Warning: This article contains spoilers for the movie “Frozen.” Should you not want to hear about said spoilers, run out of your home, see the movie, come back, and then read this article. Thank you.
With finals week in the near horizon (next week for me, this week for some) it’s safe to say that an outlet to de-stress is needed. Movies have always done the trick for me. It’s way to enter a completely new world that doesn’t involve the memorization of equations or reading sixty page biographies. Before I get questioned about this, (I won’t) yes I wrote this while listening to the “Frozen” soundtrack in the background.
As an immature twenty year old, I am both embarrassed and proud to admit that I adore and still watch Disney movies on the regular. More than just watch, I reference, write collegiate papers on, and just revel in the goodness that is innocent humor. The older I get, the more I appreciate the good clean fun that a Disney movie can provide. I also have a confession to make, my alarm clock sound is set to Brave’s song “Touch the Sky.” But that’s a different story.
So when Disney released their latest film “Frozen” it was game over for me. Truth be told the movie has gotten quite a bit of backlash from the public, rightfully so. First, there was blatant misrepresentation of the advertisements of this film. I, as someone who considers myself an avid movie goer, did not know this was a movie about two princesses until fairly recently. That is because all the previews and advertisements prior to the movie being released solely depicted both a male reindeer and a male snowman.
Not anywhere did they show the two lead females of the movie. Even in the early poster of the film, the shadow of Elsa (who isn’t even the lead character) was so jarringly hidden. See photo below, and also note the unnecessary phrase at the bottom.
So clearly, that was and is still a problem. Next, I’ll address the issue I find most problematic. Unfortunately, Disney changed the plot line of the film from the original story that it was derived from. The original story “The Snow Queen” had the protagonist saving her brother, and Disney changed it to her saving her sister. This reversal of genders problematically adheres to overused “damsel in distress” trope that has been ever so present throughout movies, especially in ones involving a Princess. They also added in a handsome male character Kristoff to accompany Anna as well, but because his character’s voice is the heavenly tune of Jonathan Groff, I’ve decided to look past it. Nevertheless, there are serious issues within this film that proves that movies repeatedly fail to portray women as the strong ones we see everyday in real life. Despite the problems with it, I truly believe in the film’s message. Here’s why.
The story, ultimately, is the tale about the love between two sisters. One sister is the voice of Idina Menzel aka Elphaba from the Broadway sensation Wicked and Maureen from Rent. As a once twelve year old year attempting and failing to hit the high end note in “Defying Gravity,” her voice will always hit home with me. The other sister, Anna aka Kristen Bell’s (“Gossip Girl here”) character is delightfully charming and ambitious. So yes, there are not only one, but two men in the film that the character Anna naively falls head over heels for. But there are also two leading ladies in the film. That’s something worth pointing out. After Anna needs an act of true love to unfreeze her frozen heart, they go out galavanting around to find her love for true love’s kiss. In this, it initially appears to parallel this redudant misrepresentation of “happily ever after” which always includes a prince. But the act of true love at the end of the movie is not between a man and a woman. It is between two sisters. Two sisters, even though their relationship has been rocky, ultimately prevails. I wish I could sit here and say that this movie is perfect, but it’s clealy not. It has plenty of problems that we see each day in the media through television shows and movies. But a movie that portrays that the unconditional love between two sisters that isn’t always perfect, but enough, will always have a special place in my heart. So my vote is heart warming (with a little bit of heart freezing in there). Go see it, and decide for yourself!