Review: Life in a Post-Frozen Society

May 16, 2014 by Erin Perry 1 Comment

One day I’ll wake up and “Let It Go” won’t be stuck in my head. But today is not that day.

It’s now been two weeks since we entered post-Frozen society. Of course, we’re well behind the curve on this one. Most of the world entered post-Frozen society months ago when the newest entries in the Disney Princess Pantheon first graced the big screens. I’d heard great things from parent peers, but our little one wasn’t yet able to sit through full movies. He was still maxing out with 20-min animated shows. But then it became available on Netflix, and I had them send it out to us posthaste.

We sat our not yet two-year-old boy down in front of the television, queued the film, and waited. At first he was neutral towards it. We watched about 20-min and then stopped it for bathtime. The next night, he requested the film by name. When Olaf was introduced, he said, “Snowman!” Then, “Talking snowman!” And by the time the film was over, he was on his feet dancing to the closing song and singing “Let it go!” right along with it.

So it went over well.

Since then, we’ve used the sing-along video of “Let It Go” as a standby to keep our toddler entertained at times of upset or boredom. He will demand that Cassandra or I sing it with him. Which brings us back to the opening and the fact that this song is permanently lodged in my head.

So part 1 of this review states unequivocally, this film was embraced by my two year old son. That’s a win.

From a parent’s perspective, I couldn’t be more pleased that this film is his first cinematic obsession.

Exhibit A: The protagonist is a spunky but mundane young woman. Anna is motivated largely out of love and responsibility to her family. The character’s original drive towards hetero-normative, romantic true love is a misdirect. She’s a hero for all the right reasons without anything more than her own desire to succeed propelling her forward. Not only do I like that my boy wants to wear a towel “cape” to be Anna, this might actually help him be more open to female-centered stories in the future.

Exhibit B: I love that it overthrows notions of “true love,” especially the kind that is instantaneous. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, even Ariel can all DIAF, because that just ain’t what love is. Love is a hard fight. It is daily sacrifices of self in the interest of your loved one. It is loving even the flaws–not wanting to change them, but offering the support and acceptance to help the loved one be a better version of whomever they already are. So the vision of true love that Frozen offers is one I can get behind, and it’s one that I hope my son will understand as well.

So we’re in it now. We’ve purchased a set of Frozen board books. We’ve looked into getting him a real Anna cape. Grandma got him the DVD so we can watch it again and again and again.

And this parent does not mind a bit.