Seriously. The first real post I will write is a review of a very popular Disney movie. I imagine anyone who is bored enough to read this has probably seen the film. Elsa has wintery ice powers and what not. It seems silly and trivial but that feels like a good place to start.
I'll begin telling you about my experience when the movie came out in theaters. I was out of the country and didn't have a desire to watch it on my own. I learned that my daughter, Madison, saw it twice in the theater and loved it, so I wanted to wait to be around her when I see it for the first time. Now in this world we live in with people living on social media and others blogging about absolutely nothing that anyone cares about, of course I heard all about Frozen anytime I sat at a computer. This was my perception of what the movie was about before seeing it.
There are 2 sisters, blah blah blah, they support gay marriage or something, there's a snowman, blah blah blah, liberal propaganda, and "Let It Go" is some amazing song about empowerment and the freedom from haters, I guess, and everyone in the world has to cover it and change as little as possible. This was my view of Frozen coming back home. These points were seemingly the only things posted to Facebook for several months.
Naturally, being my daughters new favorite movie, my wife had bought it on blu-ray just before I got back home. With all the hype I could not have cared less about this movie, but I want to be a part of my daughter's interests and so I knew we would watch it together very soon after being home. So we did. Now, I have no intention of breaking this film down scene for scene or actually reviewing it in a typical sense. Instead I would like to tell you about, as I told my wife half way through, "the realest movie I've seen in a very long while".
First, to contrast the idea of this movie pushing any extreme left or right message. As opposed to being about gay marriage, which is one of the strongest themes in my Facebook version, to me it was all about moderation. Elsa lived her childhood ashamed of her gift. Repressed by her father she was told to "conceal, don't feel". It's very easy to see the relation to homosexuality in a lot of our culture, but why see it so narrowly? Shame is a powerful enemy of happiness and healthiness. It's just another arm of fear. This could talk to, not just parents and societies who repress the homosexuality of an individual, but to repression of sexuality in general or to repression of any special gifts the world has trouble understanding. To me, the film spoke loudly of sexual repression.
Human sexuality is a gift. A very special gift. Many people, myself included, were raised to fear sex and feel shame over anything sexual. Concealing it does not make it go away. The shame makes you feel so alone, like no one else can relate to what you feel. You have this gift that you can't keep quiet and struggle to control because you are afraid to learn about it. Some people would paint Elsa's father as the original villain. I know now how difficult parenting can be. I try to find ways to ensure my children learn of love and goodness, while trying not to use shame as a weapon. Let me say this clearly, SHAME HAS NO PLACE IN PARENTING! Imagine those off film moments in Elsa's early life where here father spots ice near her room. He would confront her and, despite clear evidence, she would likely lie about it. It becomes a pattern, she becomes terrified that someone will find out about her gift. She feels so alone. Not a very pretty picture. It's a hard life for Elsa early in the movie. Which leads me to my second point.
"Let It Go", as I had perceived before seeing the movie was all about empowerment and being yourself, free of judgment. I kid you not, the scene surrounding that song and her new choice in the song is the darkest part of the movie to me. She decides "Screw this! This is me, this is all there is to me. I don't need anyone, I can just let my gift run wild and no one will ever be hurt." Who hasn't at some point said something similar between their teens years and late twenties? Look at what she does; she builds a temple of vanity showcasing nothing but her gift, she decides to live alone(the feeling she's been hating all her life), and ignores the very real pain she is causing those she loves. She's convinced herself she's happier, and not without reason, she's had the thorn of shame removed after living with it her whole life. We've all been there, it feels great. There's even that great moment when Anna confronts her and Elsa says " I belong here, alone, where I can be who I am without hurting anybody."
Anna then corrects her, telling Elsa everyone is suffering because of her living without boundaries. Woah, just realized that her power creates life (i.e. Olaf). That is quite a parallel for you. Back on topic, Elsa learns very quickly at that point that pushing away those we love so we don't have to be reminded of a shame filled outburst is just another way to "conceal, don't feel". Elsa was never the witch the Duke of Weselton painted her to be, her gift was no curse, it was something she needed to recognize her full potential. The beauty of our gift is something we all possess, we must fight to find that ground between shameful regression and letting it go, letting our gifts be fine tuned tools in our hands as opposed to our secret or whole identities. Love is the key.
Love saves. Literally. Anna doesn't need a simple kiss to save herself, she taught her sister that love was the way to find temperance. She had been hurt by Elsa, the physical form being more obvious than the emotional pain of missing her sister and being turned away. She showed us all that love can save us and save those we love. I truly believe that there is nothing that acts of love cannot mend.
Side notes.
Disney should always hire experienced Broadway writers to write their music. The songs being conversational and part of the story made this more than a simple animated movie but a theatrical production. I loved the music.
The trolls were almost entirely pointless. Classic Disney marketing, I hope the toys sold well.
