Frozen Meaning

By now, everyone has seen the wonderful Disney movie, Frozen.  It’s a cute movie with a great message of love for family and others.  You’ve no doubt heard the inspiring “Let It Go.”  Actually, if you have children under 10, especially daughters, you’ve probably heard it every day for the last few months.  You’re probably tired of the song.  There’s a hidden message in the movie that should horrify every parent.

Elsa has a gift of being able to create snow and ice instantly.  She can create beautiful winters just with the snap of her fingers or stomp of her foot.  That’s actually pretty cool, but after injuring her sister, Ana, Elsa feels remorse.  While their parents take them to trolls to fix Ana, they also chastise Elsa for her actions and then tell the trolls that Elsa can control and hide her power.  Obviously, that doesn’t happen in the end, though this is Disney and everything is solved by the end of the film.

Did we miss the part where the parents are encouraging Elsa to hide her talents?  Instead, they reduce staff (eliminating jobs always seems like a good idea, right?), close the gates and limit Elsa’s contact with everyone (even with her sister).  What a horrible message to send to kids.  “Hey, if you’re different, you should shun yourself from the world and it’ll just go away.”

C has incredible talents for music and theatre.  I don’t want to limit that.  That’d be a terrible thing to do.  She’s been blessed with comedic timing and dramatic understanding.  I don’t want to make her quiet or an athlete (neither her mother or I is an athlete, so any athletic ability would make me wonder who her mother really is).  It’d be obscene to make her something she’s not or try and tell her to hide her talent.

I guess it’s good this is overlooked because so much of the movie changes when you realize how the parents tried to stifle their own daughter.  For pete’s sake, the head troll (we learn later his name is “Grandpappy”) even tells Elsa and her parents that her powers can be a great gift, but if fear enters the picture, it could be considered a great evil.  So what do the parents do?  They encourage her to fear her own abilities.  Smart move, mom and dad.

Don’t stifle your kids.  That’s the worst you can do.  Sure, they’re going to change their minds on what they like and what they want to try.  Yes, they’re going to cost you some money on things they think they want, but end up quitting because they hate it.  Just accept it.  It’s a small price to pay to see your kids discover what they’re best at and flourish.