Disney Princess culture is so dominant that the glorification of these traditional, outdated role models has spawned an entire “anti-princess” movement, with mothers pledging to not allow their daughters to watch the Disney Princess films or get sucked into the profitable merchandising industry that makes princess costumes so ubiquitous at every playdate (and forget about Halloween).
Unlike most of her predecessors, Merida is neither cursed nor orphaned. She doesn’t have an evil stepmother, a fairy godmother, or a maniacal enemy plotting her downfall. Like most teenagers, she has a fundamental difference of opinion with her mother about what she should and should not be able to do.
