(no subject)

[sebastienne]

STOP THE PRESSES

IDINA MENZEL IS IN FROZEN

Like, I went to see it because I'm researching Disney villains at the moment. I thought "oh, that's some interesting riffing on Elphaba they're doing there. And the voice actor is doing a really great imp.... HANG ON A SECOND"

If you have no interest in giving Disney money // seeing a Disney film in the cinema - you can watch the power ballad here.

So.. have Disney just really had to raise their game since Shrek? I mean, there's this awful trend of "we're doing celtic / scandinavian stories so everyone's white because history", so it's not like they've magically become unfail-y overnight... but this film just had:

• A plot-vital "act of true love" that was not about romantic love.
• An end-of-film climactic romantic kiss which was fully consensually negotiated.
• The story was entirely about the relationship between two women.
• There was Something Going On with troll gender (they seemed to act differently depending on the colour of necklace they were wearing... but there were several (4-6?) different necklace colour options, not just pink and blue)
• A character consistently got called out for the ridiculousness of getting engaged based on just having met their "true love" that day
• Did I mention the consensually negotiated kiss?

Comments

[sebastienne]

Yes and yes on the latter two - I don't know about the first one because I don't know enough about HCA. I know that two of the castle servants were named after the original protagonists of The Snow Queen, though.

I think it's particularly important that Elsa's power was only dangerous because she'd been taught to hide it. And if you don't take "Let it Go" to be the "Defying Gravity" of this film, then it could just as well be a coming-out song. People had only ever told her about how her power could hurt (even though she'd seen, first-hand, how it could create joy). And then, in the final resolution, to discover that love is the answer? It's very, very analogous to being told to hide one's queerness.

[annalytica]

That's interesting - I can see it as a story about queerness, but my first impression was that it was a story about women having to hide their abilities, because it is dangerous for a woman to be too good at anything.

[sebastienne]

Oh yes, it's very much a secondary reading to me - my primary reading is that "Let it Go" serves the same purpose as "Defying Gravity" (I forget if you're familiar with Wicked so maybe that analogy doesn't help?)

[sebastienne]

But there are too many resonances in Menzel's casting & performance for me to not think that's intentional.

And "Defying Gravity" is all about a woman who's been told to channel her abilities in this one socially acceptable way, realising that she can't be a part of propping up a corrupt system. Like an Elsa-Katniss villainess. (Oh I am getting my Wicked-feels EVERYWHERE right now.)

I'm through accepting limits
'cause someone else says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!

[annalytica]

Ah, I hadn't made the connection with Defying Gravity because it's a while since I saw Wicked and my memories are hazy. Thank you for reminding me :)