expect of them. You need to be supportive. This is a difficult lesson to
learn but it was a lesson I needed to learn... Elinor needed to learn. [Clearing throat] That last paragraph might have had to do with.. more than Brave. N-n-nonetheless it was a Elinor's lesson to learn here, but the film throws all of that away. You know, there were earlier versions of the character with hints that she was actually like Merida but they did the smart thing of removing
those elements of her character. [Arrow hitting target
Silence] The Elinor we're presented with in the film never felt a desire to "let loose" like her daughter. This wasn't her big problem. What she wanted and kept failing to do
was to empathize with her daughter. [Elinor]: Merida... [Merida]: Mom... [Elinor]: just... [Elinor]: ..remember to smile. She wasn't going to tell Merida that in fact
what she always wanted to do was [Fergus]: To stay single and let my hair flow in the wind, as I ride though the glen. No, she was trying to connect with her daughter. Which she couldn't do because she never
listened to her [Merida]: Just listen.. [Elinor]: I am the queen, you listen to me! [Merida]: Aaaah! Then after the speech scene,
Elinor realizes that Merida was listening to her and, in fact, that she herself was the one not listening. So yeah, the speech scene in itself actually hits the right character beat for Elinor. But then it just keeps going and tries to conclude
her arc in the same scene. And, ironically, it does so at the expense
of Merida's character arc. The film contorts Merida's arc to this ridiculous point [Merida]: I've decided to do what's right Just so Elinor can interrupt and express the fact that
her opinions on the marriage have changed. I concede that having Merida listen to her mother
when she can't speak is a playful story beat, but within that story beat is the implication of Elinor literally dictating Merida's earlier opinion back to her. Which I'm sure was intended as
Elinor showing her support but instead it comes off as if the only reason
Merida is able to break with tradition is because now she has her mother's approval. The most admirable thing from the earlier attempt
was that Merida was adamant about how she felt and stood up
to everybody for what she believed in. Not a single character in the film was on her side. That Elinor has the sudden change of heart and that the reason the marriage doesn't happen is because she basically wills it not to happen kind of kills the core conflict. And make no mistake that change of heart that
Elinor has comes out of nowhere. The last time it was brought up was
like thirty minutes ago. [Elinor]: Of course, we both know
a decision still has to be made. And just like with Merida's arc, nothing in
the intervening sequences has been about it. The only relevant thing that has happened were these close-ups during Merida speech which feel like the biggest downgrade considering the intense self-reflection
the earlier scene was hinting at. And it's not like Merida has done anything
to change her mother's opinion. And if you fucking say that dumb fishing scene... [Value Select's 'Fish Hunt'] [Song: Yo, yo, yo, yo] [Song: It's the perfect day for a Fish Hunt] Unless the marriage plot would have developed in an entirely different direction in the absent second act, this scene should have been all about Merida. As far as Elinor is concerned, the scene would perhaps be the final turning point for how she saw the situation but she shouldn't play an active role in it. Instead the equivalent of *this* scene
should have belonged to Eleanor, where she re-contextualizes their relationship expressing that she had actually wronged her daughter and that she's proud of
what her daughter has become. Now you could say.. Yeah...y-you could say that in-in
those exact words and maybe I would agree but
Pixar has done this before.. in Wall-e. The emotional climax of the film when Eve saves Wall-e actually played out in a different way Originally, the roles were reversed. Wall-e, in a last-ditch effort, saves Eve but while watching the film at a preview
screening Stanton realized something. [Stanton]: It dawned on me that I had made
a big mistake and that Wall-e should really be the one that's hurt, not Eve. [Eve]: Wall-e! [Stanton]: I needed Eve to finally express, in some way,
because I don't have dialogue [Stanton]: that her directive has changed.
