An Altered State of Consciousness

I just got back from seeing Pixar's Brave.

I don't bother to see movies in the theaters much anymore, because it just doesn't seem worth it, but I'm a Pixar fan and really excited about this one because OMG FEMALE PROTAGONIST! YES! FINALLY!

See, one of my biggest complaints with Pixar's movies was the lack of female leads. Oh, they've had some kickass female characters, but these characters were never the focus of the story. So I decided to spend the money and see it on the big screen.

You know what? I loved it. Not only did we finally get to see a brave, independent female lead, but, even better, there was no romance in the plot. (At least not for Merida, that is. Her parents are obviously happily married.) The story focuses on Merida, her life as a Princess in a mythical Scottish kingdom, and the conflict she feels about her duties to her clan and the fact that she'd rather be racing around the woods with her bow and arrows rather than learning more feminine behavior.

Yeah, the Princess-who-is-more-a-tomboy-than-a-lady thing has been done before, but Pixar really seems to have a knack for wonderful characterization (Oh, man... the interaction between Merida and her father was great. Plus, the heavier focus on the relationship between her and her mother was very touching.) and storytelling, so I'm not complaining. And I can't say that I've ever had anything bad to say about their artwork.

I know that there's wank going on about this film, because I've already come across entries on Tumblr about it. Parents wailing that they can't take their son to see this move, because what will they do if they admire a female character? The horror! It might even turn him - gasp! - GAY. Also, apparently the fact Merida isn't interested in getting married means that she's a lesbian, so clearly Pixar is totally promoting the Homosexual Agenda.

Yeah.

I'm going to wait and tackle those arguments later. I might actually try and write something up about the movie, it's portrayal of gender roles, and the response it's been getting. We'll see. Everyone here in the US is still flipping out over the Supreme Court's decision over health care reform, and given how many political blogs I follow, it's going to take a while before I can focus on much else.

Anyhow, in my opinion, Brave is much better than most of the other stuff that's been coming out lately (although The Hunger Games was decent) and actually worth the cost of a ticket.

One teensy not-quite-complaint: With all the running around and horse-riding Merida does, she'd spend half of the night getting her hair untangled. As someone who has long, crazy, curly hair like hers, I've learned this the hard way.

(Now that I think about it, I need some Brave userpics... Guess I'll use Wall-E for this entry since they're both Pixar movies.)

p.s. Stay until the very end of the credits.