Frozen: love is an open (closet) door
Jan. 26th, 2014 02:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lokifanI wrote most of this on Thursday night, and then Friday involved a really stressful, unpleasant conversation with my mother where she accused me of mooching off them (she then said that had been harsh, tbf, but… yeah) and was all “Middle Sister came and talked to me about her job problems, why didn’t you”. Anyway, I cried and had a terrible stress headache for hours and the whole day was generally a write-off. Today has been better (HURRAY for Mum being out all afternoon and evening, and my darling cousin Jacksparrow coming over and hanging out all night) but it took me a bit to get to this post.
I just saw Frozen! I liked it a lot, although I think new Disney films are often a bit of a dicey proposition for those of us who grew up during Disney's second golden age – I mean, it's already tough watching a film that's joining a canon I have these very strong childhood attachments to. But I definitely liked it and I think I'll like it more on re-viewing; certainly have now downloaded a bunch of the soundtrack. The snowman ended up being cute when I thought he’d be vastly annoying, I didn’t see the twist coming at ALL, and omg the act of true love made me cry a tiny bit.
Plus I've downloaded the “Let It Go” sequence and watched it three times. It's great, and by far the best song in the film, and I love Idina Menzel and I love Elsa, and I love a song that carries a central metaphor all the way through and uses it in a bunch of different ways (see also: why Wicked is my favourite musical.) Also, it seriously ~speaks to me given the queer reading of Elsa that jumped out at me.
I mean, I assumed this is really big on Tumblr since apparently they adore Frozen? Idk, only one member of my flist has mentioned this and I’ve seen quite a few reviews. Googling is bringing me some stuff but not a lot. But yeah. It's not just that Elsa is the only Disney princess to have no kind of romance – she has a lot of shit going on and is terrified of human contact. It's in how she and her parents talk about their fear, and Elsa's accepting-her-powers song.
So, the parents: emotionally abusive! I saw Frozen withson_of_darkness and we agreed Anna and Rapunzel should be friends and connect over their weird isolated childhoods, and Elsa and Rapunzel over their emotionally abusive parents. I mean, Elsa's parents are trying but they really do something horrific to her. And the terms they use – conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show, be the good girl you always have to be – the queer connotations come across to me more strongly the more I think about it. The trolls don’t seem to intend what the parents end up doing, but they still ask: born this way, or a curse? And the instructions Elsa’s given - don't touch people, connect with them, or the truth might come out. Don’t be around your younger sister, she might be damaged by this bad part of you. The parents are scared of what people will think about Elsa – about them.
Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show. Put on a show. Be the good girl you always have to be. I mean, does no one else find this language suggestive?
And then – oh, poor Elsa, my heart hurts for her when she's caught. (And for Anna – the ice shards pointed straight at her.) But then she gets away, and. OMG that song.
“Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried/ Don’t let them in, don’t let them see / Be the good girl you always have to be / Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know / Well, now they know”. The more I look at the lyrics, the more they work - Elsa has been outed, but what comes out of her mouth now is a coming out song. She’s “alone and free”; as the pop version of the song says, she’s lost her old life now people know this secret part of her, but she’s too relieved to grieve.
Also, I mean, not to overanalyse but Elsa letting out her hair – having your hair free is such a traditional signifier of sexuality. (See also: the “she's a HO!” theory of the Mona Lisa, f'rinstance.) Elsa doesn't go as far as letting her hair out of the plait (which makes me sad, it just feels half-done) but letting her hair fly free again is one of those... it works either way, and I'd love the song and the sequence and the character without the queer reading, but there's subtextual baggage there.
“It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small.” Instinctively this reminded me of a classic queer experience - getting away from your small, suffocating hometown and finding that coming out is not nearly as scary any more. And there’s probably some confirmation bias going on, heh, but hearing the lyrics a second (and third and fourth) time - “I don’t care / what they’re going to say… the fears that once controlled me / can’t get to me at all”. Whether or not the queer reading was intended, the language used to control Elsa and keep her secret does have those connotations, and it just makes it even more joyous when she bursts free, when her reaction to exile is not lonely despair but joy that she can be herself without shame or fear of censure. <3 And then Anna comes to find her, to tell her that her sister still loves her and accepts this part of her, is so glad to understand why Elsa was distant and secretive. JOY.
And the ending! “That perfect girl is gone”, and she doesn’t sing it in mournful recognition that she can’t fit the mould she “should” a la Mulan’s “Reflection” - Elsa goes for “here I stand in the light of day”. Which, again. Gives me a lot of feelings about being out of the closet and unashamed and not afraid any more, because everyone knows and they can say what they want - let the storm rage on - but the cold never bothered her anyway. <333
This is a weird post to make, because I thought it would be meta and I’m trying to write it like that, but then joyful reader response keeps bursting out everywhere.
