Saturday, July 14, 2012

Bear, Bow, And Boy: Queering Pixar's "Brave"


I finally went to see Brave. My expectations were complex: I'd been salivating for Pixar's first female protagonist since the film was called The Bear and the Bow, but the criticism had been mixed. Some praised the movie for its heroine's nonconformity to traditional princess behavior; others critiqued the same thing as further denigration of conventional femininity. It's the same old same old that you get every time there's a Lone Female: she has to be all things to all people, and is doomed to failure from the start.

(Easy solution: have more than one female character.)

Initially I hoped to love the film. Then I realized that, with a hope this strong, disappointment was inevitable. Then I began to think that expecting disappointment might result in satisfaction after all. (This is why you shouldn't think too hard about these things.) I hoped that Pixar's first female protagonist would be awesome; I expected to be disappointed.

What I did not expect was that this would turn out not to be Pixar's first female protagonist at all.

On my reading, Merida is a boy. This film is about a trans boy and his relationship with his mother.

Every use of the word “princess” makes Merida cringe. Why? Because he is a prince. The threat of betrothal sends Merida into a flat panic. Why? Because marriage codifies the enforcement of compulsory cissexuality and heterosexuality.

Merida has no real role model of masculinity. Although his father jokes with him about the useless suitors, and provides him with the bow he longs for (which becomes, along with his gorgeous mess of unruly hair, a totem of his freedom and his true identity unencumbered by the pressures of coercive gender assignment), ultimately the king, like all the other male characters, is a figure of comical ineptitude. Queen Elinor is the primary figure shaping Merida's life, both because of her general competence and because Merida is the first-born (and the only AFAB) child.

Thus Merida's mother is the focus of all his fears and anger. After all, his father is surely just as responsible for the insistence on marriage, but the queen alone draws Merida's rage. She is both the person he wants to be (competent, in control, confident in her identity) and a person he would rather die than become (a woman).

Merida externalizes his desire for the world to see him differently, and projects it onto his mother. Thanks to his actions, his mother and brothers are all physically changed, forced to undergo the trans* experience of being seen by the world as something different than what you truly are. It is this profoundly painful experience of dysphoria – and the fear of becoming something you know you are not, simply because of how you look to those around you – that finally causes Queen Elinor to understand her oldest child's perspective, and to grant him the freedom to break with tradition and be who he truly is.

There is a constant thematic drumbeat throughout this film of fate and how it can be changed. Fate be changed: look inside... It reminds me irresistibly of the feminist mantra: biology is not destiny. Merida does not have to be the princess he was assigned to be at birth; it will take a lot of courage to defy traditional, societal, and familial expectations, but he is brave enough to do it.

I need this reading. I need this reading because there are no mainstream pop-culture narratives of how to be a trans*masculine person without a femme sister, of how to be a trans*masculine person relating to the mother who loves you but wants you to be her daughter. (Of course, I'm not sure what this narrative has to offer in terms of practical advice. How do you de-allegorize turning your mother into a bear?)

24 comments:

  1. I read Merida as female, myself (I know, boooring), but as the kind of girl who'd rather be a hero than a princess (much like every magical game I ever played as a kid. Okay, so my next-door neighbor and I would pretend to be princesses, but I'd be a dragon-slaying princess). I actually had a real archery set as a kid, too...

    I remember, a long time ago, reading someone's "alternate" take on Wall-E. The writer of that essay (I'm hopeless to find it, it was linked from some com I'm no longer on), contended that Wall-E was a lesbian romance becuase they'd read the title character as "female." - Personally, I prefer Wall-E and Eve as "sexless/genderless" with an asexual romance because that's what I relate to.

    ... and found out I *really* do dig that theme because something similar goes between a pair of characters in a favorite videogame of mine. A sort-of onesideded romance develops when a robot falls in love with a female-looking-but-technically-sexless spiritual entity in the newest "Legend of Zelda." I'm a nutbar fanfiction writer/fanartist for the series and I've found that most people in that fandom think the "romance" is merely cute while I actually take it seriously. I'm pretty sure it was written into the game as a bit of humor, but I really read something into it because it "speaks" to me. So, reading something the way it speaks to you - great!

    As an aside, mentioning my main creative-involvement-fandom actually reminds me: There is a game in the same game series (the best-loved game in the series, in fact) that famously/infamously has a character that switches between genders - and the fandom has debates over whether the character is female or male, physically changed by magic or or just in disguise, whether or not a split-personality is involved, etc. I've only ever read one, *one* fanfiction that treated the character as actual transgender, though I've seen some nicely androgynous fanart pieces. (The fanfiction writers and most of the fan artists like to make the character either one thing or deviate from canon by splitting the character into two physically seperate people). The "split this character in twain" is actually one of my pet-peeves in the fandom.

