Challenge #8: Princess Expectations

Frozen promotional banner - the snowman (Olaf) is my favorite because he loves summer!

***Spoilers ahead****

I'll be honest, I'm not a big movie person. I never see them in theaters, and even though I have a Netflix subscription, I stick to binge watching bad TV than the numerous movies I could watch at the click of a mouse. I watched three seasons of Gossip Girl (a probable post for the future) over winter break while most of my friends saw the movie above, Frozen. When I got back to school, everyone was raving and singing the songs and I thought, perhaps I should give this one a chance. So, in a rather large break from finals studying this weekend, I loaded it up on my computer and sat back in bed. 

My first impression that it was undeniably cute. It started off with two cherub-like little girls singing about snowmen. What's not to love? I mean, from a feminist standpoint....a lot. The animation distorts the female body - literally, the eyes of Anna and Elsa, the female protagonists, take up a third of their face and are bigger then their wrists. But that's pretty common across all of Disney's animations, and for this post, I want to defend Frozen from a feminist standpoint. 

There are two main things about this movie that I think make it a huge step forward from the typical Disney-damsel-in-distress movie: first, the male characters and second, the relationship between the sisters. 

The men of frozen: Kristoff, an ice-trader, and Hans, a prince with twelve older brothers

Take a look at the two men in front of you. They're the two love interests for Anna. Now it's Disney. Who do you think she ends up with? If you guessed Prince Hans you'd be.....wrong! Finally, a Disney movie where the Princess doesn't marry the Prince. Happily ever after is changing. 

Now, Anna meets Hans first and experiences the typical Disney whirlwind romance. She's never been on a date before, but of course they meet in a cute coincidence and dance at the ball until he proposes before the night is over. Realistic? Heck no. But that's not where the story ends! Anna runs off to save her sister and meets Kristoff. Then it's revealed that Anna, whose heart is turning to ice, needs to be saved by a 'true love.' 

She tries to get Hans to kiss her but he reveals that he's actually an evil megalomaniac. Score for Disney! Not only does she not get the Prince, but they also squashed the idea of love at first sight/marrying your true love. In almost every Disney movie, the princess marries the first boy to cross her way. That happens to uh, no one in real life. We go through many significant others until we finally find 'the one'. Anna isn't even saved by Kristoff - even though they do love each other which is awesome because Kristoff is a totally ordinary character. He's a common, loveable working man, not a prince. 

Which brings me to...the other thing I love about Frozen. 

A tale of two sisters: my wonderful sister, Carolyn, and I,
and the sisters in Frozen, Anna and Elsa

The sisters' 'true love' is what saves the kingdom in the end! For me personally, I love this because I have a close relationship with my sister. We fight like Anna and Elsa, but we also protect each other the way that Anna and Elsa do. I know she'd have my back way faster than any boy I've dated. This is again, a major change for Disney and makes many feminists (and sisters!) very happy. The two girls took initiative and used each other to save their kingdom, not the new man in their life. 

I hope girls everywhere who see this movie will take that message to heart, and that Disney continues to stray away from their usual plotlines by embracing all that a strong female character has to offer. Then, maybe we can work on changing the animation. 

Now, I really do need to go study for finals! 

Cia♀,
Charlie 

"In Summer" from Frozen, by Olaf, the snowman.

 It's the most adorable song by far, 

because the snowman doesn't know

 that he'll melt in summer.