The Mother/Daughter Drama in 'Brave'
Along with the negative view of princesshood, Brave is unique in that the mother/daughter bond is the center of the story. Usually, in children’s stories (and animated Disney cartoons in particular), it’s the absence of a mother that’s the character’s defining quality. (You basically have to go all the way back to Dumbo and Bambi to find a Disney cartoon where mothers figure prominently—and it doesn’t work out so well for them.) Yet the relationship between a mother and daughter is one of the most profound, lifelong bonds—and also one of the thorniest—and it’s worthy of examination.
Unfortunately, Brave doesn’t always live up to the potential of its rich subject matter. This is especially disappointing considering that, if anyone could grasp the complexities of the way mothers and daughters relate to each other, it should be the folks at Pixar, whose past movies can be earnest, heartfelt, suspenseful, and hilarious, often simultaneously. This is the company that turned an almost-octogenarian into an action hero in Up. Instead of finding a similarly unexpected angle on its first movie with a female protagonist, Pixar instead falls back on well tread territory, with princesses, angsty teens, and parents and children who just don’t see eye-to-eye.
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