[Felie]

😀

Elsa, Anna, AND Kristoff? Awesome! I seriously can’t wait for season 4, lets hope they do us proud.

[Felie]

Just one more, I swear;

Be the good girl you always have to be: Is Frozen’s Elsa the queer heroine we need, but not the one we deserve?

Another Disney film and another wave of reviews, reading, and critisisms are beginning to hit the internet. Amid discussions of Disney’s ongoing race problems, feminist-friendly trope subversions, and the eternal question of “why the hell is that Reindeer acting like a dog?” one question stands out to me: Is Queen Elsa, well, queer?

There certainly is a compelling case for it. On the obvious level, Elsa has no love interest in the piece (her sister, Anna, gets two!) Hans himself says that “no one was making progress” with Elsa in a romantic sense. Now, I’m not about to argue that any young woman about to take control of a country who isn’t interested in a boyfriend is a lesbian. Similar comments were made about Brave’s Merida, and honestly, that in itself isn’t enough for a decent queer reading.

But with Elsa there is more. So much more.

Effectively, her ice powers are a convenient LGBTQIAP+ metaphor (much in the same vein as the X-Men’s mutant powers.)

Elsa has been born with these powers (she’s literally born that way). They are an integral part of who she is as a person, but she is forced by her parents to keep that part of her hidden. If people know, they would reject her, she would be in danger, made into a pariah by her own people. So she is made a self-exile instead. Full of fear of experiencing the isolation and discrimination that LGBTQIAP+ people know so well, Elsa hides away from everyone, even her sister.

Watching Elsa struggle to keep up her mask or normalcy is heart breaking. She wears gloves all the time, constantly afraid to touch other people. Her father’s words- her mantra is- “Conceal, Don’t Feel.” Hide who you are. Don’t follow your heart. Don’t feel your feelings. “Be the good girl you always have to be.” She is, rather obviously and metaphorically, in the closet about her true inner self.

But on the day when she comes of age- her Coronation day, when she is finally a young woman and no longer a girl- her secret is revealed.

Elsa’s “Let It Go” is an epic ballad. Transitioning from a lament, to self-acceptance, all the way to self-celebration, Elsa literally strips away her confinements (hair pieces, crowns, gloves, cloaks, sleeves) and transforms into a sparkling, confidant woman. She says “That perfect girl is gone / Here I stand in the light of day /Let the storm rage on /The cold never bothered me anyway” To deny that it sounds like a bit of a coming out ballad for those of us who have gone through the same struggle is putting it mildly.

To read Elsa as a queer heroine, to read her struggle as a queer struggle, and to see the ending where Anna proves that she loves her sister no matter what and she is able to go back home as she truly is, adds such a level of depth to an already lovely film.

Now, let me be clear: a queer reading for Elsa is easy and, for me, compelling. She may very well be the queer icon that many of us NEED right now- high profile, sparkling, with a karaoke worthy ballad.

But ultimately, Elsa isn’t the queer icon we DESERVE. Her queerness is simply an interpretation, a reading built on metaphor and subtext. She is not canonly queer. she does not give visibility and representation to the LGBTQIAP+ community.

What we DESERVE is a queer heroine who’s queerness is more than subtext. I’m talking Girl meets girl, big sweeping love ballads, true love’s first kiss, all of it. And someday, we WILL get it. Elsa just isn’t that.

(Perhaps she could be an outcon (out icon) in Storeybrooke?)

https://www.tumblr.com/fandomsandfeminism/68687586103/be-the-good-girl-you-always-have-to-be-is

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

There’s also this (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-echochambers-26759342), which made me lol;

To Kevin Swanson, a pastor and host of a right-wing Christian-themed radio show, it does. Swanson slammed Disney’s award-winning animated film Frozen, calling it the work of the devil.

“Friends, this is evil, just evil,” he said. Swanson contends the film indoctrinates young women to be lesbians and convinces people that homosexuality and bestiality are acceptable in society.

While Swanson doesn’t specifically cite what parts of the film he sees as promoting homosexuality, others have drawn parallels between the kingdom’s rejection of the magical powers of one of the main characters, Elsa, and society’s rejection of homosexuality.

Many equate film’s most recognisable song, Let it Go, with the experience of coming out and accepting one’s sexual orientation.

“Disney has a long history of fielding accusations of using its children’s movies to advance one liberal agenda or another – whether it’s gay rights, environmentalism or socialism,” writes the Daily Beast’s Caitlin Dickson.

“However, there seems to be something about Frozen that has attracted more than the usual amount of controversy for a kids’ cartoon.”

Kathryn Skaggs, a Mormon blogger, identifies what she sees as the film’s attempt to normalise homosexuality.

She writes:

When mainstream society comes to the point where it celebrates that which is contrary to the commandments, taught in a movie presumably made for children, by awarding it the highest accolades within its culture, and good parents don’t perceive it, but rather endorse it unwittingly, we are in serious trouble.

She targets much of her fire on Let It Go, which she says hides a “subversive” message beneath a catchy tune:

The words to Let it Go are clearly not Christian-values friendly, by any stretch of the imagination, when understood and heard. This is not an innocent song, with a catchy tune. It is rebellious. It mocks moral absolutes. It is careless. It is unaccountable. It is anti-obedience. It is regardless. It is selfish. And if you still disagree, then by all means, feel free to show me how I’ve misinterpreted the lyrics.