She now cares more about him [Stanton]: than whatever her programming was
telling her to do all along to that point. So, Eve is the key character in the
emotional climax of the film, the literal equivalent of *this* scene. Stanton took a look at his two main characters
and realized that the more significant character arc
in the story he's telling actually belongs to the the character who is ostensibly
not the protagonist of his film. And he makes the adjustment his story requires. Similarly, Elinor technically goes through
the larger change between the two. Seeing how well that dynamic
turned out in Wall-e, there's no reason it wouldn't have worked well in Brave if it was given enough room to develop correctly. Instead, we get the turning point and conclusion of Elinor's character arc, all in one scene, because we have to rush off to conclude that other plot. A film with a divided structure will eventually
lead to a divided conclusion. Which, you know, makes you wonder if the core vision for the film was just as divided. [Andrews]: Wait a minute. This is our first female.. [Andrews]: It's a female heroine and we're having
Mark Andrews direct it? [Andrews]: The very..as far from a female
point of view as we can get [Andrews]: a female, you know? [Andrews]: Gender has nothing to do with this movie [Music] Brave was originally developed by Brenda Chapman. A veteran in the animation industry she was one of the creative leads on The Lion King and co-director of Prince of Egypt. She pitched brave when she joined Pixar
in the mid-2000s and based the story on the relationship
with her daughter. But 18 months before the film's release, she was let go because of "creative differences". So, Mark Andrews was brought in to finish the film. Now, by all accounts Andrews is a great "fixer type". He's also a longtime collaborator of Brad Bird and has left his touch on a number of great films. It's honestly pretty impressive that he managed to take disparate elements of the project and work them around into a finished film in 18 months. But with the introduction of a new vision the film was suddenly being framed in a very different way. [Andrews]: Gender has nothing to do with this movie. [Sarafian]:..and so we treated it without gender Although I can see the argument in wanting to focus on Merida as just the strong character, regardless of gender. I feel they pushed it so far
in the opposite direction, putting them firmly in 'thou doth
protest too much' territory. Surely, it's obvious by now how central the concept of gender actually is to the story they're telling. You can't take a story that starts off with
a mother who feels compelled by tradition to force her daughter into marriage and match it with a vision that is trying
to remove gender from the mix. Those two things are inherently incompatible. The central disagreement between
Elinor and Merida is, at its core, technically about what it means to be a
woman in this world. [Elinor]: A princess does not place
her weapons on the table. [Merida]: Mom! It's just my bow! [Elinor]: A princess should not
have weapons.. And as far as the tradition of the marriage is concerned, the only agency Merida gets in this life-altering decision is what challenge she gets to
be a reward for. [Merida]: Archery! Archery! And this is all happening to her
not just because she's royalty but more specifically because she's [Dingwall]:..the princess! By trying to be so adamant that
gender isn't core to this story, they end up reaching some really
bizarre places conceptually. You know, all those things
her mother makes her do.. like getting married! Now, is it unfair to single out Andrews?
Probably. There's a long history and Hollywood of directors
getting replaced, even Pixar's done it
before and on some of their best films. And often there's no accurate way of
knowing who changed what exactly. Except, in this case, Andrews is more than
happy to share with us the sweeping changes he made the Chapman story. [Andrews]: There were still
elements of the script that were kept [Andrews]: and then I wrote the script..umm Mordu, that whole element came up What exactly the magic was
and how it worked changed. And the main thing I did was made it just Merida's story, just made it about the teenager so I can have
that straight throughline and kind of clean
up the the balance of the story It's baffling how well his list lines up with
the worst elements in the film, but, then again, he also takes credit for this great back and forth in the first act. So, who knows? And it's not like ALL the bad ideas were his. The bear plot itself was Chapman's idea. [Sarafian]: From the very earliest pitch,
you know, the basic structure was in place [Sarafian]: and that has remained the same throughout. [Sarafian]: Even the idea of changing to a bear, [Sarafian]: that all came..that started to gel in that
first year and a half or so development. So, if Chapman had continued with the bear plot
then the core problem of the film and it's failed attempt at stitching these two distinct plots together would have probably stayed the same. But it wouldn't also have had to deal with an identity crisis of what its core themes are. It seems that Chapman's original direction
focused more on the mother-daughter relationship and less on the magic. So what the project really lost with her removal
was a focused vision that matched the themes of the story it was telling. That Pixar replaced directors
