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Author’s Note: This is the third article of my sequence on Finding Faith in Fandoms. This article comprises spoilers for Frozen.
On first viewing, Disney’s Frozen looks like merely a enjoyable journey story. But the extra time that has handed since its 2013 launch, the extra I’ve realized how profound its themes are. Looking at its symbols and archetypes, it is a wonderful instance of royal characters’ relationships impacting their group and pure surroundings. It clearly follows the salvation story sample and conveys a few of the most Christian themes in any Disney movie.
Loosely primarily based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” Frozen revolves round two sisters, Elsa and Anna, princesses of the fictional Scandinavian kingdom of Arendelle. Though they’ve loving dad and mom and share a deep bond as youngsters, the royal household breaks down over time. Elsa by accident hurts Anna along with her magical ice powers, and is warned that they could create hazard sooner or later. This prompts the dad and mom to maintain the sisters other than one another and conceal them from the remainder of the dominion till Elsa learns to regulate her powers. The premature demise of the king and queen leaves the sisters and their kingdom leaderless—and susceptible to those that would benefit from them. When the sisters’ relationship is additional fractured by a disagreement, Elsa loses management of her magic and causes an unseasonal winter to fall upon the dominion. The two sisters should heal their relationship in an effort to restore the pure cycle of seasons of their dwelling.
Innocence and Isolation
Elsa’s ice powers might symbolize many issues, however for this reflection I’ll give attention to only one: human beings’ free will and tendency towards sin, whether or not precise or perceived.
Elsa’s powers begin out as a supply of pleasure, however she learns at a younger age that they’ll trigger hurt to her family members if she will not be cautious with them. From then on, she appears to be like upon her powers, and in flip herself, with worry, disgrace, and a determined need for management. Elsa and her dad and mom assume one of the best ways for her to keep away from hurting others is to isolate herself and suppress her powers.
This is just like the entry of sin into the world. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they grew to become conscious of the capability for wrongdoing. Adam and Eve responded to this lack of innocence by clothes themselves and hiding from God; Elsa responds by sporting gloves and hiding from everybody, even these she loves most.
If Elsa’s battle for self-control is just like human beings’ battle in opposition to sin, her seclusion is like attempting to keep away from all alternatives to sin. This could also be applicable for some conditions, like attempting to beat an dependancy or unhealthy behavior by avoiding specific temptations. But isolation doesn’t strengthen one’s conscience. The virtuous life is finest supported by relationships with others striving for a similar purpose. This is why restoration teams exist for individuals combating addictions, offering them with encouragement and accountability. But Elsa’s powers are a secret that she believes she should carry alone. This creates a cycle of worry and disgrace that solely worsens as her powers develop.
Love Personified
Olaf, the snowman constructed by Elsa and Anna in childhood who later beneficial properties sentience, is greater than only a cute sidekick offering comedian aid. He can also be an emblem of the sisters’ love for one another.
There is a trinitarian dynamic between these three characters. The sisters’ love is inventive, and ultimately takes on a lifetime of its personal, changing into a definite being. This is just like the Holy Spirit continuing from the love between the Father and the Son. Olaf later accompanies Anna on her quest to search out and reconcile with Elsa, just like the Holy Spirit accompanying Christ throughout His earthly ministry.
The music “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman” reveals Anna’s persistence in pursuing a relationship along with her sister. Despite being repeatedly ignored and rejected, Anna continues to knock at her sister’s door, like Jesus who “stand[s] on the door and knock[s]” (Revelation 3:20). When Anna asks Elsa if she needs to “construct a snowman,” she is absolutely asking, “Do you need to have a relationship? Do you need to collaborate? Do you need to make one thing lovely and energetic?”
When Anna is at her lowest level, Olaf reveals the true which means of affection: “placing another person’s wants earlier than yours.” This is similar to St. Thomas Aquinas’s definition! Love is a need for and dedication to a different’s good; that’s the lesson Anna each learns and demonstrates over the course of the movie.
“An Act of True Love”
Despite the earlier rejections and current dangers, Anna enters Elsa’s ice palace within the mountains and makes an attempt to steer her to come back dwelling. Olaf can also be there, a reminder of their childhood relationship, and Anna tells Elsa that they are often that shut once more. This is like God calling the Israelites to recollect their covenant with Him even after they flip away.
But Elsa continues to be haunted by the reminiscence of her sister being damage as a result of her personal lack of self-control. She is additional devastated when she learns that she unintentionally “set off an everlasting winter.” Her rising feelings set off her ice magic, and she or he by accident strikes Anna’s coronary heart with ice, inflicting her to slowly freeze.
Anna is advised that solely “an act of real love” can save her from freezing fully. She initially believes this should come within the type of a kiss from Hans, the charismatic prince who proposed to her earlier within the movie. But Hans seems to be analogous with Satan on this story: he’s the deceiver, seducer, and accuser, intent on destroying the heirs and taking on the dominion.
Anna steps absolutely into the position of Christ-figure on the climax of the story. Hans betrays Anna, leaves her to freeze to demise, and intends to execute Elsa and make himself king. He finds Elsa and accuses her of killing her sister, which she is all too able to consider. At the identical time, Anna sees Kristoff, the ice harvester who genuinely loves her and will doubtlessly save her from freezing. But as an alternative of in search of her personal salvation, Anna steps between Elsa and her accuser, identical to Jesus dying to avoid wasting us from Satan. Anna succumbs to her frozen coronary heart in that second, a “demise” that shatters Hans’ sword and saves Elsa’s life.
This obvious demise, nevertheless, is reversed by its nature as “an act of real love,” the one factor that was mentioned may thaw a frozen coronary heart. When Elsa asks Anna how she may sacrifice herself like that, Anna merely replies, “I really like you.”
With Anna and Olaf’s assist, Elsa lastly realizes that the best way to mood her powers will not be by means of worry and isolation, however love and connection. As she opens herself to like, she is ready to soften the snow and ice, restoring summer season to Arendelle. Elsa’s journey is about being open to like, whereas Anna’s journey includes studying what love is. They basically be taught what 1 John 4:18 says: “There is not any worry in love; good love drives out all worry.”
Photo by Kacper Szczechla on Unsplash
