76017 Frozen

[Dragon Lady]

So then where'd he get the sled? And the ice grabber things?

[Tally M.]

I'd assume they kind of let him tag along. Perhaps his dad got killed in an ice gathering accident. So, when he's little he tags along with them, sees the trolls, lives with the trolls, but also has continued to learn how to collect ice and so supports himself with that.

[bobtheenchantedone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC83NA5tAGE

[Dragon Lady]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC83NA5tAGE

I wondered when you were going to link to that here.

[Portia]

First, you people should read the Wikia pages and TV Tropes, because it gives you all the background information you could ever want and more.

Second, "foot size doesn't matter" is by an order of magnitude the best line in a Disney movie. Have been laughing at that all day.

[Random]

I think the best line was one of Kristoph's. It was something along the lines of: "They're love experts... I've seen them do it before." I burst out laughing, and the theater was dead silent besides me, which just made it funnier for me. Heh heh, adult jokes.

[Portia]

I've been thinking a lot about how Robert Lopez was also the lyricist for The Book of Mormon musical. "Let It Go" and "Turn It Off" are two sides of the same coin. In fact, I saw a lot of parallels in Elsa's casting off her shackles of repression to a coming out process. "Conceal, Don't Feel," is a very Mormon thing. "Bid those sad feelings adieu..." "Just realize you have a curable curse and turn it off." Interesting that Frozen would get such a positive response from the LDS community when its mores are actually very antithetical to those of Mormons. I think we're probably the worst offenders of the Fourth Date Marriage in America. Various references lead me to believe that in-world, the characters would think that not only personal but sexual compatibility is important in marriage.

[Yellow]

As with most creative works, the viewer's perception of the message depends greatly upon their own experiences and context. (As someone else once said, "Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our own point of view.") LDS viewers will emphasize the points that resonate with their beliefs, just as atheist, Republican, Democrat, Norwegian, Muslim, or Cat-loving viewers would do.

It's not surprising to me that Frozen has received a positive response in the LDS community. Anna's goal the entire time (even from her childhood) is to strengthen her family ties, clearly something sympathetic to LDS doctrine. It's exciting in the movie when Elsa chooses to "Let It Go", and the song expresses the excitement of her liberation and exploration. Taken alone, it clearly encourages abandoning rules and restrictions and seeing how far you can go. (It's reminiscent in that way of "Defying Gravity", another Idina Menzel hit.)

But within the context of the story, it's clear that simply abandoning all restrictions is not the answer. Elsa's actions lead to a huge storm and an "eternal winter" for her home town. While her liberation is exciting for herself, it's clear that her powers impact the people around her; "Letting Go" is not the ultimate solution. She has to learn to control her emotions before resolution can come. There are limits, and when she works within those limits, wonderful things happen. But those restrictions are necessary.

I'd say that "First Time In Forever (Reprise)" emphasizes this tension particularly well. Anna is happy to finally understand her sister and anxious to have a real sisterly relationship with her for the first time in years, and Elsa's still living in fear of hurting others. She hasn't learned to live within those restrictions. She cares about Anna; she doesn't want to live in isolation. (We saw this the whole time she's growing up.) But it's a workable interim solution for her… or so she thinks. When she discovers that even from far away, her lack of control is still affecting people she cares about, she's upset again. There are certainly themes that resonate with LDS beliefs here.

Of course, this wasn't a sunday school movie. Not everything lines up perfectly with stereotypical LDS values. But there's certainly an interpretation of the movie that makes much if it resonate with core LDS beliefs, so it's not surprising that people latch on to that. Other interpretations are possible, and that's fine. That's expected.

[Portia]

How do you feel about the librettist being so anti-establishment? Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon are very irreverent and vulgar, even by my liberal standards.

[Yellow]

[shrug] It doesn't matter to me too much who writes the words. It's how I interpret them (and how others interpret them) that matters.

I would also add that "Conceal, Don't Feel" was clearly not the best approach to take with Elsa; it caused a lot of the fear and anxiety that led to the problems in the first place. While I acknowledge that LDS culture sometimes (often?) takes that approach to certain topics, I don't believe that it's always a doctrinally-mandated stance. A better approach for Elsa (and for many people in the church today) would have been "Acknowledge, understand, and explore at appropriate times and with appropriate limits." That doesn't lend itself well to show-stopping musical hits, though.

[Dragon Lady]

Yellow: When Portia asked why the LDS community likes Frozen I should have responded, "Once There Was a Snowman!"