I heard and read several reviews of this movie before watching it. I was fully prepared to watch a pop culture propaganda flick eroding traditional gender roles and pushing a homosexual agenda.
I don’t know what movie the critics watched to come up with the ideas above, but I saw none of that in Frozen.
*** Spoiler Alert ***
I heard that the male characters in the movie were morons and the only purpose they served was to show how inept men are compared to women. What I saw was a woman trying to rebuild a relationship with a sister. I saw a woman attempting to climb an ice covered mountain with great ambition and terrifically little skill. I saw this heroine embark upon a journey ill prepared and rescued time and time again by a man. How is this a slight to the masculine world?
I try to communicate to my daughters and model to them through my relationship with my wife that they will need a rescuer. That they will need a man in their lives to encourage them, protect them, and rescue them. I have watched more chick flicks and princess movies than I can count, waiting each time for there to be a healthy representation of a male female relationship. I am left disappointed every single time. Either the guy is a worthless, spineless, brainless clown, the woman a bimbo, weak, dumb, clutsy, or an ugly man hating she beast that consumes men until the right fella happens to get through to her. This movie depicted a woman being independent, brave, forward thinking (even if unprepared), proactive, and bold. It showed a man who was fully committed to his adventure, his calling, who was willing to stretch himself to love a woman. I would be very happy to have my daughters look up to Anna. I would be just as happy for my son to look up to Christoph.
And before I get any criticism about my thoughts regarding the way Anna demonstrated her independence, boldness, and proactive way of living, I would like to turn to a little phrase from the Bible…
“…She considers a field and buys it…”
I see that character in Anna.
I saw no homosexual agenda at all. I read several critics who said that Disney made a movie in which the two main characters save the day, without the aid of men, and set the kingdom free because of their love for each other and, because these characters were women, it is a homosexual propaganda film.
That really saddens me. The theme of this movie was a woman’s frozen, broken heart caused by a wound inflicted by family who meant well but acted in ignorance and was set free by the selfless love of her sister. This movie is actually quite deep. It does not appear to me as though there are 2 heroines, but 1. Anna saved Elsa, Elsa reconciled and redeemed the broken relationships in her life caused by her reaction to her brokenness. It just so happens that that redemption and reconciliation extended to the entire kingdom. There is nothing homosexual in the genuine, deep, intimate love of a sister for a sister. I have seen that between my wife and her sisters. I see it developing now between my daughters. This is a very good and healthy thing. Ironic as it may be, this kind of affirming love between women seems to give them the courage to take a stand on the things they want to stand for and to engage life fully in the areas they feel the desire to engage… And that is exactly what I saw Anna doing.
I rolled my eyes when, near the very beginning of the movie, after the character development was mostly complete and the plot was beginning to get underway, I heard the phrase, “the one.” Standard Disney romance language. I do not believe there is “the one” out there and that a single man and a single woman need to find that one in order to be truly happy. That should be a post I write later. I was so refreshed when “the one” turned out to be a slug of a fella. I was actually kind of pumped!! There is not “the one” in this movie. What there is is a man who meets a woman under less than ideal circumstances, is not romantically interested in her, chooses to do the right thing and serve her for her protection and guidance, and in the end he develops a love for her. I see a woman who meets a man in less than ideal circumstances, recognizes she needs him, pokes him in the ribs and challenges him to stand up like a man, and then submits to his guidance and develops a love for him. I see a man and woman struggling to figure out how to interact in this relationship which results in heartache, fear of loss, and being dragged behind a sled while being chased by wolves. An actually astute summation of what I would say is a healthy relationship.
Anna is in need of an act of true love. Go figure a bunch of rock trolls come up with the idea that this will be a kiss from “the one.” I don’t know if Disney thought this through or not, I doubt it, but it fits that a bunch of trolls came up with this idea. Not just a bunch of trolls, but a bunch of rock trolls, like trolls that are as dumb as a box of rocks!! I kept thinking throughout the movie that there were acts of love which could have solved her problem. The weather is cold, there is a raging storm and Christoph takes off his hat, puts it on Anna to keep her warm, and endures the rest of the ride bare headed. That silly little snowman (my oldest daughter LOVED him) risked his very life next to a fire to warm Anna.
But the act of true love? Not a kiss! So happy this movie did not cheese up the ending with a magic kiss. This was not a romance movie at all. The act of true love was a final act of resignation to the point of death in order to save a sister even though she was lost. The act of true love was a sister recognizing her brokeness and accepting the act of love from the one who made the sacrifice for her!
I have seen a picture of a Corpsman laying dead in a street in Falujah. The caption is actually a verse from the Bible… “Greater love has no one than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends…”
Finally!!!
Finally a Disney princess chick flick that has a wounded, broken hearted princess living out of her insecurities instead of her idyllic innocence, a family that loves each other but still hurts each other, a wounded sister, innocent and devastated, a man who looks like, sounds like, and acts like a man, and Love being represented in a manner other than the tired, tried, and cliché, “Kiss… The One…” tradition.
Yup.
Maybe I’m going soft in my old age…
But I LOVED Frozen!!