This is a spoiler-y post, so if you haven't seen Frozen and don't want any spoilers, don't read this post!
http://youtu.be/moSFlvxnbgk
I read a post recently about this song and the character, Queen Elsa. Obviously since Frozen was a huge success, people have formed various thoughts and ideas about the movie and the characters.
One thing I read in terms of Elsa was that she was intended to play a villain, but when it came to the song "Let it Go", the post goes on to mention that the producers, according to the Internet Movie Database found that the song was too positively full of self-empowerment and self-acceptance for it to be a villainous song, causing for basically a movie and character re-write of Elsa. The post then goes on to state that one villainous line in the song remained: "Let the storm rage on/the cold never bothered me anyway" and notes that there is no storm raging on during this whole song but mentions that it probably was intended for the original plot.
My thoughts on this, however, are a bit different and to me, still work for the song and character.
Since the post did mention that it is a self-empowerment, self-accepting song, I think this villainous line "Let the storm rage on/the cold never bothered me anyway" works in that same respect. Elsa may not be mentioning a literal storm raging outside on the mountain as she climbs. She could be mentioning an inward storm.
Throughout the movie, Elsa struggles. Since taught at a young age that she is dangerous and to basically lock out her emotions and stay away from everyone and everything. She has an incredibly hard time accepting herself and her power. As such, a "storm" is clearly raging on inside of her, as she is depressed and conflicted because she clearly despises not only the position she is in but essentially herself.
So during "Let it Go", Elsa is unsuccesfully attempting to accept herself and accept this part of her, both storm and the cold she feels by stating "the cold never bothered me anyway".
Of course, she still has not fully accepted herself, as seen as the movie progresses onward, but she is at least, trying.
Seeing as I just saw Frozen yesterday, I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis! I never thought the line about the storm was villainous though--it seemed like the inward storm was the one she was talking about the whole time, especially after her traumatic childhood. At first I thought she had completely accepted who she was during this song, but it's definitely more of a promising first step.
ReplyDeleteIt was a surprise to read that such a character would have first been thought of to be a villain. As a prisoner within her own castle, the song is a step of hope towards a future of freedom and liberty for her to keep moving and to not be held back. That's how I read the two lines sung in the song as. "The cold never bothered me anyway" tells me that not only is she literally fine with being surrounded by her icy powers, she was fine with the solitude that she had begun embracing at that point. Being surrounded by people and potentially being a danger to them was what she feared most and being alone allowed her to be herself with no danger to anyone around her. Such a beautiful song sung by a talented actress. So happy she'll be singing it at the Academy Awards!
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