WTF review of 'Brave': EW article says "Girl not wanting arranged marriage=LESBIAN"

[brendala.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine pointed me to this article. It's Entertainment Weekly's review of Pixar's Brave. Well, it's not a "review" so much as a manifesto declaring that the main character is a lesbian because....she refused an arranged marriage and disliked wearing gowns that limited her mobility.
I think it's pretty telling that films starring single females who remain single for the entire film are so rare that, the moment a big studio makes one, everyone (including paid professional reviewers) goes nuts and assumes the girl MUST be gay or sexually confused or whatever.




I hate the implication that a girl who doesn't immediately want to date/marry once they hit the proper age must have some deep-rooted issue with her sexuality. Heck, Merida herself never said "I don't want to get married to a man EVER". She just hated the idea of being given out like a carnival prize to some bozo she's never met!

This article reminds me of how Velma from Scooby Doo (one of my favorite fictional characters, btw) has been pegged as a butch lesbian for ages simply because she's "ugly" (translation: she doesn't fit the Barbie mold that 90% of female protagonists fit into) and didn't act like a typical "token girl" character. Even as a kid, I never got why people pegged her as a tomboy (what self respecting "tomboy" would prance about in a red mini-skirt?). Her overall demeanor and behavior was rarely any less feminine than Daphne's. I guess it's because she had non-girl interests like....being smart. :P

While I sympathize with gay folks who want to find a character they can relate to; it still bugs the crap out of me when dumb stereotypes are used to prove that a character is a gay icon (even if their canon has established them as straight).

Comments

[neemarita.livejournal.com]

Those Christian movie guides are nuts. My husband was never allowed to watch anything Disney growing up because it's supposedly anti-Christian. Yeah, whatever. We saw Brave and enjoyed it. Our kid will see it and other films. Oh noes, fairy tales have witches and spirits in them! .... Yeeeah.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

I once read a Christian movie guide site for sh*ts & giggles and the ONLY movie that got a free pass (out of basically every movie EVER MADE) was Mary Poppins. Despite the fact that Mary clearly rides around on an enchanted umbrella and Bert is obviously some kind of dimension-hopping warlock.

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

Those Christian movie guides are nuts.

Completely. I remember when I was a kid there was one Catholic-only reviewer that saw E.T. and went down the path of "ALIENS are just FALLEN ANGELS and this movie has ALIENS in it and the child is seduced by SATAN." (That one got the slow head-shake from my mom.) I get a perverse joy out of reading whackaloon stuff like that. It's just so entertaining.

Yeah, whatever. We saw Brave and enjoyed it. Our kid will see it and other films.

Haven't gotten to it yet, but it's on the list.

Oh noes, fairy tales have witches and spirits in them! .... Yeeeah.

Yup. I'm totally going to Hell for liking "Ladyhawke" and fanning on the Bishop.
Dang it, now I'm in the mood for the Dungeons & Dragons Chick tract.