There is a viral video going around FB called "How Frozen Should Have Ended". It pretty much annoyed me more than the actual movie. I like Frozen, I really do. I do not, however, love it and choose to sing praises of it. This viral video struck a chord though and made me thoroughly angry.
Number one- This just perpetuates the judgmental state that parents have towards other parents. I have seen the lists, the articles, the opinion pieces, the passive-aggressive FB statuses, etc. "If you do such and such a thing then you're a bad parent," "You should never do this, that's crazy," "Look at this parent doing something totally stupid," "Dear parent in the supermarket, why did you do such and such a thing?" Are there bad parents? Sure. Like the woman who killed 7 of her babies. That's horrible. The rest? Petty stuff. Just stop being so judgmental.
Number two- Haven't you ever been faced with a parenting choice and wished there was just a manual that would give you the right answer? I will insert here that we do have manuals, they are called the scriptures. However, even within those parameters there is quite a range of parenting styles that could be totally righteous. The one thing that is consistent is that all of those styles contain love. Elsa's parents were faced with something that didn't come with a manual. The troll king only gave little tidbits of information and made things worse! Which leads me to...
Number three- Has it occurred to anyone else that perhaps Elsa's parents acted out of a genuine love for their daughter's safety? The troll showed them a picture of people attacking her, for heaven's sake! If something was shown to me that predicted a danger coming to my children, you bet I would do anything to protect them! I once was watching Lara play outside as a toddler and I was overcome with the overwhelming urge to scoop her up into my arms, run into the house, and lock the door. Why? Because she was such a beautiful toddler (and still is a beautiful girl) that I had an image in my mind of a white van pulling up, somebody grabbing her, and driving off with her. It was irrational. Yet those types of incidents happen and if anyone even hinted that it would happen to her, I would keep her inside with me!
Number four- People accuse Elsa's parents of abuse because they did their best to hide her curse/talent/gift, etc. Do you know how many special needs parents hate venturing into public places because of the way they are judged? How they feel that their kid needs to look or act more normal before being successful in public places? Maybe their kid likes to line things up, maybe they like to touch hair, maybe they like to lick walls, maybe they spin around and flap their hands, maybe they ask really personal questions in very loud voices. All those things may make the children happy and showcase wonderful talents! How many kids do you know that can spin around so fast, flap their hands, and not lose their balance?
I find that I even have to remind myself that some things that are viewed as negative in public are actually wonderful gifts. Take Vivi's exuberance or Lara's introvertedness. I have stopped apologizing or saying that Lara is shy when she looks at the floor during a greeting from a new person (or even not a new person). I have stopped telling Vivi that she shouldn't bother strangers with questions about why they are sitting in a wheelchair. The people are almost never offended and it is her gift to make fast friends. So, of course Elsa's parents could have learned their mistake in a shorter amount of time then they could have led fuller lives before they died. Well, that's one thing we can learn from the movie.
Number five- So the answer to Elsa's parents being confused by the troll is to take Elsa away and place her in an institution? Nuh-uh. That's just plain stupid and that's all there is to be said about that.
It annoys me that I have spent 20 minutes writing this blog post about a fictional movie. Bah, another reason that I have a love/hate relationship with Frozen. Everyone has to write a blog post or opinion piece and the meaning behind Frozen, blah, blah, blah. Truth is, it's a Disney film. Good for you if you found bits of truth in it. Good for you if it showed you a gospel principle. It is still a Disney film which means it is flawed, big time.
Moral of the story, take Elder Uchtdorf's advice and just "STOP IT!"
