UPDATED - I forgot to include the trolls originally :-)
*****Spoiler Alert: Do not read this if you haven’t seen the movie!!! Okay, if you don’t mind spoilers, read ahead, but I am not screening my thoughts about the plot, because I’m going to try and make a few points. Like I said: SPOILERS!!!**************
I took my kids to see Frozen last Saturday. Yes, I realize we’re about two months late to the party, but oh well. I loved it. It wasn’t my favorite ever, but it was one of Disney’s better films. There was a thing or two that bothered me, but I looked past it and enjoyed the movie.
Yesterday I saw an article posted on Facebook:
http://middleagedmormonman.com/home/2014/02/lets-talk-about-frozen.html?fb_action_ids=624374490950396&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=addtoany&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B618290141577867%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%22addtoany%22%5D
If you haven’t seen the article, go check it out. Basically, he points out the lyrics of Elsa’s “Let it Go” where she sings:
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free
I did notice those lines when I was in the theater, watching the film, and like the author of this post, it made me flinch. No right? No wrong? I’ve been taught since I was a child that that is the message of Satan himself. If you don’t believe in right or wrong, then he can get you to do whatever he wants you to do, because nothing is “wrong”.
The other point the author points out is that Elsa changes her costume from a very modest dress to a sexy, off the shoulder gown with a slit. She gains the sexy swagger to go along with it, too. Again, something I noticed. Her hips have a life of their own when she’s in the pretty “Ice Queen” gown.
I can’t argue against the author’s points. But here is my response. Rather than thinking Disney was promoting these things, maybe it was just part of a story - part of Elsa's journey. I'm going to use it as teaching moment for my kids. Let’s look at Elsa’s development in the film.
Elsa starts as an innocent, young child with strengths and weaknesses that she has had from birth.
We each come to this earth with strengths and weaknesses given to us from God. As children we are innocent, as Elsa was as a child, when she accidentally hurt Anna, but we all grow up and learn the difference between right and wrong.
Elsa was told she needed to hide her weakness (I’m going to be vague about what her weaknesses and strengths are, because I think it’s more complex than I want to go into) and be “perfect”. “One mistake” - one sin - would ruin everything.
We are mortal, and eventually, we will all make mistakes, just as Elsa did. She got upset, her powers came out (her mistake/sin), and she flees the palace, barely avoiding causing harm to the people attending the coronation.
Now the “Let it Go” montage begins. There is so much truth in what she says. She sings of isolation – when we sin, we feel alone.
“Can’t hold it back anymore” – as long as we are mortal, we will make mistakes – commit sins. I’m sorry, there was only one perfect person in the world, and you aren’t him. The point is that we keep trying, repenting daily, and working harder.
“Turn away and slam the door” – of course, rather than working daily to better yourself, the natural reaction is to turn away, to stop trying, to leave the past behind you.
And of course, “No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I’m free! … The cold never bothered me anyway!”
This is a perfect example of how, in her “sins”, she feels like she’s broken free of the “rules” that guide us. She’s isolated her self and tells herself, “I am going to do what I want. It doesn’t bother me, and I’m not hurting anyone else with what I’m doing.”
Of course, at this point in the movie, Elsa doesn’t realize that what she’s doing is affecting the good people of Arendelle. Her powers have turned the summer to winter, and the whole fjord is frozen over. While she’s singing about freedom, the people she loves are suffering.
How is that for symbolism? So many people will say “I’m not hurting anyone! I’m not bound by the rules that bind you; I’m free!” They simply can’t see how their actions affect the world around them.
Then Prince Hans leads a rescue party to bring back Princess Anna. They find Elsa’s ice palace and two men attack Queen Elsa. Prince Hans (who breaks my heart later in the film …) says, “Queen Elsa! Don’t become the monster they think you are!”
In other words, you’ve left your kingdom, put on your immodest dress, and set yourself up to be a monster. Everything you’ve just been doing, the whole “Let it go” montage, was setting you up to be a bad guy … but the choice is still yours. You get to choose what you’re going to do and what you’re going to be. And in that moment, Elsa chooses not to kill the man who was threatening her – she chooses right.
She realizes that the palace she built for herself is really just an illusion, and it doesn’t actually solve any of her problems to run away.
Meanwhile, Anna is looking for “An act of True Love” to heal her frozen heart (as advised by the trolls, who I just LOVE).
Speaking of the trolls, the lyrics of their song are worth pointing out:
People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed,
But throw a little love their way, and you'll bring out their best!
That's pretty much the point of the whole movie, right there.
Back in Arendelle, Hans reveals himself to be the villain he is, and Elsa breaks out of the prison.
When Prince Hans attacks Elsa …
Anna puts herself in the way. This act of true love heals Anna’s heart - a lovely twist, by the way, as we all expected someone who loved Anna to cure her, not to have her cure herself with her own act of true love for her sister).
BUT it’s SO FITTING!!! Because of the symbolism. See, LOVE is the answer to everything. Why did God send his Son to die for us? For LOVE. Why did Christ follow the plan and become our Savior? For LOVE. What allows us to take full advantage of Christ’s atonement, repent of our sins, and eventually return to our Father in Heaven? Love for him. Love enough to motivate us to repent and change.
Love … Charity … is the key.
And in the end, Elsa changes. She learns about love, and she returns to Arendelle to live with her people.
And uses her talents to bless her people. (And even if her sexy dress doesn’t change, her mannerisms certainly do.)
My kids loved the show, and yes, as the author of the other blog post pointed out, they are walking around singing the anthem of a sinner (Ok, that’s putting it harshly, but you get the point.) But I can use this example to teach them that there is right and wrong, that our actions affect the people around us, and that Love – for each other and for the Lord – is what will save us all in the end.
I can deal with that.
