25 Days of MacBree-mas Day 6: Why Brianna certainly isn’t a spoiled brat!

There is the view that Brianna is a spoiled brat. Let’s dispell that myth. The Outlander character is opinionated but not a brat!

Some Outlander fans have this view that Brianna is a spoiled brat. Marking Day 6 of the MacBree-mas countdown, I want to focus on this. After all, she’s not really a spoiled brat.

The term often comes up when discussing her actions towards Jamie after learning Roger had been sold to the Mohawks. It comes up when focusing on her opinionated ways. More often than not, I notice it as a way to push against the strongwilled nature of the character, as if her inner strength and opinionated nature is a bad thing.

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That’s where we need to be careful, really. We say girls are bossy or bratty because they’re showing their own minds. They want to lead and they want to share their opinions, but more often than not, it’s viewed as a bad thing through the terms we use.

Brianna certainly isn’t a brat. She’s a hormonal young woman suffering with PTSD from the 20th century in a world where women are second-class citizens; they’re the property of their fathers or husbands. In fact, they can be forced to marry their rapists because of the dishonor rape would bring. Yet, growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, at a time when women were gaining more freedoms and rights, contradicts everything that she’s faced within the 18th century.

That isn’t making an excuse for her actions. Sometimes she doesn’t think of others. But then, we’re all like that at times. Anyone who says they aren’t isn’t being fully honest. We only have to think back to what we were like as teenagers to know that there were times we only thought of ourselves.

And if Brianna was always like that, I’d say she was a spoiled brat. But that isn’t the case. After all, a brat wouldn’t choose to put herself in danger in a time 200 years earlier to make sure her father and mother could live. When she found out what happened to Claire and Jamie, she put a plan together (albeit not a well-thought-out one) to warn them. The idea was to head back to her own time afterward, but she still could have remained safer in her own time.

Outlander — Courtesy of STARZ — Acquired via STARZ Media Center

After that, she chose to remain in the past to wait for Roger. If she went back through the stones, she wouldn’t know anything that was happening. Her initial plan was to ride with Claire and Jamie to get Roger back. However, it would take too long. Instead, she waited in a time period where she could have been married off quickly to a man instead of waiting safely in her own time period.

This was a woman who took a meek woman as her servant out of the goodness of her heart. It wasn’t the best choice of companion, but she wasn’t thinking about safety. She was thinking with her heart. A brat wouldn’t do that!

Brianna defended both her parents when Laoghaire learned the truth of who she was. She would worry about how Frank would feel about her going through the stones. This is a woman with a lot of compassion and heart, but she is also strong-willed and opinionated. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!

While she was raised with the benefit of money and stature, she didn’t expect the world. She still worked hard in school, choosing the path that suited her. So, that takes out the idea that she’s spoiled—if she was, she would have expected the world handed to her.

It’s easy to view someone negatively because they don’t act how you would like. However, one thing that Diana Gabaldon and the show writers have done is create a strong woman with a lot of heart and compassion. Let’s get away from saying an opinionated woman is a brat. That’s certainly not the case!

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