Thoughts on FROZEN
I wrote this back in 2013....just posting now
I finally went to see "Frozen", the much crazed Disney Movie every little girl seems to know lately. They keep on telling us adults "Let it go" and seem to embrace anything resembling a Tiffany blue sparkled dress. Parents kept on telling me it was a good movie - that finally Disney got it right. And for those kids that might be more sensitive (like mine), they told me this might a movie worth taking the kids to.
So, given that my son had a birthday party to go to, we decided this was the perfect time for mommy to take my 5 year old daughter on her first trip to the movies.
Overall, I truly enjoyed the movie, the songs, the themes, and the experience. I have memories of sitting beside my little one, in her movie booster, and hearing her sing along "Let it go" with no inhibitions in the movie theatre, of hearing little girls including my own, chuckle at the funny lines and scenes, and feeling my girls' tight grip on me and wiping off her tears when one of the princesses freezes in the end in an attempt to save her sister.
And yes, I, like many mothers I know, seemed to have "LET IT GO" stuck in our minds once we were introduced to the song. I could not get it off my mind all night so I decided to you tube it. I listened to it in English, Spanish and Cantonese (sorry but the Cantonese version is terrible!). I looked at the sing along version to find out exactly the words of the song. I even downloaded an easy piano sheet so that I could attempt at playing it on the piano.
But, all day today, my literature background came back to haunt me and I started thinking about themes I see in the movie. And some seemed to be interesting. Disclaimer: I'm not saying these were the original intents of the makers of the film, these are simply thoughts I had, having only watched the movie once.
1) Sister/Sibling-hood: The movie actually reminded me of "Prince of Egypt" in some ways. I have to admit it was refreshing to watch a movie where we witness the ups and downs of sibling love as opposed to romantic love.
2) The power of Love: Of course, if you saw the movie, the entire premise of the movie is that Love is Strong enough to "thaw" any problem. The refreshing twist, though, is the focus is that 'true love' does not have to be confined solely, or be defined solely, on a romantic relationship between our heroine and a prince.
3) Out of the closet?: I don't know what you think, but I could not help, especially after listening to "let it go's" lyrics carefully, that there was a bit of an allegorical reference to Queen Elsa feeling free because she is out of the closet? It is clearly noted in the movie that her powers to freeze were born instead of it being a curse. The parents decide to keep her in her room in order to 'control' her powers. Elsa looses her identity while growing up this way and once she escapes she discovers freedom and a new self.
4) Men: It is interesting to note that all the men in this movie, aside from one, seem to play a negative role or minor role in the movie. Prince charming ended up being a fraud and selfish guy. And in the end, Elsa and Anna figured out the solutions to their predicaments with each other. Message? Girls can resolve their issues on their own. Whether boys help or not (as in the movie), ultimately, we have the power to control our own destinies.
5) Evil: Was there an 'evil' figure in this movie? I suppose Prince was...but it was not revealed to us that he was evil until the very end, which gave us viewers very little time to think about it. Was the ability to freeze evil? That is up to your interpretation. One could argue when Elsa and Anna were small, Elsa's ability to make ice and snow was a source of happiness for the kids.
6) Fear: Elsa was crippled by fear for most of life. In order to be free of fear she has to understand it, acknowledge it and rise above it
There were many other themes but what got my attention the most is its message to little girls - it might be subtle but in my opinion, it's there - women don't need men...and there is nothing wrong to be born different. If you are careful in listening to the lyrics of the theme song and watch Elsa's attitude when singing it - I'm not sure the movie would still be as popular as it is
****i wrote this a while ago but I never posted it. In all honesty I was scared to post publicly that I felt the popular song was a coming out song for Elsa and a criticism on culture not accepting Elsa as she is. Lately I've seen news on people wanting Disney to give Elsa a girlfriend in frozen 2 - and people responding with concerns
If Disney does go that route-it would not surprise me ... I actually felt Elsa was groomed to take that route. This doesn't mean I'm thrilled with it if this happens, but it's just another reminder that as parents we need to be watchful of what our kids watch - and to be wise in how we educate and guide our kids.
