So many
lessons in the Disney film, "Frozen." If you have not seen it… GO!
We have
seen Frozen several times—both in the theater and on YouTube (bits and pieces and videos). Every time I watch this film, I take away something new. It is
certainly about the unconditional love of sisters and the bonds that sisters
share- no matter how much time goes by. But, I also
This gist
of the movie is this (if you haven’t seen it!) It starts off with how the elder
sister, Elsa, has magical powers to conjure ice and snow. She and her sister
are close and love to play. The little sister, Anna, especially loves it when
Elsa creates winter wonderlands in the ballroom. But one morning when playing, Elsa
accidentally hurts Anna with her magic, and the royal parents decide to close
off Elsa, Anna and the rest of the castle from the kingdom. The sisters grow up
separate from society -- and each other. The parents die in a horrible
shipwreck and the girls still remain estranged from each other, even though
they only have each other now. Elsa eventually comes of age and must be crowned
the new queen. During the coronation festivities, Elsa’s powers are revealed;
she is horribly upset after spending a lifetime trying to hide them from
everyone, and runs up a mountain, sending the kingdom into an eternal winter.
Feeling guilty, upset, and hoping she can help her sister, Anna sets out to
find Elsa. But Elsa, now on her own,
feels a sense of freedom – freedom from a lifetime of judgment from her
parents, herself and the kingdom. She is
now free to let her powers go and to be who she was always meant to be. Her
self-discovery is empowering and she is happy to stay on the mountain, alone in
order to live her best life. She says in
the featured song, “She is alone and free.”
There are
so many points throughout the film where I thought about my own sister. I am 14
months older than she is, and was only a baby myself when she came into the
physical world. She is my
history and I am hers.
The movie made me
very nostalgic about how much fun young siblings have together and the unconditional
love that exists with youth and innocence.
The movie
also got me thinking about the roll that parents play in childhood development
and the bond that is allowed to form between siblings.
Elsa, the
older sister, is forced by her parents to “conceal and not to feel” her powers
– including hiding them from her own sister. I get it -- the goal was to
protect Anna from Elsa, and to protect Elsa from a cruel society that would
ridicule and label her as different and frightening.
But what
if Elsa’s parents embraced her special gift instead of forcing her to be
ashamed of it and hide? Perhaps Elsa would not have had to retreat to her room
for her entire life to repress who she really was or what she was capable of.
She was forced into a life of isolation away from her sister Anna (whom she loved and longed to play with) and fear was
the real driver, not love.
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There is
a fine line between being protective and being suffocating and judgmental. There is a special sort of magic that happens
when parents can accept their children for who they are and help empower them
to live their best life – no matter how
different that child might be. Love, support, communication, and encouragement
are sometimes the real ways to protect children
from the harshness of the world. It is
about building self- confidence in children where they can then express their
magic and powers in their own special way. They can embrace their
Elsa’s parents
couldn't accept her powers as a gift and instead imposed their own insecurities
on Elsa, calling her powers a curse. It is a good lesson in parenting for sure.
I want my boys to be able to be free and
be who they are intended to be in this lifetime.
Thank you
Frozen, for showing us the strong bond of sisters AND for reminding us that we
should embrace our children no matter what their special powers might be!
