Frozen is about argumentation theory!

Toys made me want to see the movie

Bad criticism ruined Frozen for me. Oddly enough, I became interested in watching the movie not because of commercials or controversies (of which I thankfully remained largely ignorant until after my first viewing), but because of toys. For those of you unfamiliar with videogames (or who don't have kids), Disney Infinity is a videogame where players buy Disney figures / toys, places them in a portal, and then use them in the Disney Infinity game (think Skylanders with Disney). Before I even heard of the movie, I saw the Frozen figures, and they looked really cool. I didn't know what movie they were from, but the Elsa and Anna figures were cool enough to get me interested in the movie. When the movie came out, I took my family to see it, and we had a great time.

Elsa and Anna, sisters.

The story is about two sisters, one of whom has the power to control ice (Elsa). Because of an accident, her parents ask her to keep her powers hidden. The two princesses grow up locked in a castle, with Elsa practicing how to keep her powers under control, until the day for Elsa's coronation (at age 21) comes. During the coronation ceremony, she loses control of her powers and flees to the remote cold of the mountains. There, in solitude, she discovers her true self and creates magnificent structures using her powers. The rest of the movie features Anna, the younger princess, trying to help her sister realize that to control her powers she needs to open up and that it's all about love. During the journey, Anna meets a prince, a commoner with a reindeer, a talking snowman who wants to live in summer, and a host of other memorable characters, both good and bad. At the end of the movie, Anna discovers that love for her family (sister) is far truer and more important than any kind of romantic love.

When it boils down to it, Frozen is all about love between siblings. The movie explores romantic love in the form of Anna and the prince (and later Anna and reindeer man), and judges it wanting when compared to the love shared between family. 

But not everyone saw the movie that way..

When I went to purchase the Blu Ray / DVD / Digital Copy combo (you can get it at 10$ in a movie club, 15$ at stores if you shop around), I began reading reviews. And, apparently, Frozen is about homosexuality. The argument goes as follows:

Because rainbows.

1.      Elsa's ice powers represent homosexuality because she was "born different". This is furthered by how her parents taught her to "conceal, don't feel".

2.      Elsa is "clearly" homosexual because she doesn't have a romantic interest, as her sister Anna does.

3.      Elsa's giant monster snowman at the end of the movie acts feminine when it finds a princess' tiara.

4.      The song "Let it Go" is all about "coming out".

5.      Oaken has a gay family, therefore, the movie is pro-gay.

6.      Something about bestiality. 

To read the whole argument, check out any of these articles.

Olaf is awesome.

These kind of articles ruined the movie for me (for a short while anyway). Why? Because it's bad criticism. I have no doubt that professional critics (you know, those ivory tower folk) might read into Frozen and see an exploration of homosexuality. But if they did, they would frame it as part of a larger conversation, explain why it's important, and use theory and research to explain their claims. The articles proliferating the internet, however, are nothing like this. Instead, they talk about how Frozen is about homosexuality and how that is good or bad, depending on the ideological inclination of the writer.  Furthermore, what these writers are doing is called projection - they project their own ideals into the movie - ideals that may or may not (but likely are not) there. Elsa's ice powers could be interpreted as homosexuality, sure, but it can also be interpreted as many other things that would label someone as the "black sheep" of the family. Although I don't have anything special to project into Elsa, she did remind me of a friend of mine whose family placed a lot of expectations on her. Because her personality had always been curious and inquisitive, she decided to leave her home, thus disappointing her family who constantly told her to conform. Likewise, a colleague wrote to me recently about how horrible he and his girlfriend felt because she was "in the interracial and international closet", as her family didn't approve of interracial relations. All of these things (and more) are issues that can  be projected unto Elsa, and they don't make her an interracial-loving rebellious lesbian. 

Frozen is REALLY about argumentation theory?!

Using this approach, we could argue that Frozen is REALLY about argumentation theory, as there is a scene early on where a troll says "the mind can be persuaded. The heart, that can be more difficult." This CLEARLY shows an in-depth knowledge of rhetorical constructs. More importantly, the rest of the movie is nothing more than exposition showing this claim to be true! Whenever Anna speaks with someone about her sister's powers, if that person has an open mind, such as Hans (the handsome prince) or Kristoff (reindeer man), they seem to at least consider Anna's claims. However, when she speaks to someone who has already decided that the powers are evil (the Duke of Weaseltown [typo on purpose], ending Hans), we see that no amount of reasoning can persuade them. It is only an act of love (ethos) that ultimately persuades everyone about Elsa's true nature - and come on, let's be honest, in contemporary debates, emotional appeals work on large groups of people better than appeals to logic. 

But that doesn't really make sense. Frozen isn't about argumentation theory. Frozen isn't about homosexuality (although I'm willing to concede that MAYBE Oaken's family was gay, although it seems to me more like they are guests at the hotel). Frozen is about love, but not romantic love. It's about love for family. Its message is that family is important, and that family should stick together. Everything else one might try to unlock / project into the movie is secondary. 

Including the "it's racist too" discussion.

Here, enjoy a funny song.

This piece was cross-posted at"On Stuff", where I post about anything.
Also, make sure to check out my Twitch Plays Pokemon Novel.