And still, yes, the male characters were reduced to caricatures, and you have to ask if Hollywood can ever build movies that have stories that are all-encompassing and detailed while not relying on worn-out stereotypes and tropes. I think, though, in this case, to have the male characters be much stronger or more defined than they were would have automatically nullified the main mother-daughter story in the eyes of the viewing audience. Patriarchal themes are so dominating most times, that the mere hint of their presence is enough to overpower the plot of a movie.

What I like is that, having had this success with a female-centered storyline, Pixar will be emboldened to carry it further. Brave is not so much the full-formed realization of more female-centric movies, but a precursor. Now, perhaps, we will begin to see more movies where characters other than cis white males carry the story. One can only hope.

I was expecting a Mulan-esque narrative about a rough-and-tumble Scottish princess who proves her ferocity and worth in some sort of dreamy and intense adventure in the woods.

Yet I was so pleasantly surprised when the film turned into a mother-daughter story. I got teary, too, at the final scene in the middle of the standing stones.

I don’t think I can put this very eloquently, but I agree that I wish the movie had made room for both strong women and strong men. To me, Elinor seemed to partially embody the trope of the woman-who-must-civilize-men. Just the whole “boys will be boys” thing, and the woman is going to be the responsible, driving force. I appreciated that Elinor was a strong woman who could be politically assertive, but I wish it felt less like a nanny breaking up a playground fight.

I do, however, think that the Elinor/Fergus marriage has shades of “smart-woman-marries-manchild” . . . which to me is not a particularly feminist notion of hetero relationships, and thus not particularly compelling. I don’t think that portraying “strong” or smart women (as a gender) in contrast to clueless men (as a gender) ultimately gets us very far. It just replaces one hierarchy with another.

I don’t think Elinor and Fergus necessarily have that type of relationship — but it seemed to be trending in that direction, which irritated me. Again, not something that spoiled the film, but something I noticed.

I also think that it’s possible to make a film about women’s relationships with one another (in this case a mother-daughter relationship) in which men are peripheral characters but not caricatures of manliness. I don’t think a quid-pro-quo “Well, they’ve been writing two-dimensional female characters for years!” is the best argument for turning around and reversing the dynamic. I’d argue that it is possible to make a film that simply focuses on women without stereotyping men.

I’ve noticed that the movie depicts Elinor as the one the people listen and defer to and it really fascinates me that it seems that in this depiction, it is the queen that holds more power than the king, with the latter not having any problem with. That’s…really radical.

And I really enjoy how the movie shows that there are different types of strength. Merida may know how to use her sword, but Elinor knows how to use her words.

I can’t help but interpret that Elinor wants Merida to get married, not because she wants her to be more “ladylike” (and interestingly, the executive producer has stated that the crew does not see Merida as a tomboy but a feminine athletic girl)but because she wants her to become queen in a way she became queen.

I honestly don’t care that the male characters are at the side and I am certainly rolling my eyes at all the dudebros that are whining about that. How many times have I complained about the lack of meaty roles for women in movies only to be ignored or mocked? A lot of criticism on Brave feels too much like “What about the menz?!”