I finally went to see "Frozen", the much crazed Disney Movie every little girl seems to know lately. They keep on telling us adults "Let it go" and seem to embrace anything resembling a Tiffany blue sparkled dress. Parents kept on telling me it was a good movie - that finally Disney got it right. And for those kids that might be more sensitive (like mine), they told me this might a movie worth taking the kids to.
So, given that my son had a birthday party to go to, we decided this was the perfect time for mommy to take my 5 year old daughter on her first trip to the movies.
Overall, I truly enjoyed the movie, the songs, the themes, and the experience. I have memories of sitting beside my little one, in her movie booster, and hearing her sing along "Let it go" with no inhibitions in the movie theatre, of hearing little girls including my own, chuckle at the funny lines and scenes, and feeling my girls' tight grip on me and wiping off her tears when one of the princesses freezes in the end in an attempt to save her sister.
And yes, I, like many mothers I know, seemed to have "LET IT GO" stuck in our minds once we were introduced to the song. I could not get it off my mind all night so I decided to you tube it. I listened to it in English, Spanish and Cantonese (sorry but the Cantonese version is terrible!). I looked at the sing along version to find out exactly the words of the song. I even downloaded an easy piano sheet so that I could attempt at playing it on the piano.
But, all day today, my literature background came back to haunt me and I started thinking about themes I see in the movie. And some seemed to be interesting. Disclaimer: I'm not saying these were the original intents of the makers of the film, these are simply thoughts I had, having only watched the movie once.
1) Sister/Sibling-hood: The movie actually reminded me of "Prince of Egypt" in some ways. I have to admit it was refreshing to watch a movie where we witness the ups and downs of sibling love as opposed to romantic love.
2) The power of Love: Of course, if you saw the movie, the entire premise of the movie is that Love is Strong enough to "thaw" any problem. The refreshing twist, though, is the focus is that 'true love' does not have to be confined solely, or be defined solely, on a romantic relationship between our heroine and a prince.
3) Out of the closet?: I don't know what you think, but I could not help, especially after listening to "let it go's" lyrics carefully, that there was a bit of an allegorical reference to Queen Elsa feeling free because she is out of the closet? It is clearly noted in the movie that her powers to freeze were born instead of it being a curse. The parents decide to keep her in her room in order to 'control' her powers. Elsa looses her identity while growing up this way and once she escapes she discovers freedom and a new self.
4) Men: It is interesting to note that all the men in this movie, aside from one, seem to play a negative role or minor role in the movie. Prince charming ended up being a fraud and selfish guy. And in the end, Elsa and Anna figured out the solutions to their predicaments with each other. Message? Girls can resolve their issues on their own. Whether boys help or not (as in the movie), ultimately, we have the power to control our own destinies.
5) Evil: Was there an 'evil' figure in this movie? I suppose Prince was...but it was not revealed to us that he was evil until the very end, which gave us viewers very little time to think about it. Was the ability to freeze evil? That is up to your interpretation. One could argue when Elsa and Anna were small, Elsa's ability to make ice and snow was a source of happiness for the kids.
6) Fear: Elsa was crippled by fear for most of life. In order to be free of fear she has to understand it, acknowledge it and rise above it
There were many other themes but what got my attention the most is its message to little girls - it might be subtle but in my opinion, it's there - women don't need men...and there is nothing wrong to be born different. If you are careful in listening to the lyrics of the theme song and watch Elsa's attitude when singing it - I'm not sure the movie would still be as popular as it is
****i wrote this a while ago but I never posted it. In all honesty I was scared to post publicly that I felt the popular song was a coming out song for Elsa and a criticism on culture not accepting Elsa as she is. Lately I've seen news on people wanting Disney to give Elsa a girlfriend in frozen 2 - and people responding with concerns
If Disney does go that route-it would not surprise me ... I actually felt Elsa was groomed to take that route. This doesn't mean I'm thrilled with it if this happens, but it's just another reminder that as parents we need to be watchful of what our kids watch - and to be wise in how we educate and guide our kids.
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