Review: Frozen is (almost) a feminist fairy tale

My review, Twitter length: 
"@dancingdiva Frozen is great! The point is sister love, girl power, independence. No Prince Charming needed/wanted! If only there was a strong brown girl."

If you have a short attention span or are short on time, that's all you need to know. Otherwise, let me elaborate.

Background: 
Last night I rented Frozen to watch with my 9-year-old granddaughter, who I'll call Sidekick. I've been curious about the movie since Sidekick has been obsessed with the music for months, playing it on constant rotation. Her mother is ready to kill me, since I bought Sidekick the soundtrack. And even I'm sick of it, in the once a week dose I get on "Grandma Wednesdays."

Apparently we are not alone. School-aged  and preschool kids worldwide can't get enough of the Frozen soundtrack and their parents are slowly going insane, applying limits on how often the music can be played, even hiding it to survive the weekends. The theme song, "Let it Go," has become an anthem for girls especially, everywhere. (And gay men are loving it up, too.)

What is it with that song, I've been wondering? So a couple of weeks ago I asked Sidekick why she loved the song sooo much, and she said, "Because she has Frozen powers, of course!" I looked up the lyrics to dig a little deeper into what she meant, and it really is an amazing song about empowerment:

"...My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back,
The past is in the past
Let it go, let it go
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway..."

 In case you live in a world void of young girls or the Oscars, check it out yourself, sung by the incredible Idina Menzel. (Sorry to those of you who have PTSD around constant repeat of this song. Just don't press play.)

When the song came on early in the movie, Sidekick jumped up and exclaimed, "This is MY song" with such conviction and sang along with such passion that I *almost teared up (okay I cried a little).

Review: 
So, on to the review (it's not a traditional review, so look up others if you want more plot detail). Also, spoilers galore.

There are two princess sisters, Elsa and Anna, in a Scandinavian land of some sort in olden days. Elsa, the oldest, has magical powers related to ice and freezing things. Rather than embracing her powers, she is told they are dangerous and she must hide them and stay locked away, creating much loneliness for both she and her sister (she accidentally hurt her sister with them when they were playing once). Their parents are soon dead, FYI, but the rule to stay locked up and separated in the castle sticks throughout their growing up

Then, finally, when Elsa gets to the age where she can be queen of the land, the doors and windows to the castle are thrown open for a big coming out party, and at the festivities little sister Anna even meets a visiting prince, who she becomes engaged to in one day (I thought the plot was going to tank here, but hang on). When Anna tells Elsa her news and asks for her blessing, Elsa says no, it's too soon and an argument ensues. Elsa loses one of her protective gloves during the argument and accidentally (again) lets her powers fly and freezes all the land. She believes she has no power to unfreeze things, so she runs away to protect the people. But alone, out in the snowy mountains, she releases her powers with great emotion and makes a totally fly ice castle for herself. This is when "Let it Go" is sung.

Message 1: Use your power, do you, and it's okay to be on your own. Let it go.

Anna sets out to find her sister and bring her back. During the course of that adventure she is told by a nice dude she meets that it is a bad idea to get engaged after only one day because you don't really know the person and might not like how they pick their nose. At this point Sidekick inserts loudly, "That's right, watch out for him, he's a liar and evil!" (She has seen the movie already, which only serves to give her more passion for the story.)

Message 2: Don't leap into love. 

As the story progresses, Anna and the love-advice dude go searching for Elsa. When they find her and the ice castle, they are rejected and sent away violently by Elsa, who accidentally again hurts Anna. This time she hits her heart with an ice shard, which will eventually kill Anna by freezing her heart. We later learn from the dude's adopted troll community that only an act of true love can heal a frozen heart.

I get a little worried here again that we are turning to the standard Disney plot as they head back to the castle to find her fiance to kiss her and fix her with his true love. But keep holding on.

Anna ends up back in the castle and we learn her fiance is indeed an asshole, who is scheming to take over the *kingdom, and he locks her in a room to slowly freeze to death. He then sets out to find and kill Elsa so he can be king. At this point Sidekick screams, "But you can't win because they are stronger than you!"

Message 3: Girl power, duh.

My memory of the plot gets a little fuzzy here, but both Elsa and the dude helping Anna are racing back to the castle. Anna breaks free of the castle and even as she is dying, starts making her way to dude, thinking now that he is the one who truly loves her and can save her. But hang on, that tired plot line turns again.

Just as Anna sees dude, she also sees her sister Elsa and that she is about to be killed by Anna's now former fiance. So, despite being near death, Anna turns from her oncoming dude to her sister and throws herself between Elsa and former fiance, becomes frozen, and deflects the sword so Elsa lives. Sidekick yells, "That's right, your family is more important than your boyfriend." (Really, she YELLED that, I'm not making this up.)

Elsa can't believe what has happened and wraps her arms around the frozen Anna, sobbing. Before long (yes you can see what's coming), Anna melts because her act of true love to save her sister, and her sister's true love for her in return are enough to heal a frozen heart, and indeed an entire frozen body. 

Message 4: Remember who counts. Family first. Sisters rock. The power of love (in non-romantic forms).

Then Elsa realizes that she can control her powers with the strength of love, and uses her love for her people to melt the land and summer returns.

The story ends with the bad guys rounded up and sent off, and Elsa takes her place as queen, using her frozen powers to throw a kick-ass ice skating party in the middle of summer. Dude who helped Anna asks if he can kiss her (gets consent!) and she gives him her cheek! (Sure you can kiss me but we are just friends, buddy.) He sells ice for a living so he is made the official royal ice man. 

And the sisters live happily every after. Together.

People, there is NO Prince Charming in this story, not even a back-up Prince or a side Prince or a *commoner who is anointed prince. The story is not about finding true happiness through love of a man, preferably a rich man. Not at all. It's (almost) a feminist fairy tale!

After it was over, I asked Sidekick what she thought the movie was about and she said (as if she was schooling me), "Grandma, come on, it's about finding your true self." 

Message 5 (as spoken by a wise 9-year-old): Happiness comes from finding your true self and living your truth.

What's missing: 
Brown people. Yes, it's set in Scandinavia, but that is no excuse. Also, nothing queer, not even a subtext. Again, inexcusable in 2014 (I might be wrong. See update at the bottom for a potential queer moment). And Elsa and Anna are stereotypes in their appearance - white, pretty, blonde (and red) haired, blue eyed, skinny, silly gowns. We can do better. But for Disney, Frozen overall is serious progress so I'm feeling a little forgiving, except on the lack of diversity. Sidekick is brown and I REALLY WANT her (and all girls like her) to feel that much passion for and attachment to a story revolving around someone who looks like her/them.

So I'm making an ask. We need a movie as wonderful as Frozen that stars a brown girl. Remember Tiana, the only Black Disney princess, who spends half the film as a frog and they rest chasing her prince? We deserve a do over, Disney. So many of we parents and grandparents of Black girls were hopeful, wanting a story to get our daughters excited about, but it just went flat, for them and for us. No wonder.

I'm not the only one sick of lily white Disney princesses. I'm just late to the table on the Frozen critique, having waited to rent it. See some of the many reactions in this July 2013 Indiewire article.

Segue: 
I'm going to end here by making a leap to Lupita Nyong'o, who just won an Oscar for her incredible work in her role as a brutalized young slave in "Twelve Years a Slave." We watched her on all the red carpets and she captivated us with her talent, beauty, and sexiness. Which has caused some to call (again) for roles for Black actors beyond slaves, maids, pimps, and whores. Amen to that!

Rumor has it that Nyong'o is being considered for a lead in the next Star Wars movie (along with Michael B. Jordan!), and for a film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's amazing, award-winning book, Americanah! If Hollywood can make that necessary step forward, then Disney surely can make an animated feature where a young Black girl saves the universe through her strength, courage and wisdom. 

That's where we go from Frozen. 

March 21 update:
Wait, there may be a teeny-tiny queer moment in the movie. Read number 5 in this PolicyMic article! (The store guy is gay and his hubby and kids are in the sauna!)