“My Love is Not Fragile”: An Examination of Relationship Dynamics in Disney’s Frozen Film Series

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My Love is Not Fragile”: An Examination of Relationship Dynamics in Disney’s Frozen Film Series

 

 

 

Dayna Wilson - 300113188

Women and Feminism: Contemporary Issues

GSWS 1101 – 001

Dr. Sally Mennill

1375 Words

8 February 2021

 

When the Walt Disney Company released their first animated classic princess movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a long tradition of introducing young children to idealized romance was born. The next 75 years of princess classics produced by Disney showed little variance from the established fairy tale romance trope: prince rescues woman, marriage ensues. While later films attempted to afford more agency to their central female characters, with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast both including scenes where the female character rescues the prince over the course of the story, both conclude with a dramatic showdown between prince and villain. Once the brave prince has defeated his foe, he is rewarded with the love of a grateful princess and they live happily ever after. While these fairy tales may make for good stories, the unrealistic and problematic nature of their portrayal of relationships can be harmful to the impressionable children watching them. It seems, however, that Disney may finally be listening to longstanding criticism of their featured romances, as evidenced in the relationship portrayed between Princess Anna and Kristoff Bjorgman in the blockbuster films Frozen and Frozen II. In rejecting gender stereotypes while embracing strong female characterization, Frozen II finally gives a new generation of children a healthy, realistic view of a relationship worth aspiring to.

When Princess Anna and Kristoff are initially introduced in the first film in the Frozen franchise, Anna is recently engaged to the villainous Prince Hans, a man she has known for mere hours prior to accepting his proposal. While this relationship brevity has historically been a nonissue in Disney films, Anna’s lack of familiarity with Hans becomes a major plot point in the film, with multiple characters exclaiming “you can’t marry a man you’ve just met!” In the end, Anna does not marry Hans, and is in fact rescued from a dire fate at his hands not by Kristoff, but by her sister Elsa; and not before saving Elsa first. Through this self-referential humour and rejection of the stereotypical “prince-rescues-princess,” Disney successfully reframes the character of Anna from being defined by her value as solely a romantic player, to instead being defined by her character as a multi-dimensional woman and a sister. Together, Elsa and Anna defeat the evil prince and work through shared trauma together. While Kristoff is positioned as a romantic interest for Anna, said romance is peripheral to the central story of sisterhood. Unlike Disney princess movies of the past, children are shown a woman who, while still interested in romance, is not defined exclusively by that interest.

At the film’s conclusion, a critical moment occurs when Kristoff expresses that he has developed romantic feelings for Anna. Rather than sweeping her passionately into his arms, he models ideal relationship behaviour, and clearly asks for consent: “I could kiss you. I could. I mean I’d like to. May I? May we?” Which is then enthusiastically given. This is a crucial scene to witness, in a society mired by rape culture and unhealthy depictions of romantic interactions. A 2018 study by the Canadian Women’s Foundation revealed that “only 28% of Canadians fully [understand] what it means to give consent,” and that “more than half of women 18-34 have felt pressured to consent” (Canadian Women’s Foundation). By acknowledging the importance of consent in popular media aimed at young children, Disney is contributing to the establishment of a healthy framework for what romance should look like. Kristoff’s bashful request for consent is communicated as romantic and desirable, and thus children form an expectation of consent as an integral part of romance and desire.

When we next see Anna and Kristoff in Frozen II, three years have passed, and the two have settled into a comfortable relationship. Juxtaposed with the instant engagement of Frozen and so many other preceding Disney films, the portrayal of a couple not rushing into marriage and instead spending time developing a partnership is not only refreshing, but positive messaging for children: A 2015 study on marriage duration demonstrated a strong positive correlation between the length of time spent dating prior to marriage and the success of the marriage itself (Francis-Tan and Mialon 1921). This diversion from the trope of fairy tale romance immediately culminating in marriage serves to reinforce the message of the first film, that marriage is not necessary for a woman to be an interesting character.

