Hello everyone. I hope you’re all well and enjoying the sunshine In Summer. As the weather has been so nice recently, it is perhaps an inappropriate time to write about the film Frozen. But that’s what I’ve done! Enjoy.
My daughter is nearly five years old. If my calculations are correct, this means I have seen Frozen about a thousand times. Sometimes, the whole way through, though, usually, just bits and pieces here and there. And the songs! Over and over and over!
It should be said that I actually think the film is good; there are certainly worse things to be forced to watch. It just starts to grate after a while. One thing multiple viewings does offer, though, is a deeper understanding of the plot. It has enabled me to see things I definitely didn’t see on first viewing. Primarily, that Anna and Elsa’s parents are terrible.
Before we get into that, I need to talk about ‘retconning’. A ‘retcon’ (shorthand for ‘retroactive continuity’) is a movie phenomenon where the film’s plot is somewhat changed by information introduced in a prequel or sequel. I’ll give you an example, and it’s arguably one of the most famous:
Near the beginning of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (for those unaware, this is the second Star Wars film), Princess Leia kisses Luke Skywalker, mostly to make Han Solo jealous. No problems there, right? Except, of course, in the following film (Return of the Jedi) when Luke and Leia are revealed to be brother and sister!
So what was going on? Was George Lucas experimenting with Game of Thrones style plots decades before Thrones existed? No. He basically didn’t have the whole lore plotted out in his head when they were making Empire. He apparently knew he wanted to introduce a sister in the third instalment but didn’t know who it would be. By the time they got to the third film, Leia seemed to fit the bill, being the only prominent female to appear at that point. It’s just that that plot reveal retroactively changes how we view the kiss. You can never look at it the same again.
Now we all know what retconning is, let’s get back to Frozen. For those of you not watching it on a weekly basis, let me give you a brief breakdown. There is a king and queen who have two daughters. The eldest daughter, Elsa, is born with magical powers; she can create ice and snow at will. No one knows why she has these powers.
Quick sidebar: Can create ice at will, check. Has to keep her powers secret, check. Dope blue outfit, check. Keeps her blonde hair tied up/back until she lets it down when she uses her powers, check! Are we sure Elsa isn’t from Krypton?
Anyway, as a young child, her powers were predominantly used to entertain her younger sister, Anna. She’d conjure up snowmen or make it snow inside, and the two of them would play. One day, Elsa nearly kills Anna when she accidentally hits her with an ice blast. The worried king and queen do the fairytale equivalent of taking your kids to A&E: they take her to see the trolls.
The trolls sort Anna out, but then tell Elsa that her powers will grow and will have the potential to cause terrible suffering. Elsa freaks out, and her parents vow to help her control her powers.
But instead of teaching her how to control them, they instead show her ways of suppressing them. This turns out to be a huge mistake, as Elsa bottling things up leads to a huge outburst of emotion on the day of her coronation to become queen. She sets off an eternal winter and puts the lives of her citizens in grave danger.
Now, although I believe that technically, this was Elsa’s parent’s fault, I don’t really lay any blame at their door. They were parents who found themselves with a magical daughter, who ended up being a danger to herself and others. They made a choice that they thought was for the best. As a parent myself, I can totally sympathise with that. Even with a child who doesn’t have ice powers, sometimes situations crop up that you’re not entirely sure the best way of dealing with. Sometimes, you make a judgement call, and then, in hindsight, you might think you made a mistake. It happens.
With the luxury of hindsight, Elsa’s parents would probably have felt that perhaps teaching Elsa to use and control her powers slowly over time would have been more useful than trying to get her to never use the powers at all. But really, how were they to know any better?
Then the second film came out. The imaginatively titled “Frozen 2”. In that film, it is revealed that Elsa’s mother has magical powers and is from a long line of people with special abilities. Actually, to be fair, it doesn’t explicitly show her with powers. But it is heavily implied.
Even if she doesn’t actually have powers herself, she – at the very least – grew up with magic folk and spent a lot of time around magic. It is, therefore, baffling that she co-opted a plan to try to suppress Elsa’s powers. Surely, she knew enough about magic to help guide her daughter through her journey rather than acting as if Elsa’s was the first she’d ever seen?
And why did she keep her ancestry a secret? I can understand not telling her kids when they were little. But Elsa grows up scared and feels like an isolated freak, thinking that she is alone. And her mum offers her no words of comfort. All Elsa gets is a pair of gloves, which helps to suppress her powers for some reason.
Elsa doesn’t find out about her lineage until years after her parents died. Oh yes, her parents die during the opening few minutes of the first film. Because it’s Disney, so of course they do. I perhaps could have mentioned that earlier.
Elsa’s parents really dropped the ball. Had they comforted her with the truth about where her powers came from, and had they taught her to control her abilities, it’s likely the whole crisis in the first film would have been avoided. And I wouldn’t have had to watch it so many bloody times!
Thanks for reading. It’s feels like The First Time in Forever since I wrote anything about Disney. I’m not too sure what I’ll be writing about next time, but hopefully, you’ll all be willing to trek Into the Unknown. Until then, be well, be happy, and remember: Love is an Open Door… Bye!
Rob Recommends
Better Call Saul – TV – 10/10
What an absolute masterpiece this show is! It’s possible I’ve never seen a show as beautifully crafted as this. Every single shot is intricately and elegantly captured. The transitions are extraordinary at times. And some of the montages to open an episode are just *chef’s kiss*.
I was about to say that the show looks so good, you could watch it without sound and still enjoy it. But don’t do that! Not only is it visually striking, but it is audibly fantastic, too. The score is great, but the song selection is out of this world. I don’t think you’ll hear one song in any of the six seasons and think, “That was predictable.” Such interesting choices, always perfectly placed in the episode.
Now, sometimes, when you have a show as artistically excellent as this, the plot can take a bit of a back seat. All style, but no substance. Not so with BCS. The story is great, too!
I feel like referring to it as a “story,” singular, is doing it a disservice, as one of the best things about the show is that it isn’t just one story. There are multiple stories happening; sometimes, they intertwine, and sometimes they don’t.
Of course, there are plenty of Breaking Bad characters or nods that crop up here and there. But you also get a wider insight into the feuding drug gangs. You have the relationship between Jimmy (a.k.a. Saul) and his brother Chuck. You have the relationship between Jimmy and his close friend/girlfriend, Kim. You have the legal world, with the rival law firms vying to outdo each other at every turn. You have a whole story on Mike and his family situation.
I’ve rambled on, possibly for longer than any other recommendation ever. If you want a shorter review, how’s this? It’s perfect.
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