Frozen



'Frozen' definitely isn't about a man, but about the relationship between two sisters. At different times in our lives we find ourselves either more connected to or disconnected from the people in our family, and I think audiences will really be able to relate to that. Frozen is a Disney media franchise, beginning with the 2013 computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale the first film follows a princess of a Scandinavian kingdom alongside an ice harvester, his pet reindeer and an anthropomorphic snowman to find her estranged sister whose cryokinetic powers accidentally set off a localised winter throughout the kingdom. Following a and a Christmas  focusing on Olaf the snowman, the 2019 sequel centers around Elsa's quest to find her origins and bring her kingdom towards redemption and reparation from its past atrocities.

The original film went on to be both a financial and critical success, and would cement itself as a pop culture phenomenon inspiring countless merchandise, adaptations and legions of youngsters wanting to be like Elsa and Anna. It wasn't without its fair share of controversies and commentary however, as conservatives took notice of its progressive themes, use of magic as a recurring plot element (which is par for the course with most Disney media) and allegations of racial whitewashing. The sequel, while not as well received critically, tries to address the latter by making a critique about colonialism and subjugation of tribal groups, though it also made a rather intriguing slight on the practice of homeopathy, as well as the producers' sly refusal to make Elsa an LGBTQ+ character despite calls by many fans to explore her sexuality.

…but not too white
Some have noted the lack of persons of colour in the film when it first came out, accusing Disney of whitewashing. This ignores the fact that there has been a lot of mixing between Sámi people and those of Nordic descent in real life, also a lot of Sami have come to praise the film, and Disney went on to consult with them in the sequel, where they even took the effort of recording a special Sámi dub.

The issue of racism in the original film was also mitigated with the introduction of characters of diverse ethnicities and the aforementioned Northuldra in the sequel (unsurprising considering Disney's stated move towards diversity and inclusivity; not that they weren't caught red-handed of supporting homophobic politicians, mind you), alongside the fact that Elsa, Anna and their mother Iduna are of (partial) Northuldran descent, which was a key plot point in the film's overarching themes of colonialism and its horrors. While General Matthias's portrayal as a person of African descent did raise eyebrows and was criticised as an act of woke-washing and political correctness, black people did actually live in Scandinavia at the time, though as servants or slaves brought in to serve as status symbols for the royal court. Indeed, Matthias's status as a high-ranking military official in 1800s Arendelle would appear out of the ordinary in a real-world historical standpoint.

Let it go? Or come out of the closet?


"Let It Go", signature song and the defining show tune of the film, was both a earworm resounding success and a point of controversy from commentators who questioned its supposed message. Some viewers outside the film industry, including one evangelical pastor and commentators, believe that the film is a promotion for the normalization of homosexuality, while others saw it as an allegory for coming out as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Frozen co-director Jennifer Lee dismissed any such agenda in an interview, stating that the song was all up to the viewer's interpretation: "I feel like once we hand the film over, it belongs to the world, so I don't like to say anything, and let the fans talk. I think it's up to them." The LGBTQ+ agenda accusations may have accounted for why Disney downplayed and made Elsa's sexuality ambiguous in Frozen II despite calls by some fans to portray her as a lesbian. Some localised releases of the film even cut a scene where Elsa and a Northuldra villager named Honeymaren are shown holding hands, likely to appease authoritarian regimes who are not above banning films they see as decadent "gay propaganda".

The ice witch
Just like with Harry Potter before it, Elsa's exploits have been in the crosshairs of those who accuse the film, if not Disney in general, of promoting occult, Illuminati and/or satanic themes. The most obvious point of contention is Elsa being a human HAARP of sorts, capable of conjuring ice and snow and creating magical beings from it. Unsurprisingly, wingnuts took to writing essays about how Disney is desensitising youths to heathen Satanism and such, never mind the fact that and other fairy tale authors have been doing this sort of fantasy thing for centuries and yet their (morality) tales, both in their original, non-Disneyfied form and the far better known Disney feature film adaptations, still enjoy an enduring popularity. While "magic" is the operative word to explain Elsa's abilities, it is more akin to an X-Men-esque superpower than an ability gained through occult rituals (e.g. the Evil Queen in Snow White, who is arguably portrayed negatively). Some have even argued that the film does have Christian-esque themes such as the power of love, citing, even though Disney, in all of its insistence of secularism, did not in any way make most of their works with an overtly religious tone anyway.

