I’m proud of the fact that I’m an easy crier. I cried through a good lot of Frozen as I kept thinking about my own sisters while watching the film. Disney’s animated movie (dir Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee) offers a healthy and refreshing critique of romantic love, and a celebration of the power of sisterly love. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Disney movie (or any movie…?) where love between sisters saves the day. Giving it 4 out of 5 stars for that reason alone. (Yeah, I’m an easy grader too.)
Where did that fifth star go? The women in the film have a waist that is smaller than their heads, their eyes are bigger than their cheeks, and their nose is the size of a nipple. Isn’t it weird that we make movies where people don’t look like what human beings actually look like? Having made Brave, and now Frozen, Disney is definitely waking up to something (waking up to something lucrative that is). Next step would be to thaw out this ugly version of pretty and discover a new kind of bravery – where women might actually look like women.
The other distraction in the movie was the age-old anti-Semitic character – rarely a Disney movie without one. The short guy with the large, hook-shaped nose is, shockingly, the conniving and evil businessman. Turns out he’s from “Weasle-town” (no, really) and as the movie ends happily, the good guys put it into LAW to never conduct any business with anyone from Weasle-town. (Are they working on the sequel called “The Spanish Inquisition”? My beautiful Jewish dad looks like the guy in this movie and he’s the most generous and trustworthy person that I know.)
So yeah, an unpleasant helping of emaciated women, the traditional side-dish of a Semitic-looking villain, and needless to say, everyone in the movie is white.
But – so rare and precious to see a good story about sisters, with a beyond-satisfying feminist ending that exceeded even my own expectations, that I’m gonna cut my losses and recommend the film. Courtesy of Capitalism, if a feminist agenda makes money, we get to see it on the big screen. I think I’m gonna see this movie again and invite my sisters to join me – so we can cry together.