So I went to see Frozen

You know, it's funny you mentioned that, because when I went today, I managed to bring a friend with me, and he didn't want to see it at first, but when he saw it he said that he almost cried during the first 10 minutes. I found that so amusing when he said it.

 

"Do you want to build a snow man!" Me at work.

Fellow co workers. "NO!!!"

Pft I do it just to annoy them now. I know the whole song by heart but yea it's good quality material for annoying people.

 

Same damn thing happened to me when I saw it. The little girls were just playing and I was bawling. No idea why!

 

I cried because I relate to Anna and Elsa's relationship. My sister is always the one trying to make an effort and I'm always busy and rather cold. I kind of realized I was being a huge jerk to her for the past year. And to make it worse I'm going away for school next year. Plus I always cry during Disney movies lol

 

REALISTIC HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS ARE GREAT GUYS.

WHY AM I YELLING.

I'M JUST TYPING.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

I am pretty close with my sister but we both came out of it being all "wow Elsa is my Disney counterpart" so that should tell you something about our relationship looool
( still did relate to a lot of the scenes tho )

 

AW you guyssss

yeah I think a lot of people can relate to Elsa to the extent of her hiding a part of herself away and then finally coming to grips with who she is as a person. I think that's part of growing up. I used to hide the fact that I played video games and watch anime away from some of my friends and now I'm open about everything and I mean they still don't understand it but they don't think less of me either

WHY AM I GETTING SO OPEN AND EMOTION wtf guys

 

How about we all just agree that Hyorin's version of Let It Go was the gr8st. ♥​

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But yeah, I watched Frozen and enjoyed it a lot. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from it, but I think that whatever it was, I was a little let down by it. It kind of just felt like something was missing. Maybe the movie was a little too goofy for me, but it was hecka cute and I enjoyed it a lot.​

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Maybe I was just really spoiled by Tangled.​

 

I'm kinda like this too, if I'm honest. I tend to hide away by myself and this movie showed me that was a big no-no.

On another note, I have the same personality as Anna. Yes, that includes fantasizing about meeting THE one.

 

I like how the film is open to those kinds of interpretations. When I first saw it, I felt that it was a great movie for those who are trying to overcome disabilities to see and get inspired from it. Of course, that could just be drawn from my own personal experiences growing up and the fact that I was really studying hard for my Special Education final at around that time. Elsa is born differently, and due to that, she is kept away from others for her own safety. The way the parents act around her, keeping her away from others and raising her different, that stuff happens with a lot of kids who grow up with disabilities, and something I can attest to. That's why I was able to understand the parents; they were in the wrong, but that's typical behavior.

Let it Go can be seen as an acceptance song, especially with what goes on with the song. It's basically saying that Elsa is accepting herself for who she is and she isn't going to allow anyone to ruin that for her. As disabled people grow up, they become more aware of themselves, where they stand in society, and end up closing themselves up. Many times, they will try to make the most out of there life, and a lot of it is taking that step of doing whatever makes them happy and succeeding with that.

 

One of the writers confirmed that it was definitely a conscious effort to portray anxiety and depression. That, imo, extends to what you're talking about. Just nice to have confirmation that Disney is at least trying to handle heavy issues.

Now if they could only look at race, gender, sexuality, classism...

 

Yeah, I definitely picked up on that idea of depression while watching it. Again, part of my own interpretation has to do with my own problems and my need to pass one of my roughest classes.

 

Out of all of those things, I doubt Disney will tackle sexuality in any foreseeable future. Taking a stance on it that promotes anything non-heterosexual could see a lot of backlash (unfortunately...) Classism has been hinted at in many films, like Aladdin and The Lion King, but not on a really substantial level. They probably think race is ticked off the list with The Princess and the Frog, and I'm in no haste to see specifically non-white character-focused stories (white characters just work out more appropriately for a lot of the tales so far, whether people like it or not,) but I would be interested still. And for gender, maybe they'll play more with gender roles (like Mulan did), but I feel I can guarantee Disney won't have a character that is transgendered...at least, not in the open.

