What is bugging me is that so many people I observe on social media and in my personal acquaintance seem to be latching on to the absolute wrong message from the story. Rather than perceiving the transcendent truth that we are all flawed individuals whose weaknesses are only overcome through love and faith, it appears that many are caught up in the message of the title song that celebrates a deceptive freedom that comes from "testing the limits" where there is "no right, no wrong, and no rules." I understand why the song is so popular, it is very catchy, and really fun to sing; one of those songs that just gets stuck in your head and you can't stop singing it. Perhaps that's another reason it bugs me.
Unlike other Disney movies, the evil the heroines fight in this movie is much more like that which each of us fight within ourselves in real life. It is not a fire breathing dragon, a wicked sorcerer, or an evil witch, rather it is the subtle lies of the devil that cause us to respond to our human weakness by turning away from faith, obedience, and the love of God. Elsa has an extraordinary power that is also a great challenge to her and her family. Afraid of her strength her parents teach her to hide away and fear her power.
We are all like Elsa in a way, we all have God given gifts (talents) that used properly give us extraordinary power and bring great joy to us. What is also true is that most often our greatest strengths are on the flip side our greatest weakness. My mom used to say that these talents are like coins with a heads side and a tales side. Too often we focus on the tails side, the down side, and wish we could eliminate it because we fear that we will never overcome or learn to control our weakness. Too often we respond to this weakness by attempting to throw out the whole coin. Unfortunately, when we do, we throw out the good with the bad. As a result our personal growth is stunted, not only do we never learn how to control our "flip-side", we don't develop our strength. We succeed only in making ourselves miserable and pushing away the people we love as we lose what we love most about ourselves. This is what happens to Elsa as she responds to her power and weakness by hiding in fear.
When we respond to our challenges and weaknesses the way that Elsa learns to it almost always leads to disaster. Elsa meets that disaster when she seeks "freedom" from years of confusion by turning her back on her home and any sense of obligation. Here is where the title song "Let it Go", that is propelling a pop culture sensation over the movie Frozen, steps into the story. In Elsa's desperation to feel in control of her power she succumbs to a subtle lie, the lie that you can be free by simply throwing off the confines of right and wrong and letting go of your obligations and concerns. She turns her back on her sister's love, her obligations to her kingdom, and her home and runs away. The song that describes this moment of emotional release from her burdens has become a hit. I understand why the sense of liberation and freedom is appealing, but I think most people don't realize when their singing the song and feeling triumphant about it that they are celebrating a true deception. Perhaps they do not internalize the lyrics as I do.
Here are some choice words from the song:
Be the good girl you always have to be. [implying that being "good" is an unwanted obligation]
Conceal don't feel, don't let them know... [representing the way her parents wrongfully taught her to respond to her challenges]
Let it go, let it go.
Turn away and slam the door. [representing her choice to turn away from her home]
I don't care what they're going to say.
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway... [making a choice to ignore the pain her actions will cause to those who love her most]
It's time to see what I can do,
to test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free!... [The ultimate lie. That life with no right, wrong, and rules is true freedom]
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around... [Captures the truth of what happens when we throw off our moral compass]
I'm never going back...
That perfect girl is gone...
Let the storm rage on!
The cold never bothered me anyway.
Be the good girl you always have to be. [implying that being "good" is an unwanted obligation]
Conceal don't feel, don't let them know... [representing the way her parents wrongfully taught her to respond to her challenges]
Let it go, let it go.
Turn away and slam the door. [representing her choice to turn away from her home]
I don't care what they're going to say.
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway... [making a choice to ignore the pain her actions will cause to those who love her most]
It's time to see what I can do,
to test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free!... [The ultimate lie. That life with no right, wrong, and rules is true freedom]
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around... [Captures the truth of what happens when we throw off our moral compass]
I'm never going back...
That perfect girl is gone...
Let the storm rage on!
The cold never bothered me anyway.
