#GiveElsaAGirlfriend A ‘Frozen’ Request – Will It Work?
Plans for a sequel to the Disney juggernaut Frozen have been under way for some time, almost since it was realized just how big of a smash the icy, heartwarming tale was. Now, though, a teen LGBTQ activist is trying to encourage Disney to give Elsa, the queen of Arendelle, a girlfriend for the Frozen sequel.
The tweet that started it all was posted by Alexis Isabel Moncada.
The tweet has since been liked and retweeted by thousands. Moncada explained to MTV News why she created the tweet.
#Frozen fans urge Disney to #GiveElsaAGirlfriend in the sequel: https://t.co/6cPbDA4dIs pic.twitter.com/cfAwqx51k1
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) May 5, 2016
“Many in the LGBT community view this movie as a metaphor for the experience of coming out and accepting who you are,” she wrote. “Yet Elsa, the film’s protagonist, will probably end up with a male prince or king in the upcoming Frozen sequel. These thoughts soon drenched my mind and pushed me to tweet about how ‘iconic’ it would be if Frozen’s Elsa were cast alongside a princess instead.”
Newsweek writer Beatrice Frasl believes that giving Elsa a girlfriend in the Frozen sequel might actually be something of a weak compromise.
“Queers deserve a film featuring an other-than-straight or other-than-cisgender character from the start, and no less than a main character in no less than a major film,” she explains. “They deserve this protagonist to be visibly out and proud on screen, not as a post scriptum addition to an already existing, self-contained heteronormative narrative. They deserve this protagonist to be represented in cinema as undoubtedly and unapologetically queer.”
In other words, why tack on the girlfriend as an afterthought? Why shouldn’t Disney create a story focusing on an LGBT romance of some shape or creation? There are many kids in 21st century North America who identify as being somewhere along that spectrum. If Disney were to create a film with characters who obviously identified as being on the LGBT spectrum, this may very well give kids the reflections they need in order to feel more as though they, too, are reflected in society and not have to search through a film looking for someone they can even loosely connect to.
Perhaps having someone who is unapologetically open about his or her sexuality in a Disney film is exactly what’s needed. Fans have even been looking at the recent entry into the Star Wars universe, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, for the potential that there might be an LGBT relationship in the offing with Poe Dameron. According to Movie Pilot, GLAAD, in their 2016 Studio Responsibility Index, noted that Star Wars: Episode VIII would be a good opportunity for Disney to introduce LGBT characters.
“As sci-fi projects have the special opportunity to create unique worlds whose advanced societies can serve as a commentary on our own, the most obvious place where Disney could include LGBT characters is in the upcoming eighth Star Wars film,” GLAAD said.
Movie Pilot noted, though, that Disney could break a few barriers by including LGBT characters in films like Frozen and Star Wars, while it still could end up losing money in box office revenues.
“By providing LGBT representation in their blockbuster movies, Disney risks those films being banned in many countries around the world, not to mention the ire they would face from lobbyists in the US,” notes writer Eleanor Tremeer.
By including LGBT characters in film franchises like Frozen or Star Wars, kids that see themselves as princesses or warriors can stop and say that they finally have someone they can relate to in a fictional universe that they can escape to. Imitating on screen heroes is something that everyone has done while young, and having an LGBT hero in a prominent role in a Disney film would be a nice way for the studio to reach out and foster further connections with the LGBT community.
The sequal to #Frozen looks quite good! #Frozen2 #StarWars pic.twitter.com/CekamBuoHh
— Skatronixxx (@Skatronixxx) April 30, 2016
Moncada agrees, noting that her current campaign targeted at Frozen 2 would give girls and boys a chance to realize that everyone, regardless of who you love, can find happiness.
“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,” she said of her Frozen 2 campaign, according to Us Weekly.
[Photo by Matt Stroshane/Disney Parks via Getty Images]
