Trending Hashtag Right Now:
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend
This may be a controversial thing to say but...I don't support either of these campaigns.
Now, let me clarify this: I'm definitely not saying I don't support LGBTQ+ rights. I'm definitely not saying I don't want to see a homosexual relationship in a Disney film. I'm definitely not saying I don't want to see a homosexual character in a Disney film.
I am saying that I just don't think that either Elsa or Captain America is that character.
A little bit of background:
This all started when Twitter user lexi4prez tweeted this out:
"Growing up, I never saw a princess fall in love with another princess — and neither have girls growing up right now. The entertainment industry has given us girls who have fallen in love with beasts, ogres who fall for humans, and even grown women who love bees. But we’ve never been able to see the purity in a queer relationship."
The lack of homosexual characters in children's media isn't a new issue -- or an inaccurate one -- in children's media scholarship. Critics have pointed out that children's media in particular focuses on heterosexual relationships, with the traditional "happily ever after" usually being a marriage between a man and a woman. And Disney, as one of the giants in children's media. is often lambasted for its lack of diversity in many ways, not just with regards to homosexual characters.
SIDEBAR: As influential as Disney can be, it can be fairly reluctant to take a step that would anger its middle-class fanbase: it won't take a step in a progressive direction unless it knows it won't financially hurt them. That is, while there hasn't been a homosexual character in an animated film, the company is by no means anti-LGBT. The Disney Channel show
Good Luck, Charlie featured a lesbian couple; the ABC show
Once Upon A Time has the bisexual Mulan (and Ruby); and the fact that Disney World has specifically designated LGBT friendly days (Gay Days, usually in early June) has
angered more than a few conservative groups. But feature-length animated films are the company's bread-and-butter, and they're going to be extra cautious.
And she concludes with an equally valid point:
"Giving young girls the chance to understand that a princess can love another princess the same way Cinderella loved her Prince Charming is vital to their development. No one deserves to feel isolated and confused about who they are. All we need is someone to show us that there are other options, other kinds of princesses, and other ways to have the happy ending that you deserve."
Yes, "no one deserves to feel isolated and confused about who they are." And, yes, it is important to show girls "that there are other options, other kinds of princesses, and other ways to have the happy ending that you deserve." I agree with this 100%.
But this is also where I start to disagree. Because while I agree that Disney needs be more diverse, needs to have a homosexual character and, one day, needs to show a homosexual relationship, I really don't believe that Elsa is that character, nor should she be.
Earlier in the easy, Alexis Isabel makes this statement:
"Yet Elsa, the film’s protagonist, will probably end up with a male prince or king in the upcoming Frozen sequel."
I understand where this concern comes from: every single Disney Animation Studios Princess before Elsa has ended up with a man in some way. I'm excluding Merida since she has the (more progressive) Pixar behind her story.
[SIDEBAR: It's interesting to note that only four Disney princesses actually get married (in the film itself, not in sequels or shorts): Cinderella, Ariel, Rapunzel, and Tiana -- and Flynn Rider only tells us that he and Rapunzel get married in the "epilogue" of the film. Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Jasmine are merely shown with their princes at the ends of their films, usually dancing off screen with them. Pocahontas, of course, ends up alone; and Mulan merely invites Shang to dinner.]
So I get it. The temptation to pair Elsa with a man is there -- although I sincerely hope that Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee developed a better story than that. And I'd be lying if I didn't think the
Internet's obsession with shipping Elsa & Jack Frost (from
Rise of the Guardians) isn't absolutely adorable and perfect. I even own a TeeTurtle shirt with them building a snowman together.
But that doesn't mean I want to see them end up together in a
Frozen sequel.
And here's why: there was nothing -- and I'm not counting the lyrics of "Let It Go," since the power of that song comes from the myriad of situations it can be applied to -- in the original film that implied or even hinted at Elsa's sexuality.
And that was the brilliance of it.
Because, again, yes. It's important to have a homosexual character in a Disney animated film -- but only if it is true to the character and the story.
Yes, it is important to have "other kinds of princesses, and other ways to have the happy ending that you deserve." But the emphasis here is on "kinds" -- plural. Not just another "kind" of princess -- singular. There are other options besides a straight princess in a heterosexual relationship and a gay princess in a homosexual relationship. There can, for instance, be a
princess queen who is "enough" on her own -- who is strong and independent and resourceful.
I'm not saying she needs to be completely isolated -- that is, after all, the point of the first movie. We need other people in our lives, our friends and family.
But for me, one of the most progressive aspects of the original film was that Elsa didn't need to be married to rule her country. There was no annoying subplot where she had to be married in order to become queen. (Which is, unfortunately, the plot of
The Princess Diaries 2, itself a Disney princess film. Mia can't rule Genovia without being married. And while, in the end, she does give a powerful speech extolling the virtues of female rulers, and the law is overturned, it's still the plot of the movie.) Here, in
Frozen, it's not even an issue, it's not even mentioned: the King and Queen of Arendelle die, Elsa turns 21, she's crowned as queen. There's no meeting of Parliament to decide whether she should take the crown; when she spazzes out and unleashes an eternal winter, no one mentions her gender (they mention her "evil magical powers," but that's completely unconnected to gender); and no one says anything about how a man would have been a better ruler. After all, the male authority figures in the film are largely ineffectual (excluding Grandpabbie, as he's a troll): the King of Arendelle is in the running for Worst Parental Advice Ever (when he tells Elsa to suppress her true self); the Duke of Weselton is an ineffectual dignitary with a Napoleon complex; and Hans...well, Hans
seems like he could have been a good ruler (he did take care of the people when Anna was searching for Elsa), but he's too power-hungry and narcissistic to really rule well. (Plus, he's the villain.)
This is just as important a message, just as important an image, for little girls (and boys!) watching
Frozen to see. You don't need to be in a relationship to be successful: you are capable of great things on your own. Yes, you need friends and family to keep you grounded, but a relationship isn't the only way to define happiness.
So while a gay Disney princess would be great, I still don't think it should be Elsa. Let Elsa rule Arendelle as a strong, empowered monarch and leave the romantic subplot out of it. The first truly gay Disney princess should be a character worthy of that storyline.
[SIDEBAR: All of this applies to Captain America, too. I get it. He and Bucky have an awesome bromance fraught with tension that people love to read stuff into. BUT. Cap loved Peggy Carter. That's like a big point of this most recent film: he goes to London for her funeral (because he loved her), and it's Sharon's recollections of her aunt's advice that cause Cap to not join with Tony Stark and whatever UN accords they're agreeing to. (Again, because Cap loved Peggy. And may or may not have had a thing with Black Widow. And may or may not have a thing with Sharon Carter, because that's not weird at all.) So, yes: it wouldn't be true to his character or his storyline. At least not in the Marvel movies; the comics have shown that Cap's identity and character are apparently pretty fluid, so, yeah.]