and tried to shift the focus away from a young woman struggle in reshaping
the gender-defined role she's been given and instead onto a mediocre magic plot says a lot. That it also happened on the project with
the only female director Pixar had ever had says even more [Andrews]: I can do that coming in and being objective
because it wasn't mine, right? [Andrews]: I didn't-I didn't create it. If you really wanna feel the disconnect,
just put on the commentary track [Andrews]: And when he jumped it would be.. [Creative leads make obnoxious bagpipe sounds] In an interview years later, Chapman said and knowing what we know now,
I'm inclined to believe her. Rumor at Pixar had it that Chapman had been indecisive, unconfident and ineffective as a director but one artist who had been on the
Brave story team for years passionately countered that rumor, saying Chapman you exactly what film she was making and was very clear in communicating her vision. [Andrews]: It's not a female, you know. Gender has nothing to do with this movie. [Chapman]: Queen Elinor is a working mom. [Andrews]: Gender has nothing to do with this movie. [Chapman]: She is.. [Andrews]: Gender has nothing to do with this movie [Chapman]: She is the diplomat she's the one who.. [Andrews]: Gender has nothing to do with this movie [Feinberg]: Elinor is a really interesting character, I think, [Feinberg]: because, she's the peacemaker,
she's a lot of the.. [Feinberg laughs] [Andrews]: Gender has nothing to do with this movie [Repeating sound and ominous string music] [Andrews]: Gender has nothing to do with this movie [Andrews]: Right right right right right right ['What's this?' - Nightmare Before Christmas] Well, nothing. The film's been released for
nearly a decade and that's that. Bafflingly, it somehow won the Oscar
that year reminding us all what an incestuous cesspool that whole event is. But while putting this piece together it made me wonder, hypothetically, if we could make changes, what changes would I make to the film? The first thing you would have to do
is remove one of the plots. Along with all the other problems it caused, the split timeline prevents the film from
exploring either plot in any real way. 80 minutes is barely enough time to
explore one plot line, let alone two. I think I've made it pretty clear that I
don't like the bear plot and I wish they focused on the story
that started with the suitors. I'm not saying what I wanted was
The Tale of Princess Kaguya but this time with mommy issues. Though..that doesn't sound that bad. But getting rid of the bear plot would allow us to focus on the escalating battle of wits between Elinor and Merida
that we spoke about in the beginning. One way you could do it is to hone in on the way Elinor influences the leaders of the
clans in the beginning of the film and contrast it with the way Merida
influences them at the end. And along with that, perhaps
over a subsequent attempt for her hand, Merida gets to know each of the sons
a bit better in their own way, a skill she's shown she's capable of doing
in a way her mother can't. I think this approach could work quite well 'cause we're using a bunch
of things the film already set up. You see, we spend quite a bit of time
during the introduction of each son and it's all clearly nonsense, false hype by
the fathers. Along with that we get Merida's initial impressions: her embarrassment at the arrogance, the furtive curiosity at the strength etc.. but everything is skewed by this
terrible context she's been forced into so she feels helpless. Then, during the archery contest, we yet again
spend all this time going son by son, getting all this characterization for each son, but in contrast to the previous scene, this is all
within the context of what Merida knows best. [Merida]: Aww, wee lamb On top of that, since she's feeling confident because of her plan to undermine the whole thing, she just straight-up mocks them,
giving each one a custom roast and indulging in her father's prejudices of each clan. Since we have these two impressions
she's been presented with each false in its own way. Why not have her get to know each of them
a little bit for who they really are? In the process, she figures out that they're not completely okay with the marriage either. So, when she talks about them in the climactic scene, she does so truthfully and rallies the sons
together to stand up to their fathers. [Macintosh's Son] Give us our own say
in choosing our fate. [Macintosh] What?! This results in that story beat no
longer feeling like it comes out of nowhere. And instead of doing it in the
boring, vague way she does in the film, she can go specific and meaningful. It's ironic because just before that,
when talking with the fathers, her strength was her specificity. It didn't really matter that the
fathers worked together in the past. No, what mattered is that
Macintosh saved the King, and that Dingwall broke the enemy line [Macintosh] With a mighty throw of his spear! [Dingwall] I was aiming at you, you big topsy. [Laughter] She knew how to tug at their heartstrings
and feed into their egos. So Merida proves to everybody, but
especially to her mother, that peace amongst the clans and the marriage of the princess are not as interconnected as everyone thinks. But she also shows her mother something else. The first beat with the father shows Elinor
