Frozen

“The gay agenda to normalize homosexuality is woven into Disney's movie Frozen not just as an underlying message - it is the movie”, says A Well-Behaved Mormon Woman on her blog a few months after the release of the smash Disney hit, Frozen. The potentially controversial underlying message of acceptance and open-mindedness woven throughout the blockbuster movie has swept the nation targeting all audiences; though religious parents are interpreting the messages to be pro-gay. Are these messages really there? Or are religious fanatics taking things to far? 

The first and largest message considered to be controversial is within the song “Let It Go”, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. This song has become an anthem, of sorts, for the gay community for many reasons, though whether it was Disney’s intention or not is up for debate. The lyrics, in my opinion (that of a gay male raised in a religious home), are easily relatable to struggles that a gay or lesbian person might face in a community that is unwelcoming to the gay life-style; easily paralleled to Elsa’s ostracism for having cryokinetic powers. For example the lyrical phrases, “Kingdom of Isolation” and “Don’t let them in, don’t let them see” relates to the feeling of being different and an unwillingness to share one’s feelings. While “Can’t hold it back anymore”, “I don’t care what they’re going to say”, and “No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I’m free!” are empowering for anyone who may be on the verge of self-discovery or coming out of the closet. According to Everything’s an Argument this would clearly be using the emotional argument of pathos, attempting to empathize with the audience or “to use President Clinton’s famous line, ‘feel their pain’” (44). 

Separate from the song “Let it Go” many other pro-homosexual messages are found within the film. A more subtle one is when Elsa’s parents tell her to “conceal it, don’t feel it” in hopes of hiding her powers from the greater population of her community solely because she’s different. Reminiscent to when my grandparents told me to “just try and not be gay”. Lastly there is the rumored appearance of a gay man and his family who run the winter trading post; though it is fleeting and never commented upon, it seems that one man points at his family in the sauna, the only other adult present being another man. All of these messages surround the main theme of acceptance and overcoming social discrimination within an unwelcoming culture, which can indeed be very controversial and un-entertained, in this case within the religious community. Though according to Everything’s an Argument, “In creating a vivid image of a personal encounter, one can create a bridge between themselves and a person of an opposing opinion; allowing them to enter the argument with a clear and open-mind” (45). Frozen does just this, creating a beautiful story that can help bridge the gap between the not-so-open-minded and those who just want to LET IT GO!  For this reason I proudly give Frozen 5/5 slurpees. 

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