It's been about a year and a half since Frozen came into all our lives, but I think a lot of us can agree it overstayed its welcome. I will be the first to whole-heartedly praise Frozen as the best non-Pixar Disney movie in many years, but the Frozen Fever (you better believe the pun's intentional) has gone on too long. However this blog isn't really about why we need to let go of Frozen. It's much more about the little things in Frozen that just don't make sense to me so I'm going to rant about them. This rant will be centered on why we need to stop idolizing Elsa and stop forgetting Anna.
My big problem with the Frozen mania is Elsa. Elsa simply isn't the best character in this movie and should not be a role-model for young girls. I will elaborate. Elsa has the powers of bending snow. One day this gets out of hand and her sister Anna gets hurt causing trolls to wipe Anna's memory of Elsa's powers. The parents (who should definitely have some blame in this equation) keep Elsa away from Anna (not the right choice) and create two daughters who don't have any emotional support system even after their parents die. It must be noted that these are two severely damaged individuals from a psychological perspective. It thereby makes perfect sense that Anna would fall for the first guy who shows interest in her, because NO ONE has ever shown ANY interest in her! Anna is perhaps one of the most love-starved characters in all of film. But I digress.
At the coronation of Elsa as queen (no, I'm not sure why it happens at this particular moment either) things go bad and Elsa freezes everything and runs away. Clearly this is a bad thing for all parties involved, so how does the movie present it...with the great empowerment anthem Let It Go. This just doesn't make sense. Yes, for Elsa this is a good thing as she is coming into her own understanding of herself, but the basic message here is that she needs no one else in life. The song has such lines as "kingdom of isolation" and "yes I'm alone but I'm alone and free". These are simply TERRIBLE ways to live life! Let me reiterate this as bluntly as possible: this is the greatest moment of crisis in Frozen. Comedies are built on the idea of restored relationship, but before that there is a broken relationship. This song, as catchy as it is, is the absolute high point of broken relationships in this story. As an audience we need to be aware that this isolation is NOT the answer, even if Elsa thinks it is and sings this happy song. Let me be even more clear: it makes sense for Elsa to sing this song, but we CANNOT adopt it as proper life philosophy.
I'm sure some of you are not big fans of hearing this, but I really believe it's true. Now allow me to make you more uneasy. Throughout the first 2/3rds of Frozen, Elsa is the villain. This really can't be denied since she is the one who cause the central conflict and breaks relationship. In fact Let It Go may be better interpreted as a really upbeat "villain" song not unlike the forgotten songs in many other Disney movies. This is where I level my unpopular opinion: Elsa stays the villain until the very end when she takes the sword for Elsa. You may think Hans is the villain throughout, but this isn't true because he is seeking to ESTABLISH relationship! His whole goal is to marry Anna. He has terrible motives and a terrible method, but he genuinely desires relationship with a girl who really needs restoration in her life. His intent is admirable, even if he himself is not.
Only when Elsa chooses this restoration over her selfish need to be alone does she become a redeemable character. It is rightly said that this is a love story between Elsa and Anna, but Elsa is the only one who changes. Anna is relatively the same person throughout except in learning how to accept love. I see no reason to think Kristoff and Anna wont work as a couple, because they both understand self-sacrificing love that seeks restored relationship rather than selfish desire. Elsa is championed as the hero of Frozen, and to her credit she does undergo major character change, but we really shouldn't forget Anna who understood love despite a lack of actually knowing love. My main points of all this are: 1. Let It Go should not be an anthem of empowerment, because that is the darkest point of the whole movie, 2. Anna should not be forgotten just because she didn't change over the film. At the beginning and the end, Anna is the more complete person and the much better role model for young girls.
I can't really think of anything I need to say strongly about Frozen except that it needs more music especially in the last half hour. This blog post wouldn't exist if there was another verse of Let It Go reprised when Elsa restores relationship with Anna. I think that's enough ranting for one rant. Leave thoughts in the comments about what you think and what you think I should talk about next time!
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