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    1. To me, the joy of Pixar movies is that they allow for these multiple readings, in ways that resonate with all kinds of different audiences. I believe the writer or director of Ratatouille explicitly stated his intention for that movie to function as an allegory for being gay, but you certainly don't need authorial blessing to read the film in a way that resonates for you.

      (The child in the lovely short preceding Brave I did read as female, because I'm stubborn like that.)

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    2. I didn't know that about Ratatouille... something to think about the next time I watch the film. What resonated with me with it was the "undiscovered artist" thing. I can't remember if I had wet eyes at the end in the theater, but I think I did because of the whole "I'm a struggling writer/artist - art is what I wanted to do all my life, but I've never had enough attention by others to make a living or be considered a genius for it." Remi, by his nature, must do his creative work in the shadows - it's all about the art for him. I'm not into the culinary arts so heavily, but it spoke to me as a general artist.

      I got to thinking, since blatant trans* characters, especially males in female skin are so rare in western media... and well, any media... an anime I liked popped into my head. It's been a little bit since I've seen "Level E" (I don't know if it is even licensed, it's one my guy downloaded when it was in fansub stage). It's about aliens secretly visiting and living on Earth - kind of like "Men in Black." There's a story-arc late on about a human young man who's known who he is from the time he was a young child who... since becoming a teenager has to bind his breasts every day to feel like who he is. He's had a rough love-life in part because he is insistent on dating straight girls in hopes to find the one who won't care about his physique. Then he meets an alien princess looking for earthly male DNA... and then it becomes complicated.

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  2. What the hell...of course she was a female! Honestly, I find this review really offensive. So because she was a great archer, that means she was a dude..please stop calling yourself a feminist.

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  3. How in the world was she transgendered????? Her behavoir was completely different then the boys and men in the film and she was perfectly fine with being a woman....sorry but this review is really offensive to me...and honestly all it does is give credit to radfems that being transgendered is all about not conforming to gender rolls

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    1. Why is it offensive? I'm not forcing you to accept my reading as your own. Quite the contrary - as I said in my comment above, Pixar films (like any good text) open up a space that allows for plurivocal readings. Merida never said the words "I am perfectly fine with being a woman." Your reading of that into the film is fully defensible, and may indeed be the preferred reading of many cis women. That's okay. My reading of Merida as a trans boy is also defensible (as I have defended it above), and is my preferred reading for my own purposes (as I explicitly state in my final paragraph). That's also okay.

      (Gender rolls... hee.)

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  4. Yeah and she wasnt exactly hiding her sex or saying my name is boys name...SHE was a tomboy...like many girls are including me....also you are miss endearing her in your post...the writers and director set out to make a mother daughter story...they intended for her to be a girl...you are acting as if you know the writers better then they do....you are also saying that any girl who is adventurous must really be a boy....I will ask again..whrere was she acting trans? Just because she didn't like tight dresses doesn't mean she is a guy...she was fine withher name and hair she also acted feminine in many ways too...by your logic my niece is transgender tool because she plays sports...shit am I trans, I like mountain climbing, science, and tools....yeti know that I am a woman

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    1. I'm glad you know you're a woman, and I cast no aspersions on your womanhood. What I am doing is reinterpreting a FICTIONAL character in a way that speaks to me personally (and I am personally uninterested in authorial intent; see Barthes for more details).

      Where did I say that adventurousness or outdoorsiness or archery makes Merida a boy? I simply pointed to Merida's discomfort around the word "princess" and distaste for marriage - not conclusive evidence of transness by any means, but this behavior is consistent with a reading of the character as trans. A person can be trans without changing their name or cutting their hair - your assumption that there is a single narrative of transness is cissexist, and frankly I don't understand why you're getting so defensive. A woman who does typically masculine things and knows she is a woman IS a woman, and I never suggested otherwise. I am simply offering one possible reading of this FICTIONAL character in this MADE-UP narrative, because it causes the text to resonate with me personally.

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    2. So...not wanting an arranged marraige or being uncomfortable with the strict rolls of being a princess=transgender? Also the reason she was more mad at her mom was because she WAS the one doing all the pressuring where the father was more understanding. Notice how at the end she became more comfortable with her role too? She started becoming more diplomatic like her mother.

      Also if you read interviews with the director Brenda Chapman, who also wrote the story, she talks about how she wrote this story to be about her and her mother...so yes, she wrote the character as a girl.

      The reason why I am getting defensive is because I am tired of everything being male centered..Pixar, has FINALLY released a film with a female lead. So it is a bit jarring to read, nope sorry! This is also about a guy.

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    3. Well, I can't say why anonymous thinks anything, but this issue to me is just another "hey, girls who don't like x feminine thing, and want to be a tomboy, but can't convince everyone you're a boy? too bad. You should just be a boy like Merida". See also "I'm not a girl(athlete, scientist, geek, etc) . . . I'm just a (athlete, scientist, geek, etc)." It feels like just one more abandonment-and it's worse seeing it in ostensibly feminist places.

