There were never such devoted sisters….
Jan. 1st, 2014 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilHappy Successful Rotation Around the Sun! We had a very nice holiday, a fun Christmas followed by a drive down to Pennsylvania to spend the week before New Year's with my family. It was the first time I got to meet my new niece and nephew, and I was quite the delighted aunt. We drove back today so we'd get back in time for school, but then of course they've preemptively cancelled school because of forecasts of heavy snow. Well, that gives us more time to sift through our Christmas presents and figure out where we're going to put all of them (people were very generous to us this year, including a number of anonymous gift-givers.)
While we were at my parents', we had the chance to see Frozen. And I am happy to say, after many misgivings, that the movie is excellent.
SPOILERS!
My misgivings stemmed largely from the marketing, which was just dumb. The teaser trailer featured nothing but a slapsticky bit between a snowman and a reindeer, which made me fear they were underplaying the female characters because of icky-icky girl cooties and making yet another movie about guys. (And why would an androgynous snowman have to be male? Why are the sidekicks and animals and peripheral characters always male???) I was also peeved at an interview with an animator who said it was so hard to draw two whole separate girl characters because how do you make them look distinct but still pretty??? and my head exploded. Also, the title bugged me, just like when they changed Rapunzel to Tangled. So we can't call it the Snow Queen because…powerful females are off-putting? Bah.
But my fears were largely assuaged by the film itself. I have little respect for Disney marketers (let's wipe away every obvious trace of female stuff from the movie, but then promote the heck out of pink purple princess merchandise, blech) but the movie makers themselves are definitely on the right track. I'll just mention some of my quibbles to get them out of the way, then gush about all the things I love. Once again, there are spoilers ahead.
-Elsa and Anna may look distinctive in their hair and facial features - sort of - but their physique is identical, and it's frankly implausible. They're so skinny I wonder how their frames can hold their heads up. Sheesh. I'd awfully like to see a non-skinny female protagonist (for whom loving food is not a defining feature). I think it'd be very comforting to girls who wonder if having a larger frame means you never get to have a leading role in life.
-I liked the trope reversal of "love at first sight! Whoops, never mind" they did with Hans, but I would have preferred the option of "Hey, he's a nice guy, just not THE guy." Because the world isn't divided neatly into the One and the jerks. Not that I was hoping for a full-fledged love triangle, yech. Just for Anna to realize that her infatuation for Hans wasn't foundation enough for a marriage without him turning out to be a murderous traitor. You know.
-Not a huge fan of the "Fixer-Upper" song. The trolls were cute and I liked their eagerness for Kristoff to find his special someone, but good grief - love doesn't fix everything. It's important not to be picky about inconsequential things, but someone who's really messed up isn't going to get all better just because you love them. Don't quibble, but don't settle either.
Now, on to the good stuff.
-SISTERS! I'd have to check to be sure, but isn't this the very first Disney animated film to center around a sisterly relationship? Most of their heroes/heroines are siblingless to begin with, so it's not even an option. It was so refreshing that, though there was a romance, it wasn't the main focus of the plot or characterization. More of this, please. A great story to watch while spending the week with my own sisters. We watched "Let it Go" on Youtube and enjoyed getting teary-eyed together. (We're generally a snarky, sarcastic sort, so it takes a lot to melt our coal-black hearts.)
-Elsa was such a great character. Though Anna had a bit more of a central role in moving the plot forward, and would probably be considered the main protagonist, every scene with Elsa had me riveted. I feel like her struggles provide a metaphor that could apply to so many different things, almost universally resonant. Who hasn't felt like they have to hide a part of themselves for fear it might hurt others or get them branded as a freak?
-Non-romantic love saves the day!! As soon as the troll grandfather diagnosed Anna's condition, I was pleading with the moviemakers to do the right thing and not solve everything with a kiss of true love. I assumed that if they did go the route of sisterly love, Elsa would save her, but it was even better that Anna sacrificed herself and broke the curse herself. Also nice that she didn't have to die, of course.
-And Elsa is allowed to be a powerful (unmarried!) queen at the end. Hooray! Nothing wrong with getting married; I'm a big fan of it myself. But that's not the only story that can be told about women.
-The snowman and the reindeer turned out to be far less prominent than I feared, providing occasional comic stuff without overpowering the story. Thank goodness.
-Gracious, this movie was beautiful. I want to be a snow queen and build giant ice palaces! Also, "Let it Go" is perpetually stuck in my head and I mostly don't even mind. Emma has been singing it a lot too. I didn't adore every song but most of them served their purpose nicely.
Well, I could ramble on, but that's the main gist. Frozen is awesome, the end. :)
While we were at my parents', we had the chance to see Frozen. And I am happy to say, after many misgivings, that the movie is excellent.
