User blog:Red Compassion, Red Love, Red Hate/Let It Go





Okay, first things first. This is a rant, so keep that warning in mind before you read and/or comment.

But am I the only person who isn’t totally crazy about Frozen? (I know, the movie was out for a whole, but I just saw it a little while ago) I mean, it’s a good movie, and the singing is great, but I am still not the biggest fan of that movie. I’m able to appreciate musical ability/talent, but I have some reservations about the whole story/plotline as a whole. It’s just that, when you actually look at Anna, Elsa, other characters and their actions, it could’ve been handled much differently.

I feel like Frozen lacked any real character development. I know that Elsa did, but it was just so instantaneous, you didn’t really see anything that could’ve let up to that. I mean, besides guilt, depression and avoidance. Although her song, Let It Go was amazing, that song was one of her only moments that showed her like a strong and empowered women, but in retrospect, taken the context, it’s more like she has just tried to run away from her problems. She doesn’t have many goals, of course other than not hurting someone, but she doesn’t try to be accepted for who she is and she doesn’t try to learn how to control her powers. In all honesty, she’s frightened by her own self and runs away and doesn’t stop until her own sister is on the brink of death/theoretically dead. Although Elsa is allowed to break free (momentarily) of the bonds that tie her down (aka fear of her powers), and create an ice castle, whenever someone comes close, she creates a giant snow monster, probably a representation of her own feelings, to scare away anyone who is trying to help. She blames herself, avoids people at all costs, and she deals with her issues by running away from them. I understand how other Disney character such as Simba from The Lion King also had the same reaction (did something wrong, run away) but at least he came back with intentions of setting things back and restoring balance so everything is good and happy. Elsa had to practically be hunted down, and was forced back to Arendelle in chains after she was knocked unconscious when she refused to return.

And then there was Anna, I’ll just say it: Anna isn’t very intelligent. Of course you can argue lack of intelligence for being naïve, but not many people should run off to get married to each other in the first place. Anna probably at least had some interaction with other humans during her lifetime. Even Elsa, who was probably much more isolated than Anna, had enough common sense. Anna’s behavior just seems even more cliché than a few Disney Princess movies (I know it was probably there for emphasis on gender roles, but still). Disney tried to make her seem so much more than a pretty face, and tried to show some real emotions, but then she just punched a guy (Hans). That, although meant for comedic effect, was just so out of character (her usual bubbly and unknowing self), it seemed out of place.

After looking at it for a few minutes, doesn’t it also, to a certain degree, promote violence if someone’s being mean/a jerk? I’m guessing that a lot of you Frozen fans are just groaning (either that or steam is pouring out of your ears because I have an opinion that’s not the same as yours), but when you really think about it, if Hans punched Elsa, or to be more general, if a guy punched a girl in the movie, then people would probably hate Hans (or said guy) even more and there'd probably be an uproar from who knows how many people. But if a girl punches a guy, then why does it only make the girl seem stronger and like she’s just standing up for herself? Again, I understand it’s only for comedic effect, but it just doesn’t seem morally just.

Another thing that falls under the aspect of being < >, although the rock troll creatures things... dance/jazz number was entertaining and just gave a happier upbeat tone to the unfortunate events that had been occurring, doesn’t it seem like the actual meaning of it was completely wrong? I mean, seriously, they’re practically singing and dancing about a forcing a marriage between a man (Kristoff) and a girl (Anna), despite knowing that she’s already in love with/engaged to another person. And, they barely even knew Anna in the first place (well, maybe they remembered her, but...). She was pretty face and a girl, it seemed as if that’s all the mattered. When you really think about it, even though Hans wasn’t a good person in the end and the trolls actually had some truth to their tale, the way it was executed just seemed off. Last time I checked, forced arranged marriages is frowned upon in this day and age.

If people are going to argue that Anna is actually a strong, independent girl who is perfectly capable of making her own choices, doesn’t it just seem like a kick to the face when trolls step on that and tell you that your choice is wrong? Disney’s intentional portrayal of Anna is just a bit contradicting.

And don’t you think that life could’ve been so much easier for everyone if they just told Elsa, a scared little girl, that < > can thaw the ice of the heart? I feel like that tidbit of information would most likely greatly reduce the amount of traumatic childhood experiences Elsa had. Just putting that out there.

I think that the aspect of this story that made this movie seem so great to people (other than Let It Go), was the < > that wasn’t a kiss, or the fact that there wasn’t any of that love at first fight idea which people claim happens so much in Disney movies. But in all honestly, it’s not as common as people may think. Out of all the Disney movies, there were only about 4 (pre Frozen) that actually had a love-at-first-sight moment (Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Ariel). Now, there’s five. Granted, Hans wasn’t exactly the nicest dude in the end, she still considered it love. And out again, out of all of the Disney Movies, there were only about 2 that actually had true loves kiss save the day (Snow White and Aurora). So by saying that the < > and < > never happens in Frozen as it does in apparently all of the other Disney Princess stories... That's just false. Besides, Frozen isn’t the first sibling/friendship/platonic movie that Disney's made (Lilo and Stitch, The Fox and the Hound, The Lion King, Brother Bear...) We should also recognize that the <> idea has been out there before and Disney has definitely started to venture out into that idea a while ago.

Although the movie was very popular, Let it Go was sung beatifically and the artwork of it was good, I’m just not seeing the mob mentality of it all. I personally, would not consider this movie a breakthrough in Disney or movies in general, nor would I consider this < > Disney (princess) movies of all time.

Sorry. But just let it go. This cold shouldn’t bother you anyways.