Elsa's date with Spider-Man


A slightly more recent, and definitely more disturbing trend involves YouTube channels involved in bizarre skits with, of all people, Called "Elsagate", the videos involve popular children's characters such as Elsa, Anna and the rest of the Frozen cast alongside those from other franchises acting out bizarre and at times borderline outright explicit things such as scatological humour and sexual fetishes. Given the enigmatic and intriguing nature of the phenomenon, it isn't surprising that Elsagate videos have become the subject of conspiracy theories. Rapper-slash-conspiracy theorist B.o.B took notice of the trend, and noted conspiracy theorist Joe Rogan tweeted about this stupid pile of bullshit. While the actual motive for these videos remains uncertain, various theories have been proposed, ranging from the more plausible such as merely profiting from unwitting children by way of exploiting both their naivete and the YouTube algorithm, to the batshit insane e.g. mind control and satanic ritual abuse. Also, pedophilia allegations amounted more to a moral panic than a genuine cause for concern, e.g. poor parenting by those who'd just leave their offspring glued to a screen and treat it as if it's a cheap alternative to babysitting.

The lost and dam(n)ed
An overarching theme in Frozen II is the effects of colonialism and the atrocities committed by colonizers in the name of imposing superiority over those perceived as lesser people, as well as advocating reparation. Before the sisters were born, King Ruenard, Agnarr's father, built a dam under the pretence that it was a gift for the Northuldra, which served as a stand-in for the Sámi in the film. The dam turned out to be a way for the king to weaken the tribe's magical power, and a war ensued between Arendelle and the tribe when Ruenard murdered the Northuldra leader in an attempt to further subjugate them, whom he viewed as heathens due to their use of magic. During the conflict, a Northuldran girl named Iduna saved the life of then-prince Agnarr, and his father was killed in the subsequent scuffle. The battle angered the spirits protecting the forest, enveloping it with a dark mist for decades. Iduna and Agnarr later married, and they had two daughters. Elsa, the eldest, was granted with cryokinetic abilities as a gift from the spirits of the Enchanted Forest in gratitude for Iduna’s selfless act of rescuing Agnarr in her youth.

This mirrors that of the ethnic and religious discrimination the Sámi faced for centuries. Their traditional religious beliefs were dismissed by Nordic people as pagan and occult. In 1609, King wrote that the Sámi were adept at magic, and no mercy should be granted in cases involving Sámi sorcery. Nordic missionaries confiscated or destroyed religious items and sites and built churches to supplant Sámi shamanism. This is not unlike what the Spanish friars did to Native American tribes who saw their traditional writings as nothing more than evil tomes; thousands of years of Mayan scientific advances have been recklessly destroyed and vandalised by the conquistadores in an effort to Christianise the natives, under the false belief that the codices and tomes the indigenous tribes kept contained “nothing in which there was not to be seen superstition and lies of the devil." Objection to the the canonization of 18th century Spanish missionary in 2015 resulted in the defacement of monuments and calls for institutions named after him to be renamed as a result of his (alleged) human rights abuses against indigenous tribes. Not to mention the recent outrage over the treatment of First Nations children who were forcibly re-educated in government-funded and church-run "boarding schools" in Canada, most especially the discovery of a mass grave where remains of children as young as three years old were found and exhumed, an example of the genocides the Native American people have endured for the past few centuries. Thousands of Indigenous children were forced out of their homes, stripped of their native heritage and assimilated into mainstream North American culture in what amounts to an act of subjugation and cultural genocide.

The Northuldra dam is also a reflection of Sámi history, particularly the where protests ensued over the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta River in Finnmark, Northern Norway from 1979 to 1981; the controversial Virdnejávr Dam flooded a Sámi village, disrupting traditional hunting and herding. While the Sami lost the battle over the dam, they nonetheless made important long-term gains, particularly their rights as an indigenous people and the revival of interest in their culture. Slate critic Inkoo Kang also opined that the issues faced by the Northuldra (ergo the Sami themselves) can also be applied to Native Americans, who were unfairly displaced from the lands they lived on for millennia, evocative of the embellished life of Pocahontas.

Water has memory. It somehow forgets all the poo it's had in it!
Water has memory. The water that makes up you and me has passed through at least 4 humans and/or animals before us. And remembers everything.

One scene in the film has Olaf, Elsa's snowman creation, state about how water supposedly has memory. While some have criticised the film as condoning pseudoscience and spoon-feeding it to impressionable children,  others saw it more as a cheeky remark as evidenced by Olaf snidely demonstrating how water passes through an organism, i.e. if water really has memory, it should also reflect the sewage and toxic substances intermingling with it at some point. It can also be said that Olaf's statement in the film is likely to have been paraphrased from the remark Tim Minchin made about homeopathy in Storm.

Were you looking for Uncle Walt in an ice block?
Just let it go already, please.