When the subject of marriage is inevitably approached in the film, it is not Anna, but Kristoff who is revealed to be focusing on it. This reversal of traditional gender roles continues throughout the story: while Anna is headstrong, focused on her goals and secure in her relationship, Kristoff is shown to be feeling insecure, concerned that the depth of his feelings is unrequited, and fixated on his relationship to the degree that he sings a love ballad with the lyrics “Who am I if I’m not your guy/ Where am I if we’re not together?” This vulnerability, though traditionally associated with female characters, is never used to debase or emasculate Kristoff. His appeal as a romantic lead is consistent throughout this inner conflict he experiences, thus disrupting the narrative of toxic masculinity that is so prevalent in media. When a film assigns stereotypically feminine coded characteristics to a masculine character, then proceeds to devalue said character, the message communicated is that those feminine coded qualities are worthy of ridicule. When Frozen II screenwriter Jennifer Lee made the choice to celebrate these qualities in a male character, the message is instead that there is no shame in femininity or vulnerability, and that men who express those qualities are not lesser. This message encourages and normalizes healthy expression of emotions in children of all genders, which in turn can lead to healthy communication in adult relationships.

While Kristoff is busy singing romantic ballads in the forest with his reindeer friend, Anna is not sitting idle, waiting for a proposal. While it is true that traditionally, “Disney movies…teach little girls they are supposed to be complacent and weak if they want to be successful” (Castillo, “Negative effects”), this is not the case in Frozen II, with Anna embarking on a journey to save the land from certain peril. The pivotal moment in the Anna-Kristoff relationship comes when Anna reappears at the end of her adventure, being chased by giant rock creatures. Entering on his faithful reindeer steed, the quintessential Disney prince to the rescue, Kristoff come to Anna’s aid. Unlike the many male characters before him, however, Kristoff does not take over from Anna and defeat the antagonists on her behalf. Rather, with one phrase: “I’m here, what do you need?” he acknowledges that this is her battle, that she is capable of success on her own merits, and that he is available for support in whatever form she would like it. In doing so, he allows Anna to be her own hero and retain her agency over the situation. This demonstrates equality in the partnership and refutes the social construct of men as protectors and women as inherently weak and vulnerable. In witnessing this, children are exposed to an example of female empowerment and likewise a man who is not threatened or repelled by said empowerment. For once, girls and women are not encouraged to embrace weakness to experience success or love.

It must be acknowledged that no media should be relied on exclusively to teach children about the social world and their place within it. Problematic aspects exist within most media, and no Disney film can replace the educational value of a conversation with a trusted adult. However, the impact of the media a child is exposed to cannot be underestimated, as “[c]hildren learn about the society they live in, and how to adapt to it, from the cultural products offered to them by that society” (Davis 8). When considering the depictions of relationships in films available to children today, the dynamic between Kristoff and Anna in the Frozen series is a relatively positive example. With strong themes of equality, male vulnerability, and female empowerment woven throughout the series, Frozen and Frozen II take important steps towards shaking off the sexist, patriarchal relationships of Disney films past and encouraging a more realistic look at what a healthy partnership should be.

 

Works Cited

Beauty and the Beast. Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, performances by Paige

O’Hara, Robby Benson, and Richard White, Walt Disney Pictures, 1991.

Castillo, Paul. “The Negative Effects of Disney on Children.” Daily Sundial, 4 December 2006.

https://sundial.csun.edu/9674/archive/thenegativeeffectsofdisneyonchildren/ Accessed 8 February 2021.

Francis‐Tan, Andrew, and Hugo M. Mialon. “‘A Diamond is Forever’ and Other Fairy Tales:

The Relationship Between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration.” Economic Inquiry, vol. 53, no. 4, 10 March 2015, pp. 1919-1930. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12206

Frozen. Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, performances by Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell,

Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2013.

Frozen II. Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, performances by Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell,

Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2019.

The Little Mermaid. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, performances by Jodi Benson,

Christopher Daniel Barnes, and Pat Carroll, Walt Disney Pictures, 1989.

Messenger Davies, Máire. Children, Media and Culture. ProQuest Ebook Central. McGraw-Hill

Education, 2010.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Directed by David Hand et al., performances by Adriana

Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, and Harry Stockwell, Walt Disney Productions, 1937.

“Survey Finds Drop in Canadians’ Understanding of Consent.” Canadian Women’s Foundation,

16 May 2018. https://canadianwomen.org/survey-finds-drop-in-canadians-understanding-of-consent/ Accessed 8 February 2021.


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