We have all heard of these two famous “f” words: Frozen and Feminism They are subjects that have relentlessly been making waves in the media. Critics and consumers alike are still going crazy for Frozen, young girls donning their Elsa dresses and singing the popular song, “Let It G0″, which has been praised for being a powerful anti-bullying song about shedding your inner demons and being who you are unapologeticallyt Feminism is the growing social movement that advocates for women’s rights and for the rights of people representing all gender expressions People that adore Frozen love to talk about how it has two strong female characters, and that “You can‘t marry a man you just met.” Even though it’s nice that these things are being said, I am not convinced that these things are reason enough to be considered a progressive piece I would like to examine what this movie actually says about feminism and how it displays these progressive attitudes Elsa, one of the main characters in the film, is praised for her strength and character development.
Many people suffering from “invisible” illnesses such as depression and anxiety identify with her, as it is implied that Elsa suffers from these illnesses. I personally do not see these behaviors and see anxiety, Ijust see the conflict she faces within herself, which, of course, is what sparked the rest of the conflict throughout the movie, My biggest issue with Elsa, and the movie, in general, is that all of the conflict and misunderstandings could have been avoided if the Characters had a conversation and talked through their problems with each other. With Elsa, my issue is that her character development doesn’t feel authentic.
She goes from spending most of her life fearing herself and her out—of—control powers, and then over the course of a few days, being completely happy and being able to execute perfect control over everything. After learning that love is the answer, she immediately just knows how to fix the blizzard that she was panicking about the night before This does not make for compelling character development, and where I understand that this movie is only so long and they have a lot more going on than just Elsa‘s problems, I am being harsh because this is supposed to be something that Elsa, as a character, is praised for. Elsa is not powerful; she is weak, afraid, and out of control until she hugs her sister, has an epiphany, and then suddenly knows how to fix everything.
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For a movie to be truly feminist and progressive, we need complex female leads that show character development as complex as male protagonists in movies like Wreck it Ralph or Meet the Robinsons While I am not criticizing these movies for having a complex male lead, I will say that we need more movies with females in these same roles. Another thing many people like to bring up when talking about frozen being progressive is how they continuously repeat that, “You can’t marry a man you just meti” I feel like they did not need to shame Anna and beat the viewers over the head with this ridiculously obvious piece of advice. Sure, Elsa saying it to Anna at the beginning made sense, but then Kristoff and the rock trolls condemning her relationship with this guy because they just met is extremely judgmental and completely unnecessary, especially since that conversation with Kristoff was happening while they were trying to escape from wolves chasing after them.
The true love in this movie was not, as everyone saw coming, the love between Anna and Hans, but the love between Elsa and Anna. I will say that it is nice that familial love is getting represented, but Anna actually has every right to be upset with her sisteri She abandoned her to face the death of their parents alone, she kept herpowers a secret from Anna, even though as adults, they should no longer have to worry that Anna is going to get too crazy and get in the way of her powers, (I personally believe it was something the sisters could have worked through together) after braving the freezing temperatures, Anna‘s attempt to reach out to her sister was met with another episode of panic and Anna actually getting hurt by Elsa, and then she sent a giant ice monster after Anna and Kristoff to keep them away from her.
This list is ridiculous and is by no means a model of how a loving relationship works. I do not think that this means Elsa does not love Anna, but her actions do not really exhibit this sisterly lover With all of that, how can this bond between sisters trump the familial affection found in movies like Lilo and Stich and The Incredibles? If anything, I think these movies are good for showing that real, complex relationships are full of understanding and forgiveness. As far as feminism goes, my last words would have to be that this sort of movie is a start. We have many issues that need to be overcome, like the fact that Anna still found romantic love at the end of the movie.
It is sort of working against the movie’s idea that bonds between family members are as true and real as romantic love Their kiss at the end was sort of unnecessary Despite Elsa not meeting my standards of a complex female lead, I find Literature’s way of defining women as inlaw or outlaw is, thankfully, not too relevant, in this case, since these characters sit nicely outside of that spectrum, (Or, more accurately, somewhere in the middle of it) I would not put Anna or Elsa on the same level as Triss, Katniss, or Hermione, but I think the popularity of this movie, with its unorthodox spin on classic fairy tale tropes, is a step in the right direction towards a world where the only movies little girls have to enjoy is a movie about a princess marrying a prince and living happily ever after.
