Frozen - a movie about a powerfully gifted girl

We just watched Frozen again.  Tonight, I saw it in a whole different light, even though I have seen it many times.  Considering an entire room full of kids of various ages started singing "Let It Go" in a swim school waiting area, I'm sure many know the story line.   For those of you who don't, consider this your spoiler alert.

Elsa, the elder daughter and future queen starts the movie showing us all sorts of fun and creative ways she has learned to use her snow and ice powers to creatively play with her sister and bring them both delight.  Watching gifted kids play imaginatively is so amazing, isn't it?  In the area of play, every child has an area of giftedness, in my mind.  The magic in my eyes is the delight in the expression of anyone playing in a way that brings them delight.

An accident happens, Anna, the beloved sister gets hurt, but in fairness, this is more due to Anna's choices than Elsa's, and throwing in the one and only time in the movie that Elsa slips on ice . . . . sorry, but I am OCD about story consistencies . . . .  moving on.

The trolls heal Anna, but remove all memory of magic, just to be safe.  I don't really understand the "safe" concept.  Life is not safe.  We can go through life trying to make it so, but it won't be.  Also, why would her memory of magic be unsafe?  This is never explained in the movie.  They also warn Elsa that fear will be her enemy throughout her life. and that she must learn to control her power.

The parents react protectively, urging Elsa to keep it a secret, and not to feel.  She adopts this mantra that is all about denying a powerful gift she has, and it is centered on fear, rather than control.  In order to control something, mustn't we embrace it?  If fear is the enemy, why focus on it and instill it?

When her powers are revealed just following her coronation, of course she flees in terror.  So, now on to the famous earworm song that parents everywhere know . . . .  "Let It Go"  If you are unfamiliar with the song (or even if you are), take a moment to check out this video.  It is my favorite version, and a short one.

Earlier in the song than that clip, she talks about the good girl she always has to be: "don't let them see, don't let them know.  Well now they know."  She then started deliberately using her powers for the first time in the movie since her sister was hurt.  What she builds is beautiful and amazing, and is something that will be gracing many walls and frames for years to come, I'm sure.  How?  She uses a tremendous, unusual power with control.

However, she is wracked with guilt, believing she has let people down and done something wrong.  It's not the truth, but the result of years of misinterpretation and good intentions gone wrong.  Can anyone else think of examples of this from other characters in stories?  People in the media?  Family members?  Criminals?  Seriously, the worst criminals are really really gifted in what they do.

We aren't supposed to talk about highly gifted individuals, especially as highly biased parents.  We might make someone feel bad about their child who is unique and wonderful (or difficult and challenging) in a different way.  So, we raise the kids protectively, and coach them to keep their incredible talents hidden, and to look like and act like everyone else.  Then, they start to believe that being different, even in very positive ways, is a bad thing.

Is that what we intend as parents?  Of course not.  However, they learn it nonetheless.  I did.  My daughter did.  I know so many who did and have not yet begun to embrace their own atypicialities that make them amazing and beautiful and talented . . .  even into adulthood.  It's a tragedy.  A tragedy for them, and a tragedy for everyone who might have been positively impacted by them.

Before we understood the ways M was unique, she felt bad about herself.  She knew she was different in some ways, and she assumed that made her weird and was bad.  In fact, she assumed she was failing school, which was never even close to true.  None of the teachers or other school staff or family members believed that or wanted her to feel that way, but she did.

Once we got some good input, we were connected with other families with similar atypicalities and her whole world changed.  She has a place where it is safe to be herself, atypicalities and all (and where I can be completely nuts and be accepted, too).  Now that we have had that for a while, she is thriving.  She is thriving in that group, and she is thriving in more mainstream groups, and in sports and all over the place.  Are they all full of people with the same unique qualities?  Of course not!  It took just one place she could be safe and be herself, and all the rest of it fell into place.

I think one of the most evil things in the world is the concept that anyone is alone in anything.  If you are struggling with something, or have a passion that is unusual, or an interest that your family doesn't understand, find people who do.  I don't believe that any one quality can be held by only one person.  Ever.  You are not alone!  M is not alone, and neither are her parents.

So, be inspired by Elsa, and embrace and control your specialities, whatever they may be.  Also, be like Anna, who loves her sister and never becomes afraid of her, despite being hurt.  People make mistakes.  Noone goes through life without wounding others, just as noone goes through life without receiving wounds.  Let's challenge ourselves to see this ever-present recent movie to inspire us to live as better people and interact with people around us in a better way, no matter the label - on them or you!

Wishing you warmth and love as the temperatures drop.