Frozen--Why I Just Can't "Let It Go"
Disney has done a fairly good job in the past few years at making female characters powerful. In my own childhood, we had Pocahontas and Mulan to look up to, who, despite some flaws in their stories, were the saviors of the men they loved rather than the damsels being saved.
Now don't get me wrong--I'm not one of those Disney-hating feminists who won't watch movies like The Little Mermaid and Cinderella because of the gender stereotypes. I love those two movies--there aren't many Disney movies I don't like. Sure, sure, I know there are all kinds of ideological things presented, but that's what critics do. They look for hidden things in movies and books that fit their agenda. There was an awesome thing I saw online that relates. It had two interpretations of a scene in a book: the English teacher (or critic) and the author. The English teacher rambled on about how the character's curtains were blue and how the blue curtains represented the character's deep underlying depression and blah blah blah. And the Author simply stated, "The curtains were blue!"
So whether or not you agree with me on the delightfulness of Disney, you can agree that in recent years, the Disney movies have portrayed women differently. Tiana in The Princess and the Frog was a business woman at heart and wanted no part of Prince Naveen's self-centered life. She did her fair share of rescuing in that film. Merida, from the Pixar film Brave, spent the entire film convincing everyone she didn't need to get married and saved everyone in the end (side note: I would love to see a Brave 2 where she meets a bloke who can keep up with her, but that's the romantic in me). Even Rapunzel, the sheltered dreamer that she was, stood up to people and didn't need to constantly be rescued in Tangled.
But Frozen! I cannot sing the praises of this film enough! Between the music and Olaf (the delightful snowman who only wants to know what summer is like), the film was fantastic. And especially when you look at the gender roles in the story. First off, let's look at the romance angle. Anna met Hans at the royal reception and immediately "fell in love" with him, took him to see Elsa to get her blessing, and was met with this:
About time is right! Thank you so much, Elsa!
And then, when Elsa, a woman with power, is shunned by the people of her kingdom, Anna goes after her. Anna knows she can help her sister--can save her sister. Along the way, she meets Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff--the love interest. I love that in both Tangled and Frozen, they leave some of the romance off screen. They show, whether on the screen or in a monologue, the relationship taking more than a chance meeting at a ball.
But the best part...the best part...is that neither of these girls, when put in danger, need to be saved by a man. They get saved by their sister. And let's be honest here...I'd trust my sister to save me more than any man (ideally, Audra would say the same about me, but let's be honest...there are days I can't open the shed door...she might be waiting a long time for me to rescue her...hopefully the peril wasn't imminent).
Plus, through in a fantastic cast and an amazing soundtrack, including "Let it Go," which, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I can't stop singing it...and by singing, I mean belting it as loud as I can as I'm driving down the road. What can I say, it's in my vocal sweet-spot!
Let me just say, if this movie and that song don't win their respective Oscars, I'm going to be very disappointed. Of course, I'm already disappointed because "I see Fire" by Ed Sheeran wasn't nominated for Best Original Song, but this could make up for that.
Stay gold!
Now don't get me wrong--I'm not one of those Disney-hating feminists who won't watch movies like The Little Mermaid and Cinderella because of the gender stereotypes. I love those two movies--there aren't many Disney movies I don't like. Sure, sure, I know there are all kinds of ideological things presented, but that's what critics do. They look for hidden things in movies and books that fit their agenda. There was an awesome thing I saw online that relates. It had two interpretations of a scene in a book: the English teacher (or critic) and the author. The English teacher rambled on about how the character's curtains were blue and how the blue curtains represented the character's deep underlying depression and blah blah blah. And the Author simply stated, "The curtains were blue!"
So whether or not you agree with me on the delightfulness of Disney, you can agree that in recent years, the Disney movies have portrayed women differently. Tiana in The Princess and the Frog was a business woman at heart and wanted no part of Prince Naveen's self-centered life. She did her fair share of rescuing in that film. Merida, from the Pixar film Brave, spent the entire film convincing everyone she didn't need to get married and saved everyone in the end (side note: I would love to see a Brave 2 where she meets a bloke who can keep up with her, but that's the romantic in me). Even Rapunzel, the sheltered dreamer that she was, stood up to people and didn't need to constantly be rescued in Tangled.
But Frozen! I cannot sing the praises of this film enough! Between the music and Olaf (the delightful snowman who only wants to know what summer is like), the film was fantastic. And especially when you look at the gender roles in the story. First off, let's look at the romance angle. Anna met Hans at the royal reception and immediately "fell in love" with him, took him to see Elsa to get her blessing, and was met with this:
About time is right! Thank you so much, Elsa!
And then, when Elsa, a woman with power, is shunned by the people of her kingdom, Anna goes after her. Anna knows she can help her sister--can save her sister. Along the way, she meets Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff--the love interest. I love that in both Tangled and Frozen, they leave some of the romance off screen. They show, whether on the screen or in a monologue, the relationship taking more than a chance meeting at a ball.
But the best part...the best part...is that neither of these girls, when put in danger, need to be saved by a man. They get saved by their sister. And let's be honest here...I'd trust my sister to save me more than any man (ideally, Audra would say the same about me, but let's be honest...there are days I can't open the shed door...she might be waiting a long time for me to rescue her...hopefully the peril wasn't imminent).
Plus, through in a fantastic cast and an amazing soundtrack, including "Let it Go," which, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I can't stop singing it...and by singing, I mean belting it as loud as I can as I'm driving down the road. What can I say, it's in my vocal sweet-spot!
Let me just say, if this movie and that song don't win their respective Oscars, I'm going to be very disappointed. Of course, I'm already disappointed because "I see Fire" by Ed Sheeran wasn't nominated for Best Original Song, but this could make up for that.
Stay gold!
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