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  5. Misgendering..sorry. That was what really set me off actually

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  6. Interesting review. I haven't seen the film, but your analysis seems well thought-out. I love reading things that challenge the author's intent or even other people's readings of the same material.

    I suspect I'm more likely to read Merida as a girl, but I'm also a cis woman. I'm glad it spoke to you in some way, too.

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  7. This is so offensive. Personality traits have nothing to do with sex. Gender is fake. She's a girl. Jeebus this is getting silly.

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    1. I know I said the other day that I was going to delete nasty anonymous comments, but I'm keeping this one because it's funny. "Gender is fake. She's a girl." Not seeing the slight contradiction there, pal?

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  8. As I was first reading this post, I was bothered by it, essentially for the same reason as the other commenters above – basically, FINALLY here’s a main character who’s female, but doesn’t like traditional female gender roles (or rolls, that comic is awesome), a female like me! For once! And now you’re saying that the person isn't like me, taking this one thing I can cling to away from me. It hurt. BUT, at the same time, I was bothered that I was bothered, I think basically because of the sentiment expressed in your last paragraph. As few characters as I have that I can relate to, strong female leads, there are even fewer trans* leads. I don’t know of any in mainstream culture. So you need this character that you can relate to as well, and it is possible to read this character as a trans boy, as you've shown.

    So here we are in the comments, fighting over the scraps the cis males have left us, the one lead character (ok, maybe not the ONLY one, but one of very few) that we have a chance of seeing ourselves in. Underrepresented groups fighting each other for representation. As you said – Easy solution: have more than one character that women, trans* people, and other minorities can relate to. If only…

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    1. ^^Love this comment. I've tried to make it clear that my reading of Merida as trans in no way invalidates or supplants other people's appreciation of the character as a girl - this is simply an instance of me projecting characteristics of my own life onto a fictional character in order to make it more meaningful to me personally. I think we all do this to some extent; I've tried to be honest about what I'm doing and why, but clearly it's still upsetting and offensive to a lot of people. Thank you for reading and commenting :)

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  9. I would never have thought of this myself (straight, cis* woman), but I (think I) can see where you're coming from. :)

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  10. Of all the posts on this blog, this is the one that pisses people off the most?

    (I haven't seen the movie yet, but this certainly seems an interesting and fruitful reading! I expect we differ when it comes to "death of the author," but there's always value in looking at something from a different angle and seeing what you get! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this sort of thing when I do inevitably see it.)

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  11. ...I really loved this reading of it - thank you for sharing! It's given me a lot more to think about when I inevitably rewatch it.

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  12. Disclaimers: I am a Male-to-Female transsexual. I have not seen the movie. Now that that's out of the way.

    I can not find myself to agree with this. I myself am a woman, however I would not want to be a princess. Prim and proper things like that /bore me to tears/. I love doing things that are considered "manly" and such. Does that mean I should stay male and not transition? No. However the way you're putting it sounds like it. I have a saying: "There's a difference between being a girl and being girly." The main character isn't girly. So should that automatically disqualify them from being a girl? Not in my opinion.

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  13. I found this review offensive because EVERYONE IS CISGENDER DUH.

    What's even the point of reading people as trans? YOU"RE APPROPRIATING WOMYN"S ABILITY TO DO ANYTHING. No one is allowed any readings that don't fit my "CIS unless explicitly noted" rule. If you do other readings that don't fit that rule, you are hereby thrown out of FEMINIST CLUB because WHAT ABOUT THE CIS WOMYN HUH?

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  14. Rather reminds me of reading Well of Loneliness in college (is it, we endlessly debated, a true "lesbian classic" or something else)... and I must admit some of these comments remind me of the reactions I got to our college production of Romeo and Juliet where we decided to make Romeo female.

    Wherever Merida fits in the gender spectrum, the character seemed pretty fabulously queer to me.

    Also- when I came out to my extended family I certainly received the stereotypical "you're so Brave!" response and now I'm going to snicker a bit every time I see a movie poster.

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  15. I think this is a shallow and sexist read of the movie. There's no mandate on female identity that makes coercive identity as a princess desirable. The scope of identity is wide and broad and there are women who refer to themselves as women, identify as women and chose to use female pronouns (as Merida does to the extent of our knowlege and I beleive we should respect that) who reject marriage and come into conflict with their mothers about gendered expectations and coming of age. Not all female identity is the same and queer theory should show us that the hoop is large enough to jump through for any of us.

    Additionally, there needs to be a distinction in the rejection of traditional heterosexism and cissexism. You're reading is interesting, but your reasoning is unstable. I think it's important to respect identity as presented or stated by the person being discussed. Changing pronouns because you "read" Merida as a boy is just as presumptuous and offensive as writing pronouns of a trans-guy female because you "read" him that way.

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