Don't Let Them See
***Frozen Spoilers ahead. Venture on at your own risk.***
At my house, we watch four things.
1. Frozen
2. Phineas and Ferb
3. Stars Wars The Clone Wars
4. Game of Thrones (after 9:30 p.m.)
For all the number of times we've been through Frozen in the last month, I finally saw the end today. But the conversation going on at my house has centered on the question: why is Frozen so popular? Especially with what seems like so many Christians. (Maybe it's just that Christians are desperate to find a compelling story that doesn't have a PG-13 rating attached to it - there are only so many non-superman roles for Dean Cain out there on the Hall Mark channel!) But I'm not going to answer that question. At least not right now.
What I want to talk about is the irony of a culture that acts like Elsa's parents loving Frozen so much. I know people who have told their children it doesn't matter how they feel they just need to smile and be good.
Smile.
Be good.
Feelings aren't real. They aren't observable and they aren't rational. And we will be uncomfortably disappointed if you embarrass us. What matters is how you make me look to everyone who isn't my family.
Thought experiment:
Setting - Large social gathering of friends and acquaintances.
Conflict - Your child is throwing a not-so-minor tantrum and drawing a good deal of attention.
How do you respond? How do you respond if they are 2? 9? 16?
If you are more concerned about how all those people will view you as a parent than you are about the kid, it may be Elsa you are ushering out the back door.
In literary terms, Elsa is a flat character there is no growth in her character - even though she flips at the end and learns to control her power it is Anna's act of love that accomplishes this. She is drawn with extremely broad strokes. "Conceal don't feel" is the essence of her character.
The appeal for many kids is in Elsa they recognize a fellow comrade because they too know all about hiding.
Would it be so bad to stop pretending like we had it all together?
Wouldn't it be better if we all had the freedom to fail?
At my house, we watch four things.
1. Frozen
2. Phineas and Ferb
3. Stars Wars The Clone Wars
4. Game of Thrones (after 9:30 p.m.)
For all the number of times we've been through Frozen in the last month, I finally saw the end today. But the conversation going on at my house has centered on the question: why is Frozen so popular? Especially with what seems like so many Christians. (Maybe it's just that Christians are desperate to find a compelling story that doesn't have a PG-13 rating attached to it - there are only so many non-superman roles for Dean Cain out there on the Hall Mark channel!) But I'm not going to answer that question. At least not right now.
What I want to talk about is the irony of a culture that acts like Elsa's parents loving Frozen so much. I know people who have told their children it doesn't matter how they feel they just need to smile and be good.
Smile.
Be good.
Feelings aren't real. They aren't observable and they aren't rational. And we will be uncomfortably disappointed if you embarrass us. What matters is how you make me look to everyone who isn't my family.
Thought experiment:
Setting - Large social gathering of friends and acquaintances.
Conflict - Your child is throwing a not-so-minor tantrum and drawing a good deal of attention.
How do you respond? How do you respond if they are 2? 9? 16?
If you are more concerned about how all those people will view you as a parent than you are about the kid, it may be Elsa you are ushering out the back door.
In literary terms, Elsa is a flat character there is no growth in her character - even though she flips at the end and learns to control her power it is Anna's act of love that accomplishes this. She is drawn with extremely broad strokes. "Conceal don't feel" is the essence of her character.
The appeal for many kids is in Elsa they recognize a fellow comrade because they too know all about hiding.
Would it be so bad to stop pretending like we had it all together?
Wouldn't it be better if we all had the freedom to fail?
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