SPOILERS!
My misgivings stemmed largely from the marketing, which was just dumb. The teaser trailer featured nothing but a slapsticky bit between a snowman and a reindeer, which made me fear they were underplaying the female characters because of icky-icky girl cooties and making yet another movie about guys. (And why would an androgynous snowman have to be male? Why are the sidekicks and animals and peripheral characters always male???) I was also peeved at an interview with an animator who said it was so hard to draw two whole separate girl characters because how do you make them look distinct but still pretty??? and my head exploded. Also, the title bugged me, just like when they changed Rapunzel to Tangled. So we can't call it the Snow Queen because…powerful females are off-putting? Bah.
But my fears were largely assuaged by the film itself. I have little respect for Disney marketers (let's wipe away every obvious trace of female stuff from the movie, but then promote the heck out of pink purple princess merchandise, blech) but the movie makers themselves are definitely on the right track. I'll just mention some of my quibbles to get them out of the way, then gush about all the things I love. Once again, there are spoilers ahead.
-Elsa and Anna may look distinctive in their hair and facial features - sort of - but their physique is identical, and it's frankly implausible. They're so skinny I wonder how their frames can hold their heads up. Sheesh. I'd awfully like to see a non-skinny female protagonist (for whom loving food is not a defining feature). I think it'd be very comforting to girls who wonder if having a larger frame means you never get to have a leading role in life.
-I liked the trope reversal of "love at first sight! Whoops, never mind" they did with Hans, but I would have preferred the option of "Hey, he's a nice guy, just not THE guy." Because the world isn't divided neatly into the One and the jerks. Not that I was hoping for a full-fledged love triangle, yech. Just for Anna to realize that her infatuation for Hans wasn't foundation enough for a marriage without him turning out to be a murderous traitor. You know.
-Not a huge fan of the "Fixer-Upper" song. The trolls were cute and I liked their eagerness for Kristoff to find his special someone, but good grief - love doesn't fix everything. It's important not to be picky about inconsequential things, but someone who's really messed up isn't going to get all better just because you love them. Don't quibble, but don't settle either.
Now, on to the good stuff.
-SISTERS! I'd have to check to be sure, but isn't this the very first Disney animated film to center around a sisterly relationship? Most of their heroes/heroines are siblingless to begin with, so it's not even an option. It was so refreshing that, though there was a romance, it wasn't the main focus of the plot or characterization. More of this, please. A great story to watch while spending the week with my own sisters. We watched "Let it Go" on Youtube and enjoyed getting teary-eyed together. (We're generally a snarky, sarcastic sort, so it takes a lot to melt our coal-black hearts.)
-Elsa was such a great character. Though Anna had a bit more of a central role in moving the plot forward, and would probably be considered the main protagonist, every scene with Elsa had me riveted. I feel like her struggles provide a metaphor that could apply to so many different things, almost universally resonant. Who hasn't felt like they have to hide a part of themselves for fear it might hurt others or get them branded as a freak?
-Non-romantic love saves the day!! As soon as the troll grandfather diagnosed Anna's condition, I was pleading with the moviemakers to do the right thing and not solve everything with a kiss of true love. I assumed that if they did go the route of sisterly love, Elsa would save her, but it was even better that Anna sacrificed herself and broke the curse herself. Also nice that she didn't have to die, of course.
-And Elsa is allowed to be a powerful (unmarried!) queen at the end. Hooray! Nothing wrong with getting married; I'm a big fan of it myself. But that's not the only story that can be told about women.
-The snowman and the reindeer turned out to be far less prominent than I feared, providing occasional comic stuff without overpowering the story. Thank goodness.
-Gracious, this movie was beautiful. I want to be a snow queen and build giant ice palaces! Also, "Let it Go" is perpetually stuck in my head and I mostly don't even mind. Emma has been singing it a lot too. I didn't adore every song but most of them served their purpose nicely.
Well, I could ramble on, but that's the main gist. Frozen is awesome, the end. :)
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no subject
Date: 2014-01-05 04:23 am (UTC)Elsa's being single at the end was great -- and after all, she's only what, eighteen? Twenty-one? I've seen people commenting on Elsa's singleness meaning that she's either going to be Single Forever or is secretly gay, but I didn't see either -- she's just someone who still has to get used to who she is and what she can do and she's not even at the age most of us are when we graduate college; she's got plenty of time to work it out and will no doubt vet her suitors VERY thoroughly.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-05 06:03 pm (UTC)It's a sign of just how universal the girl-gets-married plot has become that people seriously thought Elsa's single-ness at the end of the movie translates to perpetual singleness. Good grief. Romance is far from the only journey that a character can take, even *gasp* a female character.