It's interesting that
Brave was brought to that consideration. My initial thoughts was that it was somewhat dismissed, due to it being a Pixar production which never was considered apart of Pixar's golden era. And therefore the same could've been said about Merida. Perhaps if
Brave happened to be a full-house Disney production, it could've been labeled for it's strengths (though I wonder if it's reception would've been different).
Though at least
Brave ended up with a Princess who wasn't interested in romance at all, the trite and derivative storyline hampered
Brave's overall purpose as a whole. It's a pity that Merida's purpose was to rebel against her arranged marriage and that it
was the story. Despite that the resolution was something of a innovation, it's a pity the rest of the storyline wasn't.
I don't mind Disney's current mentality of heroines completely dismissing their yearning for a man. But the problem with films like
Brave and
Frozen is their execution. Though
Brave was aimed to be a traditional fairy tale and we could assume that the marriage premise was a part from the get-go, I've stated my remarks about it.
In
Frozen there were hardly even room for romance, when the broken sisterly bond and Elsa's problems were enough of a plot for an entire movie. The romance felt shoehorned in and would've been a better fit in a premise where it was actually room for it. Heck, in fact it's no wonder that Elsa was depicted without an love interest, due to her inner struggle being her arc! The romance in
Frozen should've been a subplot, not as prominent as it ended up to be.
I remember Colin Davidson from dvdmg.com labeling Ariel as something one of a kind, despite starting the streak of strong, independent Disney females, that she still never belonged with her followers (despite not stating a main reason for being so). Despite my previous rants and criticisms, it is certainly true that Ariel's initial goal isn't about finding a man of her dreams, despite Eric belonging to the world that she yearns for. Her goal is to be a part of that world and later on he becomes the catalyst for her.
But it's true that despite the ongoing rants about Ariel desires, is that she was praised for her proactive nature and starting the streak of independent females. So Ariel is worthy of the praise. It's funny and contradicting that even Belle, which gained more praise for her strenght and independence, still at the end wanted a man, despite that it was vaguely and subtly cited in the movie.
However, now that we're getting an exception in Moana, it's still contradicting and remarkable that no matter how independent a Disney Princess is, they still mostly end up with the thing that they've criticized for; a love interest. The criticism is understandable, but also annoying after a while. Cause no matter what they've still criticized for it. Of course it's a impossible task to depict a character who's absolutely flawless and appealable to everyone. But due to the ongoing rants, perhaps Disney definitively should've done it
Pardon my sarcastic remark, but I couldn't resist.
