Frozen

Having missed it in the theaters, this week I finally got to watch the latest, much-praised Disney movie Frozen.  I've seen it twice now in a few days . . . yes, this movie is fantastic, and worthy of some analysis.

Plot Summary

Princess Elsa of Arendelle has a gift- she can create snow and ice.  As a child she delights in her ability, and uses it often while playing with her little sister Anna, until one day Anna accidentally gets hit in the head by an errant blast of cold.  The King and Queen take the girls to nearby trolls, who are able to heal Anna, but at a cost: they must erase Anna's memory, the King forbids Elsa to use her power until it can be controlled, and he orders the castle gates barred for the safety of those outside.  Unable to harness her powers, Elsa becomes a recluse in her castle, even years later after her parents die at sea and leave her Queen.  Anna also suffers, as she's suddenly without a playmate or explanation, and is left to spend her days roaming the castle halls alone.

Fast forward to Elsa's coronation, where she is officially crowned Queen of Arendelle. For the first time in years, the gates are opened.  Anna rejoices with the freedom of the day, and falls in love with the first person she meets- Prince Hans.  She and Hans get engaged, and ask for the new Queen's blessing- only to be summarily rebuffed.  Upset by the refusal, Anna lets years of sadness and anger boil over, and she demands to know why Elsa shuts people out.  Fraught with emotion, Elsa mistakenly reveals her powers, and flees in terror afterwards.  As she runs, her now-unchecked powers launch the area into perpetual winter.

Horrified at the events, Anna leaves the kingdom in the charge of Hans, and looks to find her sister and help her.  Along the way, she teams up with Kristoff (the ice-seller), his reindeer Sven, and the comic relief/adorable snowman Olaf, who was created and brought to life by Elsa's recent outburst.  Together, they track down Elsa, who is living in freedom (but still in isolation) in an ice castle of her own making.  Anna's attempts to convince the queen to return home fail, and the team is eventually chased away by a snow monster after Elsa accidentally hurts Anna again- and this time, it's a wound to the heart, which only an act of true love can heal.

Upset at Anna's prolonged absence, Hans and a handful of men set off in search of her, and eventually come to Elsa's castle.  They capture Elsa and imprison her within the castle dungeon.  Meanwhile, Anna's condition worsens, and Kristoff believes the act of true love must be a kiss from Hans- so he returns her to the castle, too.  Things take an unexpected turn, Elsa escapes, the winter gets worse, and eventually Anna is forced into a situation where she must choose- should she save herself, or Elsa?   

Movie Analysis

Frozen is fantastic on many levels- there's a lot to unpack here.  In fact, after watching it once, I watched again two days later, with notepad in hand, to verify and record my observations.  They can be (mostly) binned into three themes- love, gifts, and human nature- all of which are expounded upon below.

Before the analysis begins, I must say I was shocked to see the themes in Frozen so closely aligning with the Bible.  I certainly don't expect that from Disney (or most major corporations), though I did see an article (here) that discusses some virtues of the film.  Where relevant, I quote Scripture throughout the analysis to reinforce the similarities.  There are spoilers here (to the movie), so be warned.


Theme 1: Love

The film looks at not only what love is, but how it's done.

What is love?
Love: it's one of the most-used and ill-defined words in the world.  Ask 10 people what love is, and you'll get 10 different answers.  Frozen looks several ideas of love- some accurate, some not- and ends up (shockingly) at the right answer.  Here are the definitions explored:

a) Elsa's view is that love is avoiding hurt to others.  After she accidentally hurts Anna, her parents hide her away.  Elsa's taught to "conceal it, don't feel it," and shuts people out of her life because, she reckons, if she lets them near her they might get hurt.  "Don't let them in, don't let them see" is how she lives.  Okay, that doesn't sound too bad . . . so why is it wrong?  Well, the fact is this: you hurt people by shutting them out.  Anna grows up alone and sad because of Elsa's unexplained distance.  We are made and meant for community.  In the Bible, we see this right at the beginning:

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18)

Elsewhere in Scripture we see the importance of community:

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good . . . For the body does not consist of one member but of many . . .  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  (1 Corinthians 12: 7,14,26)

So the first view of love presented is erroneous because it denies a basic element of life: the need for community.  If we isolate ourselves, we hurt others.  We're a community, and in this together, like it or not.

b) Anna's view of love is based on the opposite of what she sees in Elsa.  She's been shut out for years, and since that hurts her, she thinks that love must be the opposite.  When she meets Hans, and falls in love within hours, they sing that "love is an open door with you."  That appears to be all that matters to Anna- Hans is someone with whom she can talk and share.  That's an element of love, certainly- but is that all there is?  No- as Anna is soon to find out.  In one of the more amusing scenes of the movie (and, incidentally, one that turns your standard Disney princess flick on its head), Kristoff is incredulous that Anna would rush into love based on so little, and (rightly) questions her judgment.

c) Olaf's view of love is the right one.  Late in the movie, as Anna discovers that her view of love was severely lacking, Olaf fills her in on the truth: "love is putting someone else's needs before yours."  My jaw about hit the floor when I heard that- Olaf gets it 100% right.  Consider the Scriptures:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him [Jesus] to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28)

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2: 3-4)

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)

Love isn't about how we feel.  It's not about shutting others out, or (just) about letting others in.  It's serving one another, caring for others as you do yourself.

