Amy
English
February 13, 2014
A
Frozen Inferno
Over
the last twenty years, animation has become a more and more refined, and
accepted medium for movies. The overwhelming popularity and the success of The Lion King paved the way for more
animated films to find the theaters. It is no surprise that Disney’s latest
animation creation is, again, a huge success. It has reported that Frozen is “on it’s way to becoming the
highest grossing Disney Animation release in history.” (Busch) It has graced the theaters and warmed children’s hearts; bringing a mystical tale of adventure,
sacrifice, and incorporating elements of humor in the form of a talking snowman
named Olaf. However, movie critics spy Christian themes permeating the façade
of gaiety. One particular critic, an assistant history professor at Huston
Baptist University, Collin Garbarino, finds similarities of Dante’s Inferno to the protagonist, Elsa; Satan
and Elsa both are trapped and long to be free (Hallowell).
Although many movie critics rightly see parallels with Christian beliefs, it is
difficult and unfair to the creators of Frozen
to cast their characters into molds that they cannot fill.
Dante’s
Inferno is one of the three
adventures which Dante undertakes. Dante is led by Virgil to see the nine circles
of hell. Each to represent one of the nine deadly sins i.e. lust, gluttony,
treachery, malice, and pride to name a few. After experiencing eight of the
circles, the last is where the treacherous reside. Dante describes the final
circle as a frozen inferno. A frozen lake traps the tortured souls chin-deep in
ice, and in the center of the lake sits Satan. After watching the movie Frozen, Collin Garbarino, like most
other movie critics, saw Christian themes emphasizing that Frozen the most Christian movie of the
year. In reality, the movie Frozen was
based off of Hans Christian Anderson’s The
Snow Queen in which a queen uses her magical powers over the ice and snow
to bewitch a young boy whose name is Kai and trap him in her domain for
eternity. To the rescue comes Gerda who also faces a number of difficult trials
and uses her pure love for Kai to melt the shards of a magical mirror, which
prevents Kai from seeing and feeling the good in life, embedded into his heart
and eyes (The Snow Queen). Both Inferno and The Snow Queen are
uniquely tied into the plot of the movie. For example, in Dante’s Inferno, Satan is trapped in a frozen hell.
Each time he tries to escape using his six wings, he refreezes the lake with
the icy blast. Similar to Satan, Garbarino argues that both Elsa and Satan are
trapped when they decide to use their gifts for their own benefit. Both long to be
free. Both are trapped within their gifts. In these ways, Garbarino makes
connections to Christian beliefs and the movie Frozen.
I
can see how these movie critics see Christian themes woven into the plot of Frozen however, I can only briefly see the
correlations that Collin Garbarino makes. Granted, Elsa is isolated in a frozen
prison, but that is where the similarities end. Elsa flees her kingdom because
of her own uncertainty and fear of her gift. She does not want to hurt those
who she loves the most: her kingdom, her foreign acquaintances, and most
importantly, her sister, Anna. Elsa makes an honorable sacrifice to leave all
that she has ever known to preserve the wellbeing of all under her care. Satan
on the other hand is trapped because he was fully aware of the treachery he
elicited against God and consequently he is condemned. He makes no attempt to
help people; rather he would drag them down to become miserable with him. To
compare Elsa and Satan is very difficult to do. It tends to become a blanket;
sugarcoating the details that are crucial to understanding Elsa.
“But
wait!” some parents may say, “What about Elsa’s ballad? She blatantly states
‘No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I’m free…’ Isn’t that what Satan would
say; giving permission to our children to not listen to their parents and obey
the rules that we establish?” It certainly could be interpreted in this way,
but that is not really why Elsa states this line. She is merely stating that
she is free from the burdens of becoming a queen; always being on guard and concealing
her power. Personally, I feel that we are over-analyzing this movie. Prince
Charming, or rather Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, for example, is really
the bad guy. We all tend to perceive the prince as a stereotypical honorable,
dark, tall and handsome kind of guy, who swoops in just in the nick of time,
and manages to barely defeat the monster, and thus saving the day. I couldn’t
help but saying to myself when he shows his true colors , “I didn’t see that
one coming!”. As it turns out, Prince Hans is really the satanic figure of the
entire movie. Similar to Satan, Hans hides behind his appealing looks and
personable attitude to gain what we most wants in the end – power. Hans
deceives everyone into believing that Elsa is the treacherous evil sorceress
with magical powers, and who can only be stopped by execution. Hans is willing
to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. Elsa only suffers from the fear
within herself and the fear of her kingdom. She doesn’t have any desire to
manipulate. Movie critics tended to overlook the Prince and his wrong doings,
when really if anyone was to be cast into Christian molds, Hans is the clear
cut guy to claim the satanic role.
Frozen is
one of those rare movies that can be enjoyed by all ages. It provides the
classic Disney adventure and romance, simultaneously integrating an old folk
tale into a sparkling and fresh story. Anna and Elsa both provide a new perspective
on a classic Disney princess. Frozen is
exhilarating, but often debated. Elsa does prove to share similarities to
Dante’s Satan, and Hans Christen Anderson’s Snow Queen, however to cast the
unique characters of Frozen into
molds that they cannot fill is extremely difficult. Elsa is her own unique and
individual character; unable to be accurately described as the satanic figure
of the movie. Despite the debating over the roles of each character, Frozen continues to be a favorite among
children, teens, and young adults alike.
Works Cited
Busch, Anita. 'Frozen' Becomes Shining Star for
Disney: Surpasses $300M Domestically, at $655M Worldwide to Date; Is Broadway
Next? 6 January 2014. 13 February 2014.
Garbarino, Collin. Exploring Dante's Inferno in
Disney's Frozen. 19 December 2013. 18 February 2014.
Hallowell, Billy. Does Popular Kids' Movie Have a
Covert Christian Message? 27 Janurary 2014. 13 February 2014.
The Snow Queen. n.d. 19 February 2014.
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