When I watched the movie this song stirred painful memories of my own poor choices to rebel in my youth, to turn my back on my faith and my family, and to pretend it didn't "bother me anyway". It was a time in my youth when I didn't understand how to access the grace of Christ in tackling human weakness and was tired of trying to be a "good girl". I bought into the lie that turning my back on my moral compass and my family obligations would set me free. For a short time I felt a sense of liberation but that feeling was fleeting and empty and the result of my choice was the greatest misery I have every known. So I hope you can understand why it is so disturbing that this song was chosen by the producers as the title song, the song to represent the message of the movie, and marketed to be a smash hit when in reality it represents the evil that threatens to tear us away from that which matters most.
I understand why my four year old latches naively onto the title song but how can so many adults I know seem to miss the meaning of this song? The words "Let it Go" by themselves could in some context be good but in the context of the story one should ask, "What is Elsa letting go of and whether it in reality will set her free?" The pop version of the song has 49+ million views on YouTube, is nominated for an academy award, and it's deceptive message is glorified in posters that race around social media as a song of triumphant liberation.
The tragedy of it all is that the beautiful truths in the story are lost in an almost singular focus on the wrong message. Elsa's little sister never gives up on her, she embarks on a perilous journey to bring her home, to show her she is loved. Her character is a symbol of Christ's love that is ever constant, ever knocking at the door. Elsa learns that her challenges can be faced and conquered because of that love and in the end she chooses love and faith over fear and doubt. There are deep spiritual messages and Christian themes in this wonderful story and for that reason it is very disappointing to see so many people fail to realize these themes and instead pick out the lie and take it for truth.
For this reason I wonder about the intent behind the marketing of this catchy song as the title song. Every time I hear my four year old singing the impressionable tune and belting out the words, "no right, no wrong, no rules for me, I'm free!" I wish the producers had not chosen to sell this message so craftily. For parents wondering how to help their little children pick up on the moral of the story, there is another song in the movie that is worth celebrating, the song "Fixer Upper". These lyrics are worth repeating over and over.
"Everyone’s a bit of a fixer-upper,
That’s what it’s all about!
Father!
Sister!
Brother!
We need each other to raise
Us up and round us out.
Everyone’s a bit of a fixer-upper,
But when push comes to shove.
The only fixer-upper fixer
That can fix up a fixer-upper is
True! true!
True, true, true!
Love (True love)"
Like I said, Frozen may be my favorite Disney movie of all time, the story tackles the true enemy we all face, an enemy that seeks to confuse us and twist truth until we throw away those that have the power to help us realize our true potential. I only hope that the depth of this story isn't lost on a pop culture infatuation with a hollow feeling stirred up by the false freedom of "letting go" of what matters most.
"Everyone’s a bit of a fixer-upper,
That’s what it’s all about!
Father!
Sister!
Brother!
We need each other to raise
Us up and round us out.
Everyone’s a bit of a fixer-upper,
But when push comes to shove.
The only fixer-upper fixer
That can fix up a fixer-upper is
True! true!
True, true, true!
Love (True love)"
Like I said, Frozen may be my favorite Disney movie of all time, the story tackles the true enemy we all face, an enemy that seeks to confuse us and twist truth until we throw away those that have the power to help us realize our true potential. I only hope that the depth of this story isn't lost on a pop culture infatuation with a hollow feeling stirred up by the false freedom of "letting go" of what matters most.
What you have blogged about here is the difference between liberty and licentiousness. Liberty always involves duty, responsibility, and self-control. Licentiousness is the lie that 'whatever I want' is my right.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who are LDS, you can see that when Cain killed
Abel , his response was essentially the same as Elsa's: Moses chapter 5, verse 33.
I know people always want to focus on the positive message. Unfortunately we as human beings tend to justify many things. Like a movie with an explicit sex scene. But we just brush it off saying, "Oh, the rest of the movie has a good message." Therefore that makes it okay? Nope.
ReplyDeleteI want to come out and say that I have not seen the movie. But I do know the power music can have on us. I haven't heard about anything questionable in the dialogue. I'm sure it would be all over facebook if there was. But if the movie was intended to promote the idea that there is no right and no wrong, then why not include it in the dialogue? The creators know that their profits would go down if that was the case. That's why they put those kind of messages in songs. We get so emotionally involved with music. For me the music itself (not the text) can be so amazing. When I hear a song I love I tend to play it over and over again. I just can't get enough of it. Then its stuck in my head until I hear another equally or more awesome song.
