Frozen as a metaphor for LGBT struggles

This has been something that has been debated a lot since the movie spiked in popularity. When I first saw it I immediately identified with the character of Elsa and her struggles seems to resemble much of my own. As the movie progressed I noticed a lot of parallels between her story and the experience of an LGBT individual in the closet. If you look at it objectively, there's not a lot of issues that really fall in line with Elsa's struggles as an LGBT person's. She's born different and is taught to repress what comes naturally to her, and it's not something that's inherently distressing to herself or the people around her, such as a disability would be. When asked about Elsa's struggle, her voice actor, Idina Menzel stated that Elsa "was essentially in the closet." It really comes together as a beautiful film that I think is really significant for the LGBT community. What are your guys' thoughts? Did you relate to Elsa's story?

Also here are some well written articles that also talk about this:

The Many Messages of Frozen |Church Without Boundaries

Movies & Musings: FROZEN as a Gay Metaphor Redux and The Substance of Subtext

 

They already are, that's what sparked the debate :/ it's sad because it really taints the message of the film, a lot of people are claiming that it shouldn't be read as an LGBT metaphor when I think it clearly can (and maybe was intended to be, for the viewers that can relate to it in that respect at least).

I love X-Men! Funny that you bought that up because the creators of X-Men said that it was based off the civil rights movement at the time which was against racism, and they used parallels with racism to write X-Men. Many stories in general are based off current (or at the time of release) issues and politics in society.

 

Same, my experiences in the closet and learning to love myself mirrored a lot of what Elsa was going through too.

 

the song is so empowering Elsa's basically saying f**k you to what her parents taught her in regards to hiding who she is and embraced her differences :')

 

In glad that the film has impacted a lot of your guys' lives in a positive way, I think it's a great film for anyone struggling with their sexuality or gender identity.

 

Actually it isn't, that quote was taken out of context. Jessica said that they wanted to show anxiety and depression in terms of the effects of her being isolated, she never said that was what her powers are meant to represent. And it wouldn't make sense since anxiety isn't necessarily born trait and it's distressing to the individual, whereas Elsa's powers are not. But Elsa's struggles do resonate with a broad degree of issues, I would say that it has the most consistent parallels with what an LGBT person goes through.

---------- Post added 19th May 2014 at 10:40 PM ----------

Yeah, it is an LGBT thing, not exclusively (I don't know who said that) but it does relate to LGBT people because we go through the same thing and there are obvious parallels between her story and many of ours. "It's ok to be different" IS an LGBT thing, and the way it is depicted in the film is very much in line with what we go through. She's born different and taught to repress what comes naturally to her, even though it's not something that is harmful or distressing to her in any sense, and is told not to feel what she feels. If that's not an LGBT thing, idk what is. Look at the majority of the responses of this thread. If you don't like the movie fine, that's one thing, I just wanted to point out that the story is something many of us can relate to, and if you actually dissect her story, you'll see it has the most parallels with what an LGBT person goes through.

---------- Post added 19th May 2014 at 10:43 PM ----------

Exactly

 

^i totally meant to say Jennifer not Jessica on my first response xD

 

I'm glad to hear that it truly is a great film, made me feel a lot of feels:tears: