I have copied some comments about the movie FROZEN here. I have removed the links and names involved....except for my name. I put a "______" indicating someone else posting on Facebook. For my responses...I just say "ME". I am posting this here because I'd like to compose a review of the movie here...so this helps me find it. It's almost impossible to find any discussions once they time out on Facebook.
Here goes....
_________Why dose everyone want to be Elsa? She has issues. (Sorry Anne Beal, my friend lent me the movie and I have to give it right back so I watched it. I think we'll all have to find a way to watch it with Candy so she can do the psychological break down because think Elsa has issues.
__________Trying to be the only person in the universe that has not seen it.
_____________Totally--that movie hits all my older sister issues because she's so messed up.
ME: Yes, Elsa has issues. The movie does display and render childhood wounds. Even with the most wonderful parents in the whole world...we ALL still have childhood wounds...it's the nature of life. If we don't reconcile them they develop devices that sabotage our lives. Else has power. Power as a woman, and it's also dangerous. Her power is feared so she is locked away rather than taught how to use her power. Her power is even more amazing when she uses it with love!!! And that is an incredible message. However, I really feel for her. As an artist and a child who was shy and unusual...I relate to being judged. Anna her sister...is actually also like me too though. And her wounds are that her parents separated them and didn't incorporate the power of the two girls together!!! Having their parents die gives them both abandonment issues. So there are layers of abandonment issues. And that is one of the most common childhood wounds. This movie has resonated with kids because they immediately unconsciously understand what "magic power" is to them. And what pain childhood incurs. Elsa isn't really more messed up than others. The "well-adjusted" characters are Swen and Kristof...they have a great friendship. The movie is about how do we have intimate, deep trusting relationships in a world that judges us and separates us if we are different. The reconciliation of friendship/siblings is what touches children so powerfully...they do unconsciously feels they are stupid from using their own magic and power. And as for feminist themes...I could go nuts. Because the real power that women have is sexual and to have children. So stopping girls from their friendships and relationships...because they are "dangerous" is also unconsciously touching the people who love this movie or relate to the movie. And then.////the next subtext of the story is...that Elsa has mental health issues. So her being locked away because she is "crazy and dangerous" is so profound to have a story that so carefully alludes to her "problems". The real problem with mental health is when we try to to lock people away....And...on another level Elsa may be weird, but she chooses to protect her loved ones at the sacrifice of herself. She seems to be as surprised by her own powers as everyone else. Her story arc is one of a a child changing into an adult. Instead of the incredible hulk, we have a female character who can't seem to control her anger. Her emotions are her enemy...and yet they are magic. Also...I've read this somewhere...she "comes out". She goes to have her isolation to mature. Instead of us seeing her grow up before our eyes and change or transform sexually...like Hayley Mills, or Miley Cyrus, or Lindsay Lohan...she goes to her privacy...to change. She "comes out" theoretically grown, more mature, sexually transformed. This is an incredible statement in our celebrity vampire culture of assuming we get to watch and judge a child star transform.
____________Well, I thought Candy, that you'd save the speech for the group viewing. I can't relate to either one because they're both sort of popular in their own way aren't they? Laurel, don't fight it. You know you want the clothes. Anne so now it's all laid out for you. I just don't get why the kids are all crapping their pants to see Elsa. How 'bout if she freezes your heart and she doesn't even like you?
__________Candy... i love your analysis. I, as a younger sister, saw so many of the themes that you elucidated. I was particularly touched by the theme of "locking away what is different". And the fear of Elsa's power. It was so metaphoric to me; and I completely agree that it is about female empowerment. Do you want to build a snowman makes me cry every time. Elsa keeps to herself to protect; she blames herself, and no adult, no loving adult, her parents here, deal with it properly. They don't address the issue; they don't accept her, they instead, shut her away and make her feel guilty/responsible. To me, the parents are actually abusive, and it is the emotional landscape that they create that leads to Anna, who falls in love with strangers and is extremely needy, and Elsa, who fears herself, blames herself, and chooses to shut herself off. It's weird that I loved this movie, but it is so profoundly disturbing as well.
ME: Yes, it is disturbing Suz, but it's also so beautiful. It's such a great recovery story. An holistic healing story. The adults are out-of-touch. And that lack of parental understanding is a strong childhood motif. Seen very profoundly in Wizard of Oz. Dorothy has to fix everything herself...the adults are loving but inept. I believe Elsa and Anna s parents didn't mean to be abusive. They were ignorant and afraid. I think that is what we can see in past generations...these parents that are in denial....or just hide "freak" behaviour. In order to be a supportive care-giver yo need to spend time with the children. This metaphor potential of "royalty" that only deals with the surface persona of the royalty. We are special because of our powers. Growing up is learning not to blame others, to care for others and be kind and understanding even when our friends or family do uncomfortable things. To communicate and express those powers not lock them away. Also...so many children don't know how to resolve anger. Again, why HULk and ELSa are so profound to children. Children want to be Elsa because she is special and has powers and can't predict how her energy will hurt or benefit. Kids see the world as they are always excited to do stuff...but sometimes their behavior is unaccepted, sometimes it isn't sharing or helpful....they get in trouble. It's interesting how Elsa's parents give her a "time out"...but later...Elsa empowers herself with her own mandate of separation and solitude. Kids need to learn to control themselves and give themselves time to "calm down". Again...aprocess of growing up.
_____________I have issues w the movie. The parents keep Elsa from being who she is. Elsa ignores her sister for years. Ana keeps loving Elsa even when she clearly wants nothing to do with her! And of course, as always, Disney kills the parents bc it's the only way a hero can possibly be created! Then the only way in which Elsa can control her power is by being admitting that she has it instead of following her stupid parents idea of repressing it. And you wonder why there need to be psychologists in the world!
ME: Well,_____, it does have terrible dark sides to it. We don't need psychologists because of Disney...Disney is working in a classical storytelling tradition we have all practiced for thousands of years. These kidnds of stories really help children. So many time adults have been afraid to face these kinds of issues. Childhood wounds...unresolved are the reason we need therapy and recovery and psychologists. Not because of our stories. Our stories reflect our pain. Kids get this movie Frozen. It's adults who find it painful...we find it disturbing and painful because we need to resolve and heal OUR OWN childhood wounds. Many parents are exactly like Elsa and Annas parents....and remember the girls are still growing...as they become adults they learn how to work with their problems and each other and the community! Elsa and Anna make some mistakes as children....the empowerment occurs when they learn how to live and love while reconciling behavior and "flaws"... I also truly believe that these fairytales are brilliant because they show kids they can deal and grow ....we can do it by love and self-awareness. The psychologists are there for those people who are stuck and lost...wondering why their relationships aren't satisfying? Most people resist the idea that they can be adults who are still suffering from childhood wounds...sometimes it takes talking to a psychiatrist to realize that about oneself. All conflict is unresolved childhood wounds....
___________As a therapist myself, I agree with what you are saying about unresolved childhood conflict being worked through in the therapist's office. However, I don't agree that the kids "get" the stories and that the adults are the only ones who can recognize the pain that it's being portrayed. My children found it hard to watch Elsa ignore Anna over and over again and said it was sad. In Tangled, my son was very upset to watch the witch stab the prince to death! He had an even worse reaction to the beginning of "Ice Age" when the mom ran with the baby and leaves it to the mammoth and then drowns! Ugh! And I am definitely NOT saying that we need psychologists because of Disney (that would be a silly statement on my part).The profession was created way before Disney as a response to the needed profession that finally sat to deal with the "thousands of year old" human psyche! What I am saying is that I simply did not enjoy this movie and neither did my sensitive children!
ME: Oh you didn't enjoy the movie...see I did not see you say that earlier. Not liking the movie is one thing. Fair enough, different strokes for different folks. I had the impression you thought it wasn't a good movie. Because it really is a marvelous movie that most children feel empowered by and relate to,,,even though it has disturbing aspects. But to repeat what I said earlier...I said it the adults who don't get the movie Frozen. Kids totally get the movie. It's SUPPOSED to be sad when Elsa doesn't open the door. Thats the point. I did not say that childhood wounds get worked out in therapists office. I said, if people don't resolve their childhood wounds they will approach adult life with conflict. People can resolve their childhood wounds on their own, with their friends, through spiritual path, with a family doctor, with a priest or reverend, or with a therapist. When we see disagreements or feel disagreements and want to have conflict...those are unresolved childhood wounds being acted out. What we often see when we observe Disney movies, or fairytales is adults who are terribly conflicted about the content of these stories...and then having to deal with these hefty subjects with their children. Some people enjoy opening dialogue about siblings and sibling rivalry...and some don't. The movie Frozen has some very very sad aspects to it and that is why it is so profoundly popular because it is a healing story. It's redemptive. Art has the power to transform and teach us...whether we "like" it or not...isn't that fantastic!? We are able to use our imaginations to learn heal and feel compassion for the characters in Frozen...therefore helping us grow and build character through compassion. Those of us who enjoyed Frozen have utter compassion for the struggle of Anna and Else. We suffer as they suffer. We cry when Ana sing "do you want to build a snowman"....We love them and feel cathartic joy when they become grown ups and heal and find out how to love and talk to each other!
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