I am a Latter-Day Saint. For the benefit of those who are not Latter-day Saints let me explain. Young men and Young women in our church leave their home, family, and friends for 18-24 months to Preach the Gospel. During this time we have very strict rules. One of these rules is we are only allowed to listen to spiritual music. Sorry, Christian Rock in most missions doesn't count. So you can imagine the shock we feel when we get home and suddenly these strict rules are no longer a requirement. The first song I heard when I got home was "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry. The song sounded so amazing. It was upbeat and fun. Then I noticed the immoral "party" message it was promoting. It took me a LONG time to get myself to quit listening to it.
So what makes a movie good or bad? Well ask yourself what you remember from it. If you only remember those catchy songs with truth mixed in with a lie or two, then it is most likely bad. Sadly many people don't have a religious background that teaches them right and wrong. We as Christian's can't keep supporting this kind of entertainment. The more we accept the more Hollywood will spit out. The law of Supply and Demand also exist's in Hollywood. What are we demanding?
For the benefit of those with no more compass, let's not make thing's harder for them.
I appreciate this post. I had to think through this song myself after seeing the movie. My conclusions are very similar to yours. At first I worried that Elsa's letting go of responsibility and moral obligation were being celebrated. But no, Elsa's choice to "Let it Go" is cleary not a good one. My kids love to sing this song and I find it a good opportunity to discuss why Elsa's choice here was not helpful to her or others. It's too bad they didn't make a reprise of the song with Anna and Elsa singing together, one with the proper moral of the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm becoming more convinced that it was the intent of the producers to celebrate the warped message of the title song as the central theme of the movie. In their view the ideas in the title song are the "right" message, a classic case of calling good, evil and evil, good. If my assumption is correct, it would never have occurred to the writers that they should make a reprise for the song.
ReplyDeleteWhere does this assumption come from? 1st) Apparently, the writers were originally going to make Elsa the villain, more in line with the Ice Queen in the original telling of Hans Christian Anderson. Changing this central plot would provide the opportunity of obscuring the line between right and wrong, or even reframing the nature of right and wrong. 2nd) Marketing is never an accident but rather a well thought out scheme. If the moment that is portrayed by the song "Let it Go" had been thought of by writers as Elsa's moment of weakness, it would not have been written and marketed as her moment of triumph.
These two circumstances lead me to believe the makers of Frozen were going in a totally different direction from my interpretation of the movie. Two interesting things have been revealed by this choice, 1) It is harder to separate the innate morality from a Hans Christian Anderson story then they might have anticipated, and 2) in trying to do so they have stumbled brilliantly into a paradox where traditional Christians and Secular Progressives can view the same movie and take away exactly opposite messages.
Case in point, read my article and then read Gina Luttrell's article in PolicyMic, "7 Moments That Made 'Frozen' the Most Progressive Disney Movie Ever." Luttrell saw the same movie I did but saw a realistic portrayal of brutal child abuse, a gay shop keeper, and the first feminist Disney princess. As I stated in my article, the central themes taken away by progressives were mistaken ideas of freedom which emanate from the title song sequence. This is how Luttrell saw that moment:
"When [Elsa] is finally on her own, she finds beauty in herself... realizing that she is good enough for herself, and that's all that matters..." Also she discovers that the "freedom and ability to be herself without compromise are more important to her than anything."
There it is. They see the central theme as a statement that freedom comes when we liberate ourselves from all constraints and obligations. This is being true to ones self and this "self-fulfillment" is more important than anything. The author naively overlooks the dark place Elsa is in shortly after he "liberation", the desperation, fear, sorrow, and loneliness she experiences as she turns her sister away, and the eventual desire she has to return to her family obligations.
Whatever Disney's motivations were in writing and marketing this story, they hit the jackpot because they produced a movie that a deeply divided culture could love in almost perfect unison for exactly opposite reasons.
http://www.policymic.com/mobile/articles/79455/7-moments-that-made-frozen-the-most-progressive-disney-movie-ever