I just. There is something tragic in Elsa’s delighted sequence, to the dual meaning of “let it go” - let go of your hopes of being part of that community, let your powers fly free as you release the bonds holding your soul down. Her reaction is partly due to her pre-existing deep isolation, as well as how terrified and unhappy and repressed she was before. But I just can’t get over how happy she is to be free. It is so great, honestly. Because she embraces and enjoys and embodies her powers, these incredibly strong powers that damage people and reveal aggression far more than they help people over the course of the film. And that doesn’t make her a villain. So often plots about powerful women force them to heroically give up their powers to save someone else - and if they don’t, those powerful women often turn dark side. Elsa being played by Idina Menzel isn’t the only reason I was reminded of “Wicked” - “Let It Go” occupies the place “Defying Gravity” does in the plot. But Elsa has Anna, who chooses her sister over position and power, and abandons the throne and kingdom to chase Elsa and tell Elsa she loves her, and it’s okay, and she doesn’t have to be afraid any more.
And to save the kingdom from the eternal winter, of course. But like, Anna gets through a reprise of a song and a bunch of passionate declarations of love before she even gets to that. Anna has good priorities.
I adore “Wicked”, and Galinda, and obviously the plot is constrained by Oz. But it’s just so great to see Elsa allowed to fuck up, to be heartbroken and messed up by her parents, to release a huge, aggressive snow monster and glory in her powers and “turn away and slam the door” on her world and accidentally hurt her sister, and not be the villain. The more I think about it, the more reminiscent her plot is of sympathetic, even tragic villains we’ve seen fall because they’re fucked up and then something terrible happens to them - Faith, Marvel!Loki - and then they fall, and you can tell when they’ve gone dark side because they hurt their sister (sister Slayer, brother). But Elsa gets pulled back from the brink, true love saves her, and she gets the opportunity to be her best self.
Btw, I did really love Anna - she’s so funny and brave and deeply endearing. And I love that she saved herself, and Elsa into the bargain. I thought maybe it would be Elsa’s act of true love to thaw the kingdom or something, and that would have been cool and prioritised sisterly love. But EVEN BETTER, she saved herself from the curse. And Elsa’s snow monster as metaphor for angry repressed female emotion - there was a lot of cool feminist message happening. And grumpy Kristoff is great. I just have way more Elsa feelings than I realised.
New favourite Disney princess. For real. (Sorry Belle.)
NB: you are welcome to disagree with the reading but BEST GUESSES AS TO AUTHORIAL INTENT ARE NOT A USEFUL WAY TO ANALYSE A TEXT. Ie: if the reading holds up, then Disney's intentions are completely irrelevant - and if the makers DID intend that reading, it’s irrelevant if I’m missing some good textual reason why it doesn’t fit. You're quite welcome to say “I don't think Disney meant this” but that has not the remotest impact on whether the interpretation works.
I just saw Frozen! I liked it a lot, although I think new Disney films are often a bit of a dicey proposition for those of us who grew up during Disney's second golden age – I mean, it's already tough watching a film that's joining a canon I have these very strong childhood attachments to. But I definitely liked it and I think I'll like it more on re-viewing; certainly have now downloaded a bunch of the soundtrack. The snowman ended up being cute when I thought he’d be vastly annoying, I didn’t see the twist coming at ALL, and omg the act of true love made me cry a tiny bit.
Plus I've downloaded the “Let It Go” sequence and watched it three times. It's great, and by far the best song in the film, and I love Idina Menzel and I love Elsa, and I love a song that carries a central metaphor all the way through and uses it in a bunch of different ways (see also: why Wicked is my favourite musical.) Also, it seriously ~speaks to me given the queer reading of Elsa that jumped out at me.
I mean, I assumed this is really big on Tumblr since apparently they adore Frozen? Idk, only one member of my flist has mentioned this and I’ve seen quite a few reviews. Googling is bringing me some stuff but not a lot. But yeah. It's not just that Elsa is the only Disney princess to have no kind of romance – she has a lot of shit going on and is terrified of human contact. It's in how she and her parents talk about their fear, and Elsa's accepting-her-powers song.
So, the parents: emotionally abusive! I saw Frozen with
son_of_darkness and we agreed Anna and Rapunzel should be friends and connect over their weird isolated childhoods, and Elsa and Rapunzel over their emotionally abusive parents. I mean, Elsa's parents are trying but they really do something horrific to her. And the terms they use – conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show, be the good girl you always have to be – the queer connotations come across to me more strongly the more I think about it. The trolls don’t seem to intend what the parents end up doing, but they still ask: born this way, or a curse? And the instructions Elsa’s given - don't touch people, connect with them, or the truth might come out. Don’t be around your younger sister, she might be damaged by this bad part of you. The parents are scared of what people will think about Elsa – about them.Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show. Put on a show. Be the good girl you always have to be. I mean, does no one else find this language suggestive?
And then – oh, poor Elsa, my heart hurts for her when she's caught. (And for Anna – the ice shards pointed straight at her.) But then she gets away, and. OMG that song.
“Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried/ Don’t let them in, don’t let them see / Be the good girl you always have to be / Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know / Well, now they know”. The more I look at the lyrics, the more they work - Elsa has been outed, but what comes out of her mouth now is a coming out song. She’s “alone and free”; as the pop version of the song says, she’s lost her old life now people know this secret part of her, but she’s too relieved to grieve.
Also, I mean, not to overanalyse but Elsa letting out her hair – having your hair free is such a traditional signifier of sexuality. (See also: the “she's a HO!” theory of the Mona Lisa, f'rinstance.) Elsa doesn't go as far as letting her hair out of the plait (which makes me sad, it just feels half-done) but letting her hair fly free again is one of those... it works either way, and I'd love the song and the sequence and the character without the queer reading, but there's subtextual baggage there.
“It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small.” Instinctively this reminded me of a classic queer experience - getting away from your small, suffocating hometown and finding that coming out is not nearly as scary any more. And there’s probably some confirmation bias going on, heh, but hearing the lyrics a second (and third and fourth) time - “I don’t care / what they’re going to say… the fears that once controlled me / can’t get to me at all”. Whether or not the queer reading was intended, the language used to control Elsa and keep her secret does have those connotations, and it just makes it even more joyous when she bursts free, when her reaction to exile is not lonely despair but joy that she can be herself without shame or fear of censure. <3 And then Anna comes to find her, to tell her that her sister still loves her and accepts this part of her, is so glad to understand why Elsa was distant and secretive. JOY.
And the ending! “That perfect girl is gone”, and she doesn’t sing it in mournful recognition that she can’t fit the mould she “should” a la Mulan’s “Reflection” - Elsa goes for “here I stand in the light of day”. Which, again. Gives me a lot of feelings about being out of the closet and unashamed and not afraid any more, because everyone knows and they can say what they want - let the storm rage on - but the cold never bothered her anyway. <333
This is a weird post to make, because I thought it would be meta and I’m trying to write it like that, but then joyful reader response keeps bursting out everywhere.
I just. There is something tragic in Elsa’s delighted sequence, to the dual meaning of “let it go” - let go of your hopes of being part of that community, let your powers fly free as you release the bonds holding your soul down. Her reaction is partly due to her pre-existing deep isolation, as well as how terrified and unhappy and repressed she was before. But I just can’t get over how happy she is to be free. It is so great, honestly. Because she embraces and enjoys and embodies her powers, these incredibly strong powers that damage people and reveal aggression far more than they help people over the course of the film. And that doesn’t make her a villain. So often plots about powerful women force them to heroically give up their powers to save someone else - and if they don’t, those powerful women often turn dark side. Elsa being played by Idina Menzel isn’t the only reason I was reminded of “Wicked” - “Let It Go” occupies the place “Defying Gravity” does in the plot. But Elsa has Anna, who chooses her sister over position and power, and abandons the throne and kingdom to chase Elsa and tell Elsa she loves her, and it’s okay, and she doesn’t have to be afraid any more.
And to save the kingdom from the eternal winter, of course. But like, Anna gets through a reprise of a song and a bunch of passionate declarations of love before she even gets to that. Anna has good priorities.
I adore “Wicked”, and Galinda, and obviously the plot is constrained by Oz. But it’s just so great to see Elsa allowed to fuck up, to be heartbroken and messed up by her parents, to release a huge, aggressive snow monster and glory in her powers and “turn away and slam the door” on her world and accidentally hurt her sister, and not be the villain. The more I think about it, the more reminiscent her plot is of sympathetic, even tragic villains we’ve seen fall because they’re fucked up and then something terrible happens to them - Faith, Marvel!Loki - and then they fall, and you can tell when they’ve gone dark side because they hurt their sister (sister Slayer, brother). But Elsa gets pulled back from the brink, true love saves her, and she gets the opportunity to be her best self.
Btw, I did really love Anna - she’s so funny and brave and deeply endearing. And I love that she saved herself, and Elsa into the bargain. I thought maybe it would be Elsa’s act of true love to thaw the kingdom or something, and that would have been cool and prioritised sisterly love. But EVEN BETTER, she saved herself from the curse. And Elsa’s snow monster as metaphor for angry repressed female emotion - there was a lot of cool feminist message happening. And grumpy Kristoff is great. I just have way more Elsa feelings than I realised.
New favourite Disney princess. For real. (Sorry Belle.)
NB: you are welcome to disagree with the reading but BEST GUESSES AS TO AUTHORIAL INTENT ARE NOT A USEFUL WAY TO ANALYSE A TEXT. Ie: if the reading holds up, then Disney's intentions are completely irrelevant - and if the makers DID intend that reading, it’s irrelevant if I’m missing some good textual reason why it doesn’t fit. You're quite welcome to say “I don't think Disney meant this” but that has not the remotest impact on whether the interpretation works.
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Date: 2014-01-26 03:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-29 09:32 am (UTC)