Disney movies are
fantastic! While I can admit, I've
honestly only watched a handful of them, my daughter is obsessed with being a
princess! Although we try our best to
not allow this fantasy life of a prince on a white horse riding in and sweeping
her off of her feet into a problemless world . . . she is 4 and she deserves
the right to allow her imagination to flow and be creative.
We [my husband and I]
recently took her on a date to watch the movie Frozen. What a fantastic movie! Elsa, the soon to be Queen with special
powers of turning things into snow/ice, and Anna, the young sister that lost
her freedom of growing up with the windows of the castle open and playing in
the garden or outdoors in order to contain and protect Elsa. When Elsa reaches the age of coronation, the
castle is opened to the village and in an act of anger Elsa freezes the entire
village with a forever winter. Anna is
lost, she's wanted only to live with freedom from the castle and to fall in
love and to live life. Yet, she feels
guilt that Elsa's anger was caused by her actions [which they were] so she
begins a journey to get Elsa to return .
Both of these actions
ruined the life for those within the village.
They took away their freedoms, their rights, and their liberties. They became angry at Elsa, without understanding
Elsa's feelings of pain. Elsa too was
hurt, she's stricken with this punishment of freezing things (anything she
touches), and she too wants a normal life just like everyone else.
Unfortunately, Elsa has the entitlement of Queen now to live up to.
This reminds me of my
daughter. My husband and I have held
positions within the church of authority.
Being a pastor's kid, you're held to these higher standards yet always
thought of as "the worst kids of the bunch". Although, they're not worse than others, all
children make challenging choices. A pastor's kid just makes them and their
public knowledge because we usually add them into our sermons or the children
are looked upon with a microscope. I
wondered while watching this movie, how do our children feel? While we're not royalty, at times, we're held
to these similar higher standards. Do
our children wish that they were able to attend church without these
"titles" held over them?
What I love about this
Disney movie the most, is that it shows that different parties involved did
wrong. And they all apologized. Something our world is missing. Apologies!
It also shows that you can make something good from a "badly dealt
hand." In Elsa's position, she can
make her life meaningful for the good with her "snow powers" and
still take on her privilege of "Snow Queen."
Really a true must watch
if you haven't seen the movie. My
daughter can't stop running around the house singing their songs.
Check out Frozen's Oscar Nominated song in 25languages. It's beautiful!
Hi Shelly
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your exeriences with the movie Frozen.
I remember reading an a book an eternity ago; that studied literature and media, noting that fairy tales and movies such as those devleoped by Disney are foundational to our mental health. They allow children safely investigate complex issues such as death, family, intense emotions, and relationships, in a safe fashion. Similar to playing, this exploration allows the growing child the opportunity to develop internal solutions to conflict, when these issues do arise in real life.
Barb, what are your thoughts on the studies that have shown that children that watch these Disney movies are being exposed to an unrealistic life for most and due to these un-achievable desires causing hardships and disasters in lives?
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