Five Reasons I Let My Kids Watch Frozen

This may be a little late to post considering all the hype is over and the movie has been on DVD for a couple of months now, but since it’s still the only movie my kids want to watch, here are five reasons I don’t mind my kids watching Frozen three times a week.

There are two princesses. This is the shallowest reason, but as a younger sister, I played all of the supporting roles. I was Gus, Chip, Raj, Flounder, and so on every time my sister and I played princess movie characters. Strangely enough, my oldest daughter reminds me far too much of my older sister, so I’m glad my second child gets to be a princess too.

The message of forgiveness. Elsa almost kills Ana twice, ignores her, and basically treats her like crap. However, it doesn’t stop Ana from trying to have a relationship with her sister. She doesn’t even understand why Elsa won’t play with her, but continues to express her desire to spend time with her. She sees that something is hurting Elsa, and forgives her for the hurt she has caused.

They don’t need a man to save them. Ana gives up the opportunity to save her own life by going to Elsa when she is about to be killed. This results in her saving both Elsa and herself. As the mother of three girls, I want to teach them to be confident and independent women. I want them to understand that they are good because God created them to be, not because they are beautiful and have men chasing after them. While I don’t necessarily think having a man around is a bad thing, I simply don’t want their self-esteem based on a man. I want them to feel good about themselves because they are themselves. I want them to realize they can be happy and successful on their own before they are attached to a man.

Beware of the man who says all the right things. Hans is attractive, smart, outgoing, and more. He woos Ana so he can use her to get what he wants. He builds her up, makes her feel good about herself, and then dumps her after he’s gotten what he wants. The father of my children is NOT suave, he rarely says the right thing, and has never had women throw themselves at his feet (thank goodness!). He does however cherish me and the girls above everything else and provides for our family. In today’s society that is becoming a rare find (sad, I know). Our culture as created men who put themselves first, to the point where they don’t even want to take care of their wives and children. Either they abandon them, or they rely on their wives to take care of them. Rather than being her partner, they become like another child for their wives to care for. Ana discovers that perhaps the man with all the right words isn’t necessarily the right man.

Love is not a feeling. From the beginning of the film, Hans is the man Ana has been waiting her entire life for. He gives her butterflies, and she is certain he is her true love. When on the brink of death she thinks his kiss will save him. However, she quickly discovers he is not who she thinks he is. Ana despairs and wonders what true love is, when Olaf comes to her rescue. He says “Love is putting someone else’s needs before your own” (Refer back to the previous reason). Ana demonstrates her understanding of this when she runs to save Elsa rather than saving herself.

BONUS! I promised five reasons for why I don’t mind my children watching Frozen, but there is a bonus reason for why I don’t mind watching Frozen myself. The song “Let It Go” is a powerful reminder that as parents we need to value our children for who they are. Elsa sings “Don’t let them in, don’t let them see, be the good girl you always have to be, conceal don’t feel don’t let them know.” I think that perhaps if Elsa’s parents would have opened her up to the possibility of failure rather than teaching her to hide those things that make her special from the world we might have had an entirely different story. Perhaps she would have hurt Ana again, maybe even killed her, or perhaps she would have learned to control her powers and seen them as valuable. Therefore, as parents, we need to help our children develop those “personality quirks” rather than teaching them to hide them from the world. Maybe that is the secret to raising happy and successful adults.