Kill me now.
No, wait.
Kill Billy Connolly, then kill me.
I can’t believe they are using Glaswegians (Billy Connolly, Kelly Macdonald, Robbie Coltrane and Craig Ferguson) and their accents for a story set in – I quote – “the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland”.
The nearest thing Pixar has to a highlander would be actor Kevin McKidd, who hails from Morayshire. There was a flurry of rumours last August that McKidd may be cast as the immortal Connor MacCleod in a planned reboot of Highlander.
Speaking of which! Will and I had a petty fight over Highlander last weekend.
I asked how old would Connor be since the film clearly dated the year he was born and the year he ‘died’. Will worked out that Connor would be 18 years old when he ‘died’. We looked at the TV screen, just the moment where Christopher Lambert fell on his knees and wailed. “He doesn’t look 18,” I stated rather stupidly.
Will said off-handedly, “He’s an immortal. His physical self is a literal representation of his true age.” I looked at him for a moment and pointed out the film was made in 1986 and Connor ‘died’ in 16th century, so he should look much more aged than that if we were to go with W’s theory.
Will argued Connor’s an immortal, he ages differently, and slower than we do, etc. while he – slowly but surely – climbed onto his favourite soapbox about science fiction, laws of physics, time dilation, and blah blah blah. All the while, I eye-rolled, looked at nails and muttered now and then: “But this isn’t a time travel film. Why can’t you just admit that the film messed up, anyway?”
When he wouldn’t budge, I argued that since Connor’s an immortal, he’s effectively permanently frozen. His cells regenerated in a locked loop. He can’t age, can’t mature, can’t ever die. We can cut him to pieces and put those pieces in different boxes, and bury them all over the world, and Connor would still be alive that way. Will then exclaimed, “Ah! But Connor can die. Beheading, remember?” I responded, “In that case, he’s not an immortal.” Will smirked. “Then what is he?” I asked. He shrugged and said, “Immortal.” Huh. “The different kind,” he hastily added.
That was when we fought over types and definitions of immortality. It got so bad that we didn’t realise the film was over long before we begrudgingly agreed to disagree. 
I’m digressing again. Sorry.
It’s a good thing, I suppose, that Pixar went with Kelly Macdonald as heroine “Princess Merida” because they were seriously considering Reese Witherspoon. I have no idea why or how they came up with that name, Merida. Not remotely Scottish, I felt. Definitely not Gaelic and any other ethnic group or language. To be sure, I Googled for some info and found a tiny mention that it may be French.
Then I found this: Be on the Lookout for Merida in 2012.
As far as I know, Merida is not a traditional Scottish name. Mairead, Murron, Morag…these are Scottish. I have no idea how Pixar came up with Merida, though. (Maybe they were vacationing in Mexico at the time?)
Murron is a Scottish name? The fuck? (I Googled this and discovered Murron is the name of “Wallace/Gibson’s childhood sweetheart Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack)” in Braveheart. Ah, now it makes sense.) And
But that’s a long way off. Until then, let’s look at some of the U.S. data on this very rare name:
- Best year? 1949, when 13 baby girls were named Merida.
- Second-best year? 1957, when 12 baby girls were named Merida.
- Most recent appearance on the SSA’s baby name list? 2002, with 5 baby girls named Merida.
There’s a response in that post that had me giggling almost uncontrollably:
Merida | 13 July 2011 at 12:21 pm |
And here I liked the idea that my name was unique.
Merida comes from the phrase “Emerita Augusta”, referring to Roman soldiers that had done great deeds for their country. The name has come to assume the meaning “one who has achieved a high place of honor”. It’s been used as a name for men and women, although these days it’s generally a female name.
If that’s true, then Pixar couldn’t pick the worst possible. Hadrian’s Wall and Antonine Wall, anyone? The fact the Romans spent roughly 300 years trying to conquer Scotland until they pretty much said sod this and abandoned Britain for the return home?
Anyroad, would I watch the film? I don’t know. I still haven’t seen Braveheart, Rob Roy, TV crime series Hamish Macbeth, and Centurion. Should I hang my head in shame? I don’t know either.
I did get to see The Eagle and TV series Oliver’s Travels, though.