Elsa Was Wrong

*The following post is of a different nature than most of those we’ve done before. Occasionally we will be doing topical posts about the culture, the world, or an issue of some kind. We would love to hear your opinions and responses.*

Perhaps by now you’ve heard of the song “Let It Go” from the animated Disney movie Frozen. If you haven’t, I can’t help but wonder where you’ve been hiding for the last five months. Though perhaps you don’t have three young girls in your home who sing the song constantly or want to listen to the soundtrack every time you’re in the car. It has spawned countless amateur and professional cover videos on YouTube and seems to be speaking to people of all ages. The song, simply, is everywhere.

It’s a good song. I can say that as a musician. It has musical depth, clever lyrics (come on, they even work in the word “fractals”), and a catchy melody that you feel as though you’ve heard it before and won’t ever forget it. I also like the film as a whole, for how it refreshes the classic (and cliché) Disney theme of “true love.” I give it a hearty recommendation.

Elsa, the eldest of two royal sisters, sings “Let It Go” after her magical powers to create ice and snow are revealed despite her lifetime spent concealing them. She flees to the mountains, fearing not only what might happen to her now that everyone knows her secret, but also fearing that she will lose control again and harm someone else, her little sister Anna in particular (whom she had almost killed with her powers when they were both young). She realizes that there is no longer a reason to conceal her abilities, and she feels free for the first time in her life. She starts experimenting with her powers, building a beautiful ice palace and even creating a frozen gown for herself. The song gives a play-by-play of Elsa’s realization.

But there is one thing that bugs me about “Let It Go”: Elsa is wrong.

The song has been celebrated as an anthem for individuality, self-expression, and self-realization. Kristen Anderson-Lopez, co-writer of “Let It Go” with her husband Robert, said in their Oscar acceptance speech, “Our girls, Katie and Annie, our song is inspired by our love for you in the hope that you never let fear and shame keep you from celebrating the unique people that you are.” What a great sentiment, right?

Sure. Our culture loves this stuff: standing up and standing out and sticking it to the man, and “Let It Go” fits right in there. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating who you are. But there’s more happening here than a fearful girl finally standing up for herself.

After Elsa almost accidentally kills her little sister when they are young, their parents keep the two apart, and Elsa must “conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them see” her powers. So rather than learning to control her abilities, Elsa only grows to fear them, and the relationship between the sisters takes years to mend. Both sisters suffer because of short-sighted repression, and both display remarkable immaturity when dealing with “adult” things like responsibility and love. Elsa sings

It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free

She’s right about testing limits and seeing what she can do – her parents should have let her do that when she was little. But she’s wrong that right and wrong no longer exist for her, and she’s wrong that she’s free. She admits it herself later in the movie, when she learns that she has unintentionally caused an eternal winter in the kingdom:

I'm such a fool, I can't be free
No escape from the storm inside of me
I can’t control the curse

And then she loses control and hurts her sister worse than she did when they were young. Her freedom was an illusion. Running away from responsibility and shirking human contact did not bring about her freedom, but only proved how trapped she really was inside her curse. She realizes that it wasn’t society’s “rules” that had taken her freedom, but the “storm” inside herself.

So it bothers me when I hear “Let It Go” described as an “anthem” for individuality and self-expression. It has been called “an anthem for the abused and repressed,” and "what [NPR’s music critic Ann Powers] hears is the fact that every 10-year-old girl is coming out of her shell and coming into her own, and she needs this kind of song to grab onto." One blogger even wrote a post titled “Why ‘Let It Go’ is My Life Anthem.”

Look, I can personally relate to the idea of feeling trapped, restrained, ashamed, and fearful, and understand the freedom that comes from stepping out from under all of that junk. Apparently millions of others relate as well. But the character who sings this song does not see the whole picture. She feels free in the moment, but she says herself that “Distance makes everything so small, and the fear that once controlled me can’t get to me at all.” Remember, Elsa had just that day been crowned queen. She has literally run away from her problems and her responsibilities.

This is not something to celebrate. It is an impulse that grown-ups have to face and overcome. Who doesn’t want to run away from dealing with our mental and emotional junk? We do it all the time in lots of ways. Standing up and “being who you are” is no excuse for shutting oneself off from the world and saying, “Screw my family. Screw all of these people that I have been trying to be so perfect for.”

Ginny (right) covering her ears as Cora (left) sings Frozen songs

Having said all of that, “Let It Go” is still right and correct when it appears in the film. It truly represents what Elsa’s character is thinking and feeling. I have a problem, however, with calling the song an anthem for freedom and self-expression, and with encouraging the little girls of the world to sing it about themselves.

So go ahead, sing and enjoy the song. (Other than the original version, I recommend the one Jimmy Fallon did on “The Tonight Show.”) But don’t forget that there’s a lot more to the story.