Disney’s
latest film, Frozen, has been a major
topic of conversation since its release almost a year ago. With the praise will
come the critic, and I have found myself too often with my lips pursed shut as
my peers complain about how it is a horrible story and a terrible movie. I’m
not going to fight for the defense of plot holes or other complaints, but I
will take the side of what I think makes the movie transcendent: the other
princess, or queen, Elsa.
In the original drafts of Frozen, Elsa was originally written to
be the villain. However, after writing the song, Let It Go, the writers decided that the empowering song about
freedom and self acceptance didn’t fit a villain, and instead rewrote the whole
plot.
Yet, Elsa, being the oldest Disney
princess at 21 as well as the only true queen of the Disney Princess franchise,
has more than a few things that separate her from her Royal brigade. She is the
only one to be considered an anti-hero, as she can be represented as a
“problem” rather than actively fighting the external antagonists. Hers are all
internal.
There is a possibility that Elsa is
mentally ill, which is touching on an American taboo. So, Disney made a movie
about one, which is a huge step forward to mental health awareness as Disney is
mainstream (yay). But, how is she mentally ill, or comparable to mental
illness? Let’s start with the parents, who are abusive and neglectful to their
eldest daughter.
The first scene with Elsa and
Anna’s parents is when Elsa hit her sister in the head with ice trying to save
Anna from falling. Note, they are children here, yet her parent’s immediately
blame her, with a nasty tone of “this is getting out of control,” and “what did
you do.” Kids make mistakes, it’s just a fact of life, but rather than realize
that, they just heap the blame on Elsa.
Speaking of the parent’s tone, when
they are asking the Trolls for advice, the dad glares at his daughter when he
says “born with it.” Not her fault there, bud. In fact, as she gets older, they
reinforce her fear after telling her to emotionally castrate her from the world.
In the Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?
song, Elsa has an accidental ice blast. The queen goes to console her, but Elsa
just recoils and says she is “afraid to hurt [them].” The parents just look at
one another, like “yup, we are too,” when Elsa needed that support. Be the good girl you always have to be,
and not yourself in any regard. Conceal,
don’t feel, because you aren’t a human and should not have emotions, let
alone express any.
The one time they smile at Elsa is
when she bows to them before they leave on a ship and practically whimpers “do
you have to go?” The parents just nod and smile gently, almost emotionally
castrated from her, as well. Then the parent’s turn and hug Anna, showing Anna
affection and attention that Elsa so desperately needed, but was denied, even
from herself. Best parents ever.
Its pretty straight forward that
Elsa’s snow and ice shows an emotional imbalance. “I can’t escape the storm
inside of me,” her “inner storm” is something that follows her around everywhere,
and she can’t escape it; much like a mental illness. People can’t see that
battle the afflicted face, but they can in Elsa. My favorite examples are when
she is cornered in herself, the ice turns red and jabs towards her, showing how
much she hates herself. Or when she is dealing with grief, and her snow is
frozen in time, which is an accurate analogy for anyone who has ever dealt felt
that solitary emotion. When she is happy, she has control of her powers and is
capable of producing amazing feats of art. These ice powers give voice to the
invisible struggles that cage people who are mentally ill everyday, making it
easier to empathize those who are suffering from it.
Elsa, because her lack of control, finds
herself to be a villain. After her powers are discovered, she flees the kingdom
as her ultimate fear of being discovered happens, and she doesn’t feel either
safe or good enough for her kingdom. Her parent’s helped her swallow the pill
of it being all her fault, taking root in the traumatic experience of almost
killing her sister. There is actually a thing where Disney villains love saying
fools.
And in the reprise of For The First Time In Forever, Elsa
calls herself a fool for waiting to be free, which is a little Disney nudge of
“Elsa thinks she is the villain.” Why? - Because she was raised to think so,
and society pointed fingers for that to be true. Anna, on the other hand, tries
to understand and open up communication, which ultimately saves her sister by
proving her love for her, regardless of what she is (spoilers!).
Since I already ruined the ending
(sorry, not sorry), let’s move on to the crisis point. Hans tries to kill Queen
Elsa, although this time it is different than when he went to her Ice Palace –
she doesn’t defend herself. Why? Because she feels that he is right, she needs
to go, especially after Hans tells her she killed sister. Elsa believes her
powers are such a curse she can only cause harm, and to save everyone and
escape her internal (external) storm, she is willing to end herself as she sees
it as the only way. Yet, what saves her? Anna’s sacrifice. Love. Understanding.
Someone proving to her she is worth something, and in that realization, she is
free from the cage of her mental turmoil.
On the surface, the movie is a fun,
pro-empowering and independence, pro-family movie with Broadway songs and a lot
of laughs in the snowman, Olaf. Yet, under the immediate layer is Elsa’s abuse,
pain, and turmoil, exposing the world of Arendelle and the audience to the
horrors of being trapped with “the storm inside of me.” Despite this darkness,
it is enveloped in humor, songs, and impressive animation. And as another
Disney movie puts it, “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”.
