Outlander has missed the mark with the recent promotion for Brianna in Outlander Season 5. Here’s why fans aren’t so happy with it.
When Outlander released the small 10-second tease for Brianna in Outlander Season 5, I was admittedly disappointed. I try to remain positive about things, but this was a promo that missed the mark. And I’m not the only one to think that.
Fans have taken to social media to share their disappointment. And they’ve shared exactly why this promo is a problem.
Brianna becomes invisible
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While there are some cheering because Brianna is fierce like her mother, Claire, there’s a huge problem with the way women are viewed once they become mothers. Outside of the motherly role, they almost become invisible.
It’s something that never really happened with Claire. The show managed to keep the focus on Claire being a healer, as well as a mother and a wife. There was hope that the show could do the same for Brianna.
After all, the novels manage to keep Brianna as an individual person despite being a daughter, a wife, and a mother. Yes, there are times that she takes on the motherly role, just as she would, but she also has her own dreams and her own storyline. There was a lot of hope that it would be used for Outlander Season 5.
Then we get this promo, of Brianna making it clear that she will make sure her child grows up to become a good person. The promo is no longer really about Bree, but about her son.
No, you are expressing yourself just fine. This presents the idea that once a woman becomes a mother, she becomes invisible. She is no longer her own person, but is solely there for the child's sake. It's a toxic and bullshit concept to portray. She is so much more than a mother.
— Andrea 🎪 (@SmirkingRaven) January 21, 2020
There’s this feeling of when someone becomes a mother, that’s it. They do nothing else but are only there for the sake of their child. We know just looking at Claire’s storyline that isn’t the case. We know looking at Brianna in the novels that definitely isn’t the case.
However, it continues the feeling that a woman’s job is just to have children. While that would be the 18th-century view, that isn’t the view of Brianna. And it shouldn’t be the view of the series because of that. I could accept it if it was Marsali or another 18th-century character, but this is the independent, wild, and passionate Bree.
It doesn’t match the picture
The words about raising her child to be a good person doesn’t match the image of Brianna holding the torch. It doesn’t match the idea of her standing for destiny, which was used in the promo poster just a couple of days earlier.
Many fans would have expected something about how she would help her entire family in the 18th century. Some of us wanted something about how she would deal with her PTSD after Bonnet. How about how she’s managing life in the 18th century after being raised in the 20th?
This isn’t an attempt to put a 21st-century view on a period drama. It’s a case of remembering that Brianna isn’t from the 18th century. She grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when women were gaining more freedoms and more choices. She wouldn’t likely just want to be viewed as a mother.
I get that being a mom is important, but this Gif of her holding a torch and looking all badass and then you give her this little mommy line.
— The Sophie Skelton Group (@SophieSkeltonUK) January 21, 2020
You really fell flat on this one.
Brianna is a force to be reckoned with in both the 18th and 20th centuries.
We need a Do Over!
The torch makes it look like she’s ready for battle, for a war to come. And then she gets a line about being a mother.
And I’m not saying that mothers aren’t important. I would do anything to protect my daughters, but being a mother doesn’t define me. It certainly doesn’t define Brianna. And that’s where the biggest problem lies.
What did you think of the Outlander Season 5 promotion? What would you like to see for Brianna? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
