A Strong Mother and Daughter Relationship: Brave

Disney is often known for its typical cookie-cutter princess movies.  However, the latest Disney movie, Brave, breaks that template.  There is no delicate princess waiting for her knight in shining armor, just a spirited Scottish princess warrior who wants nothing more than her freedom.

Rather than center around an unlikely love, the movie focuses on princess Merida’s relationship with her strict mother, Queen Elinor.  Like any mother and her rebellious teenage daughter, the two butt heads throughout the entire movie, but eventually come together in the end to form an even stronger bond.

Brave takes place in the kingdom of Dunbroch, where four clans are ruled by Merida’s parents, King Fergus and Queen Elinor.  Merida is forced by her mother to marry one of the clan's sons to avoid starting a war between them, so she seeks a spell from a witch to change her mother's decision.  The spell inadvertently turns Elinor into a bear, and Merida must find a way to save her mother and stop the war now spreading in the kingdom due to her actions.

We see at the beginning of the movie that Merida and Elinor’s relationship is already strained.  Many scenes pass in Merida’s perspective during which her mother harps on everything she does wrong and piles up expectations on her that she does not want.  Merida’s uninterested and annoyed reaction to everything her mother tries to teach her about being a proper princess drives her mother crazy too.

Always at odds with each other

As a typical teenage girl, Merida has trouble accepting any responsibility that involves sacrificing her freedom.  Merida knows very well that refusing to marry will cause unrest among the clansmen, and could even start a war! She sticks to her guns anyway and insists that her life be run her own way, not by her mother's--no matter what the cost.

Elinor's faults rest solely on the fact that she refuses to see her daughter's side of the story.  In the end, Elinor just wants to do what is best for her daughter, just like any mother would.

In this clip, Merida and Elinor are talking about what they would like to say to the other.  When separated, they are less intense than face to face, but they are still unyielding in their arguments. In a way, both of them are right and both of them are wrong, but they can't seem to find a way to compromise!  Yet...

As the two spend a lot of alone time searching for a way to reverse the spell, Merida and Elinor’s bond strengthens and the two start to fix their problems.  Merida chooses to take her mother’s place and tries to resolve the fighting of the clans maturely and apologizes for her selfishness.  Elinor then tells Merida that she should break tradition and have the children of the clan chose their own love when they are ready. In an emotional ending, from 0:58 to 2:08, Merida apologizes to her mother and says that she loves her, the spell is broken, and the two have fixed their problems.

Brave’s portrayal of the mother and daughter relationship is one of the most accurately portrayed of any Disney movie.  It is not sugarcoated at all and many families can relate to the issues between Elinor and Merida.  Most mothers may not have the ability to turn into a bear to fix their problems with their children, but they can see that time spent together and trying to understand the other’s side will help "mend" their bond.

Brave is a movie that shows how to work towards a better relationship.  It is no surprise that these Disney movies can be used to help families work towards a better relationship as well.