 

I agree. Sadly it's taken Disney decades to move forward (and they take huge steps back sometimes too), and the progresses they've made have been pretty meager. Slow progress is still progress, though, and companies like Dreamworks, which have always kind of been the "not Disney" (TO ME AT LEAST but i am also a disney dork) have the opportunity to address those issues and one-up Disney (which will then force Disney to innovate).

Classism has been hinted at but it often develops into a "rags to riches" story, which ignores the issue of classism altogether, you're right. Princess & the Frog, while absolutely important and wonderful, is not only (imo) cheapened by them spending like 90% of the movie as frogs, but I also have a problem because like... Tiana is "the black princess," Mulan is "the Chinese princess," Pocahontas is "the Native American princess." They're exceptions to the rule of all otherwise all-white cast of princesses. Gender and sexuality are difficult for Disney to handle because society (esp. American society) are so damn squicky about kids learning about these issues (and that applies to racism too).

I just think that Disney has a pattern of being daring then backtracking. Like with, say, Mulan--the movie was incredibly empowering for females, but then the sequel turned into the usual safe bullshit. This is obviously just to milk easy income out of an established character, but the question stands--would it be popular in the first place if it wasn't daring?

Disney won't add a transgender, gay, lesbian, asexual, mixed-race, or other kind of minority character because they're afraid of the negative backlash. And they're a huge corporation so I suppose I should reconcile that they're going to make choices based upon money. I just wish that, given their influence and huge amounts of money, they'd use their powers for good. Not to mention that the potential pay off from such a daring move is substantial. People are tired of the same old white princess hetero relationship stuff.

note: i am white and straight so I am not really qualified to comment on these things so feel free to call me on my **** if you disagree

 

LAIKA will always be my preferred "not Disney" of choice.

 

It's okay Misty I hope I got dis :c

Okay, so I'm bi-racial, right? People ask me what Disney princess can you most relate to or something along those lines and I say Mulan. Then, knowing of my Chinese heritage, they go "Of course." Like it's supposed to be obvious. I have African-american friends who relate to Tiana for such "obvious" reasons. Yes, it's obvious that the color of my skin matches the princess I admire the most. Some people become "colorblind" to this so that they may see the princess for what they are in character, not in race. But I see it. I just see it. Tiana is the black one. Mulan is the Chinese one. etc. I can't pretend I don't see it. I look at myself and see a half-Asian woman. Yes, character matters along with ethnicity for me. At the same time, I throw away all those politics and see the movie for what it is. I haven't seen Frozen and have actually heard quite a bit about it's supposed potential to have the characters be ethnic. But I hope that when I do see it, I see for its quality, the morals it teaches, and the overall storytelling aspect.

But then it's what happens after I see the movie. Suddenly, I might realize that the entire cast was Caucasian. I can't ignore it. I see it, I just see it. Especially as a woman of color, it's very present in my mind. Some friends say I'm pretty f*cking crazy and oversensitive about it and that I should just see for what it is on the inside. Yet, Disney has really only released one movie that features an Eastern-Asian Princess. What if other Chinese girls can't relate to Mulan? Sure, she's got the same ethnicity, but are we obligated to like her then for that? They may see more of themselves in Belle or Elsa. Yet, they are Caucasian. It's relieving that we are surrounded in a community that becomes colorblind that and I'm all the more happy that people support others of their taste no matter what ethnicity. Yet, we can't completely colorblind ourselves so that we are actually blind to reality. I see fewer of my Caucasian friends relating to ethnic princesses than my non-Caucasian friends relating to Caucasian princesses. I'm thinking it's not because ethnic characters aren't as fully fleshed out as the others, but because well, options aren't wide and vast. If we are able to see past race, why shouldn't it work the other way around with having more diverse princesses being related by everyone as much as other Caucasian princesses are?