that Merida actually listened to her and knows all these things that Elinor must have
hammered into her over the years. [Merida]: Ugh, Mom! The second beat with the son shows her that
Merida has gone further. She's listened to the sons and knows
things that even Elinor herself doesn't. She's adapted her mother's methods to fit her own character and work with her own situation. Elinor's diplomacy relies on motherly authority,
a shaming with the wag of her finger. Whereas Merida's diplomacy
would be much more convivial, connecting with them on their level. This is also beautifully established way back
in the beginning of the film in the scene at the dinner table. Specifically with how everybody
interacts with the triplets. The father bores them with retreads
of the same past glory. Then Merida, in one fell swoop, re-contextualizes
the story and livens them up. Look at the sheer joy on their cute little faces. Elinor tells them in her motherly way to eat their haggis, but Merida knows what they actually
want are the sweets, so she quietly passes it to them. What the triplets go through isn't too different
from what the clans go through. With the king, they're stuck in the cycle of their past, boring tales of glory and prejudices that seem
to repeat themselves ad infinitum. And with the Queen, there's this motherly authority who expects them to keep up with the tradition
of the marriage and act appropriately. Well, in comes Merida,
reframing their past, giving it new life. [Laughter] [Merida]: The story of this kingdom is a powerful one. Then pointing out that the sons don't want
the haggis of a forced marriage but rather the sweets of the freedom to choose. It's really impressive when you think that all of this was done in a scene that is, otherwise, mostly exposition. it might seem like I'm reading too much
into this one little scene but films do this type of thing all the time. In fact, the cold-open takes
it a step further and basically parallels the timeline of the entire film. giving you a mini-version of what happens. And even though that's really cool,
I would actually change it and bring back the opening with baby Merida
helping Elinor work on the tapestry or at least add that detail back in. So then after seeing the clan's off, Merida rides
back to the castle and the film ends with a shot of her sitting next to her mother, so they can mend the tapestry together. The only detail would add is
that during the emotional peak when Elinor is having her big moment with Merida, telling her how proud she is and how much she loves her, she gives Merida the bow, the one
she's salvaged from the fire, showing that she no longer believes that a princess should not have weapons, or what-have-you. Obviously this isn't the be-all end-all version of the film. The fact is there are so many directions you can take it. I also wrote out an entire section exploring different options focusing on the bear plot instead, [Bear grunting] [Fergus falling] but then I cut it all out because I realized
that every minute I spend thinking about the plot bear-bear plot
is a minute I consider wasted. [Fergus] I've had enough of you and your slippery ways.. [Fergus] What?! Now you're mocking me? I also know there are people who were super excited about the magical elements and the adventure aspect hinted
at in the trailers. So that's also yet another direction you could take. It would require some significant changes
to the first act because as we discussed 30 minutes
into an 80 minute film is just too late to suddenly introduce an entirely new plot
without the risk of losing the audience. The real important thing is that
whatever direction you choose you would need to maintain a
unity of vision, with a singular focus. Which the final film just didn't have. Looking back now I can't help but be disappointed. It's easy for us to forget how different
Brave was when it came out. The "revolutionary" fact that Merida was
the first princess in a mainstream animated film to not end up with a man. It's easy to forget now that we have
Frozen's self-aware writing [Kristoff] You got engaged to someone
you just met that day? and Elsa, Moana, and Judy who also didn't
end up with a love interest. But Merida still stands out as the only one who was presented with the choice of a love interest and actively turned it down. As opposed to being progressive by omission. You can't help but think up what changes
you would make to the plot because, while watching it,
there's this constant feeling that just beneath the surface is a version of this
film that becomes an instant classic, that doesn't lean heavily on unnecessary
tropes and lazy plots, that pushes mainstream animation films years ahead, and that proves that we don't have to go
to Japan or to France to find a "children's film" that trusts its audience to empathize with the characters on the screen without having to pander to them with
a plot they're already familiar with. And then after you're done watching it,
reality sinks in and you realize, we didn't get that version.
The witch from Brave I believe is the highlight of the whole movie. Who is she really? Her obsession with bears, a few of the carvings resembling Sully from Monster's Inc, talking animals, door portal magic, and she even has a wood carving of the pizza planet truck. No matter how good or bad the rest of the movie is, the witch was the most important character.