Elsa in Disney’s Frozen.
While some groups want the fictional ice princess in Disney’s animated hit Frozen, to have a girlfriend in an upcoming sequel, conservatives recoiled in rage, demanding instead that Elsa be set up with the requisite Disney prince, Right Wing Watch reports.
Twitter users have been mounting a campaign using the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend to make the character Disney’s first lesbian princess.
A conservative group, CitizenGO is up in arms about that prospect, responding in-kind with the hashtag #CharmingPrinceForElsa.
“Disney is facing fierce pressure from liberal groups who are demanding their writers turn Queen Elsa into a lesbian during the sequel, Frozen 2,” Gregory Mertz wrote to fellow CitizenGO members. “Please join the 37,000 who’ve already signed our petition against this absurd ‘movement.’ With our petition, we’re suggesting Disney with a much better idea… An idea that promotes solid family values to our children and represents the natural family.”
Then there was Kevin Swanson, who has advocated for the execution of LGBT people, who was already seething with fury over the first installment of Frozen.
“Of course Elsa is going to get her girlfriend eventually,” he said on his radio show Monday. “That’s the way you destroy sexuality. That’s the way you destroy an entire civilization. The entire social system of the United States of America is collapsing.”
Full Story Here. I haven’t seen Frozen, but I’m all for Elsa having a girlfriend. She could even be a Charming Princess.
Wait -- are there idiots who think that Elsa would be the first LGBTQ character in Disney?
Marcus:
That, or they think it’s just Elsa who has the power to destroy an entire civilization.
More overt and positive LGBT+ representation in mainstream media is a good thing . But I am slightly uneasy about both of these campaigns, for the simple reason that Frozen as it stands is a story that raises up non-romantic love as a wonderful, edifying and important thing. Fraternal and sororal love are far more important to many people than romantic love, but our cultures tend to elevate and prioritise the latter over the former. I think that a lot of Disney and similar films work to perpetuate the unspoken assumption that one needs a romantic partner for emotional fulfilment, and that said romantic partner must by default be the most important person in one’s life.
Can’t Elsa just be happy with the love of her sister and her friends?
Let It Go, arguably the iconic theme song of Frozen (and Elsa), is a wafer thin disguise for a coming out song (emphasis mine):
There’s a reason people are pushing for Elsa to be canonically gay. Yes, other Disney characters have been suggestively representative of Queer characters (Mulan comes to mind as a trans man), that’s all they’ve been--suggestions. Elsa’s character arc in Frozen resembles what any God-fearing Queer had to go through to come out of the closet.
I do support that the act of True Love in Frozen is one of sisterly, familial love. But I also think it’s possible to continue that theme whilst giving Elsa a lesbian romance. After all, Anna’s romance didn’t disrupt the core message of familial love in the first film, I see no reason why courting women for Elsa couldn’t be worked in using a similar scheme.
Cartomancer:
This is Disney we’re talking about. That said, while I agree with you, the princess myth, and the outright sexism that goes with it is so damn pervasive, I think it’s very important to challenge it whenever possible, and turn it on its head.
I would love to see Jim C. Hines’s Princess series turned into movies, those princesses kick ass, and they don’t need any help doing it. The friendship and bond between them is one of the most important aspects, while not neglecting personal relationships.
I agree that Elsa’s problems can be seen as an analogue to the coming out anxiety that some LGBT people face, but I don’t think that is the only interpretation they are open to. A lot of people worry about having to keep a lot of things from other people, or hiding aspects of their lives from others for social or familial approbation. I think the ice magic thing works as a parallel for more than just coming out. When I was growing up I never felt anxiety about keeping my sexuality to myself (I’m English, that’s what everybody here does!) that resonates with what happens in the film, but it does resonate with my thinking that I should keep most of my geekier hobbies secret from friends or they wouldn’t like me.
And surely if the argument is that a merely allusive portrayal isn’t enough -- if using ice magic as a stand-in for same-sex feelings isn’t enough of a commitment to supporting equality -- then why does it have to be Elsa? Why does it have to be the one who embodies the allusion, rather than another character entirely? Surely if there is actual anxiety about same-sex feelings in Elsa alongside the ice magic then it loses its power as an allusion -- what’s the point of having an allusion when you also come out and give the message itself directly?
Better in my view would be a new and unambiguously LGBT character with their own film, not retroactively adapting an existing character. Especially when that character already addresses other issues and, unlike most Disney princesses, doesn’t put romantic relationships centre stage in her life.
I still say that Elsa’s asexual and that Anna, once she gets over her “I’m (literally) a Disney princess, I must have a prince” thing is going to find herself a nice girl to settle down with.
Destroy an entire civilization…? Won’t work (probably). There’s no cheese involved, so the mildly deranged penguin will leave them alone (probably). Well… I suppose there could be some peas (unfortunately). That would do it (definitely).
they think it’s just Elsa who has the power to destroy an entire civilization
That’s probably it. Such a weak civilization needs to be destroyed anyway.
I thought we were discussing Elsa’s potential as a Queer character? Now you’re making it about all the potential to be had in making her everything but a Queer character?
The Queer community is still starving for positive representation, and Elsa is the perfect storm of vulnerable yet powerful. A brand new venture could well be capable of delivering that, but it would still be sorted into a ghetto if it campaigned itself as Queer-centric from the start. Frozen has already won people over. Would it take a dent in its following by making Elsa explicitly Queer? Absolutely. But putting a dent in a cult of 600 million means there’s still a lot of people who will see a powerful, decisive leader who happens to be a woman and gay.
There’s no shortage of stories being told about Coming Out anxieties that don’t have to do with sexuality. You know who watches Queer-centric media? Queers. Why not take advantage of Frozen’s existing following in a bid to expand the audience?
As long as she doesn’t get sexual with that creepy snowman i don’t care what she is.