I don't think Disney is being directly racist, but it's more of the fact that they are racially insensitive. I'm sure Frozen is a wonderful film and that people of all ethnicities will enjoy it. But leading ourselves to believe that just because Disney is in the clearing for appeasing the minority population with merely a few diverse films shouldn't be the case. Now I'm not saying that they should make more diverse films for the sake of diversity. Why doesn't Disney put the same amount of effort into these wonderfully told stories but behind the mask of a diverse character? It's a lot of external factors that unfortunately keep Disney too far from shaking things up, as explained by Misty before.

I can fully admit, I'm not good with words. But I hope there is at least an understanding of where I am coming from. And I don't mean to diminish the so-called Caucasian princesses, because yeah, they are diverse in itself. It was just a lack of a better term on my part. I realize that Merida is Scottish, Elsa and Anna are, I think, Scandinavian, Belle is French, etc. But certainly, Disney can and should go out of their bounds to reach stories beyond their apparent liking of Europe.

 

The last part of your talk was exactly the point I was going to make: Disney doesn't turn non-white characters into Caucasians, the stories that they use happen to be where Caucasian characters simply are appropriate for the setting.

I'm not saying they shouldn't try to tell stories that aren't set in white-dominated Europe, but...I personally don't have an issue. Not because I'm "colorblind" or anything, but because the characters' personalities and stories are what interest me more than their ethnicity.

 

That was fine Anize you did gud gurl

Anyway, this is probably just gonna be repeating what others have said, lol. I do think Disney's been playing it safe with their films as of late. It's understandable since it's a corporation and they likely get their funding from Oldass Conservative White Men, but at the same time they should push to switch things up a bit. Taking "risks" are the moves that can have the most payoff: I remember that Nick was like "LOL NAH" to having Korra be a black female protag because they were worried that no one would like her, but low and behold people were praising how cool she was and the show's been successful (interpretations vary here). They should introduce more varied characters in terms of race/sex/orientation because the odds of a majority of people having a backlash to it are slim to none.

I'm not really sure what you mean here. Do you mean racially stereotypical specific stories, like "a black kid protag that is shockingly involved with a gang!!!"?

If it's the latter then, yeah, I definitely agree. I hate it when a majority of popular stories about nonwhite people (sidenote: i hate the term 'person of color' but that is another discussion entirely) that play to stereotypical situations like that. I don't mind them once in a while because it does focus on an aspect of reality for people within whatever ethnic group or sexual orientation or whatever, but those types of stories shouldn't define the type of story meant for those people. Donald Glover hits it best in an interview where he talked about his trying out for the role of Peter Parker in the Amazing Spiderman:

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From what I've seen and read about Frozen, Elsa and everyone being Black or Asian or Indian, or even Elsa being lesbian, would've hardly had an effect on the overall scheme of things. Disney could do the same types of stories they've been doing, but simply have one character be something besides a white kid. People throughout history have developed similar basic stories despite being continents and cultures apart, and that's because stories are and should be inclusive to everyone, something that anyone can relate to. While Disney's stories are that, their variance in characters needs to be brought to that same standard.

EDIT:

also relevant

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Reading back, I'm not exactly sure myself ._.

But I think what I meant was that, at least with Disney, I wouldn't care if we don't see a non-white character-focused story in the next 10 years or so. They're not a group that I'd say are known for pushing social boundaries or trying to relate to everyone (hell, it's taken them this long to have a film involving a female character whose arc didn't end with heterosexual romance, but rather sisterly love.)

BUT. BUT. I would love if they did try stepping outside the white-skinned European lore setting. It'd really be cool to see how creative Disney could get with, say, a story set in the Philippines, or Haiti, or wherever else we could have a non-white character-focused story (I swear there's a better term for this.)

Point is, Disney being Disney, I don't expect it, and that's kinda sad to say.

Also

I'M GONNA BE THAT GUY AND SAY KORRA'S NOT BLACK SHE'S ESKIMO BUT YOUR POINT STILL STANDS

 

I believe they are making a movie set in Polynesia entitled Moana. So I guess that's one. (and maybe they mimght even title change it to an adjective related to the movie lol)

Also, just realized, coincidence this is all being discussed on MLK day. Hmm, things do happen for a reason.