How do we (show) love?
Is it possible for us to do as Olaf says- to put someone else's needs before our own?  And, if so, what does that look like?

As a Calvinist, I believe that God must set us free from our prison of self-absorption, and that only through Him can we show true love.  You see this concept in Frozen.  Elsa is trying with all her ability to control her power.  She doesn't want to hurt Anna- even though she does it twice- and she doesn't want to hurt the townfolk either.  But her best efforts fall short; her heart is frozen.  How is she healed?  By an act of initial love.  At the end of the movie, Anna is fading quickly, and has two choices: does she run to Kristoff, whom she believes by kissing can save her life, or does she run to Elsa, who's about to be struck down?  Anna chooses the latter, in so doing exemplifying

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

After Anna blocks Elsa from the assailant, finally Elsa realizes that it's about love.  As the trolls in the film say, "only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart."  Anna's sacrifice thaws Elsa's heart.  We see the exact same concept in Scripture:

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

As Anna's love for Elsa enables Elsa to love, so God's love for us enables us to love others.  It's not something we did on our own, or just started doing after years of experimentation . . . it was all God.  And notice, too, that Anna saved Elsa even though Elsa had hurt Anna- twice- and was in fact the reason Anna was dying in the first place.  Hmmm . . . sacrificing life for someone who had caused pain . . . sound familiar?

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Theme 2: Gifts

Though love is the main focus, gifts play a major support role here.  In fact, it's through Elsa's gift that the discussion of love is set up.

First things first: is Elsa's ability good or bad?  That Elsa's ability is a gift and not a curse is established early in the movie.  The trolls ask her parents if Elsa was born with her ability, or if it was a curse; her parents confirm the former.  Thus, the fact that Elsa has her power is not inherently bad.  A troll subsequently tells the parents regarding Elsa's gift that "beauty is in it, but also great danger"- she must learn to control it.  Note that getting rid of it wasn't an option; after all,

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

Elsa has a power, it can be used for good or bad, and it's here to stay.  So, the right approach is learning how to use it properly.  Well, how does she do that?  As we see in the film, she doesn't until the end, when an act of love opens her eyes.  But before that happens, she tries two approaches (unfortunately, both of them are wrong):

a) Hide the gift.  As discussed, Elsa isolates herself, thinking that in so doing, she's helping others.  But, alas, she's not- not only is she not loving people by hiding, she's also squandering her gift.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16)

Those with gifts have a responsibility to use them- they cannot be hidden.

b) Use the gift without discretion.  After years of bottling up who she is, Elsa finally lets it all out.  She sings that song that's been in everyone's brain, "Let it go," and says things like: "I don't care what they're going to say- let the storm rage on; the cold never bothered me anyway" and "no right, no wrong, no rules for me" as she (unknowingly) rains chaos down upon everyone.  Finally, Elsa's free . . . or is she?  No, there's a  problem.  She wraps up in a cocoon of self here- look at the language.  She doesn't care if the storm rages on- it doesn't bother her.  She even throws in a Martin Luther-like "here I stand" exclamation as she proclaims her position.  Since hiding didn't work, she'll just let it out without discretion . . . but she's still alone, and now, instead of just Anna hurting, the entire town is feeling the pain.  Elsa's so wrapped up in self that she doesn't even realize the havoc she's causing.  Oops.

If the two extremes didn't work, what's the right answer then?  How are we to use our gifts?  The Bible answers:

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

As we're called to love each other, it follows that are gifts are granted us that we should use them for each other.  The entire time Elsa battles, it's about her.  Only through the lens of love does she receive the victory, and once obtained, she uses the new-found love inside her to finally harness her power- and she immediately uses it to right things.


Theme 3: Human nature

Frozen discusses human nature in two main ways: through the trolls, and Hans.

The Trolls
The trolls try to get Kristoff and Anna together, and they do so by encouraging them both to look beyond the faults of the other.  "He's just a bit of a fixer-upper," they tell Anna regarding him, and "you can fix this fixer-upper with a little bit of love," concluding that "we need each other to fix us up and round us out."  How true!  It goes back to the love and community aspects discussed earlier, but it goes beyond that.  We are all fixer-uppers: 

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

And it's not like one is better than another- all sins are problems in God's eyes:

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (James 2: 10-11)

The trolls do well to call the point to mind: when we love someone, we're not loving perfect people.  We're loving people who mess up.  But, since love is about helping others, that means it's our job to love them and help them through it.

Hans

Hans' character intrigued me.  Unlike most villains, he doesn't come across that way in most of the movie; there's no foreshadowing to indicate his selfish intent.  And, frankly, I liked that, because it's true to life.  Most villains in this world don't walk around with a sign or evil costume indicated that they're not to be trusted.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)

Hans does show good deeds- he helps Anna, he even saves Elsa's life at one point, and he runs the kingdom well in their absence.  But sometimes, good deeds can have evil intents behind them, and it's clear that Hans was manipulating things to work out in his favor.

So, in general, we can deduce that we're messed up, but don't always appear that way.  Two valuable lessons.  As Kristoff sings to Sven at one point: "people will beat you and curse you and cheat you."  Yep; sounds about right.

Conclusion

Frozen is a fantastic film that accurately explores the true meaning of love, the point of gifts, and the essence of the human heart.  I'm still shocked . . . but pleased.

Rating: A+