Mark Saal, another Mormon blogger, disagrees with Skaggs’ comments.

“Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar,” he says. If you look hard enough, he says, you can find a hidden homosexual agenda in almost any song, movie or any other work of art.

Meanwhile, some members and allies to the LGBT community are claiming Elsa as their own.

Ryan C Robert, writing for Qodda, argues that the film has given LGBT youth a character with which to empathise. He says the movie portrays unconditional sisterly love, and many LGBT kids need to understand that people will love them regardless of what happens.

“Disney’s Frozen may not have intended for one of the main characters, Elsa, to have a story that is such an easy parallel to the world of growing up in the closet, but it happened,” he writes. “It happened, and now we’re gonna celebrate.”

There isn’t consensus in the LGBT community as to what the movie means, however.

“It’s time for a reality check,” writes the Daily Dot’s Rob Price. “I don’t wish to dismiss anyone’s interpretation, or tell someone they’re watching a film ‘the wrong way’ – but for me at least, these claims just don’t add up.”

While he says he would love Frozen to be a movie about coming out, it’s not, he says. Frozen is a timid step in the right direction, but still sticks to plenty of societal standards.

“Praising the film studio for the meagre animated scraps they’re currently throwing to the LGBTQ community will only breed complacency on their part; it’s about time they ‘let it go’ and come out the celluloid closet for good,” he says.

It seems like just about everyone wants a piece of Elsa. Perhaps the best thing to do is to act like the movie’s lovable snowman, Olaf, and go looking for some warm hugs until the storm blows over.

(By Kierran Petersen)

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

I love some of the points made in this blog post. I’ll post selected snippets of it here, but will also post the link;

Elsa’s escape from the palace and her “Let It Go” sequence, which empowered and inspired so many young viewers who watched the movie, is an effective coming out sequence in that she comes to accept who she is despite societal pressure, and appreciates and celebrates her own unique identity. What resonated most powerfully with audiences, however, is Anna’s acceptance of her sister.

Finally, the film’s answer to thawing Elsa’s frozen catastrophe, in which her fear leads to the endangerment of her kingdom, is love. The same approach has been used to fight ignorance and homophobia – if love, between lesbian and gay partners, between LGBT and straight allies, between human beings, can bring understanding and acceptance, then the issue will cease to be.

Because of all this, it is possible for LGBT audience members to finally connect to a princess who went through the same experience. Even so, Disney still has a long way to go – the best LGBT representation on-screen, of course, would be one that finally allows a romance between two princesses. However, the LGBT community is no longer simply defined by their sexuality, but – now – by their experience, one that Queen Elsa so strongly encapsulates for this century.

Opinion: Why Elsa is Disney’s First Lesbian Princess

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

Emma Stone as Anna – perfect.

Anyone know a set of fictional kids who need looking after? Because here’s a perfect (younger version of) Mary Poppins;

Alternatively they could gender-bend the chimney sweep guy (anyone familiar with her will already know that she can do a mean cockney accent!).

Matt Smith would make a great Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde;

Also, if she were younger I’d be tempted to cast Katherine Jenkins as Elsa;

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

I love ur installment, Felie! With Marian escaping, having a new life, new love, only for it to be it to be snatched away by Emma’s time meddling!! That is so OUAT!!! And the worse part is nobody even knows when Merida shows up, that love triangle is gonna become a Quadrangle (?? If that’s even a word :P) Marian and Regina wants Robin, Robin is stuck between her and Regina, Merida wants Marian but Marian wont know who she is!!! Oh, the suspense!

Well, with Emma’s time meddling there is now a magical bean in Storybrooke. Also, thanks to whatever Merida was up to between getting her heart + memories back, going to Narnia, and then entering Storybrooke has allowed her to bring Zelena’s magic back too (though why she has it and what she wants to use it for… I guess that’s up to whoever decides to tackle it in the next few chapters).

I wonder where the next few writers will take this? And I was half wondering whilst writing the part about Zelena’s pendent whether you would use the opportunity to bring her back to life (I know you and I share a mutual fondness for her character, and anger that her second chance was destroyed)? Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this fic, and getting a chance to add to it was hella fun too! Can’t wait to see where it goes next.

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

X

This made me happy.

It would make me even happier if it were to become canon 🙂

Alas, something tells me they’ll give her a man-hero. Someone who’ll ‘save’ her and make her ‘good’ again. I think I may stop watching the show if that happens.

There’s no way the writers haven’t seen/heard of Elsa’s HUGE queer following, right? Even they must know that they’re walking on thin ice (pun so intended) when it comes to ouat’s queer fans and the depiction of Elsa as a character on the show. I think I’d rather them make her asexual than straight, and I think that would be a safer path for the show in general if they refuse to make her a lesbian.

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

Once upon a time there was a young woman who was trapped in the dungeons of a castle, a prisoner of the kingdom’s ruler; an evil queen who had accused her of helping a traitor to the kingdom. The woman knew that the Queen had ordered her execution to take place that night as a warning to other people, and that she would surely suffer a horrendous death if she were not to escape. Luckily, she had a husband who was skilled at getting in and out of situations like this, and she had every faith that he was on his way to rescue her at this very moment. However, although she had faith that he would succeed, she wasn’t stupid. She knew that faith alone wouldn’t carry a young woman through her life forever, so she took the initiative and got herself a back-up plan; in her pocket she carried a small pearlescent bean which was her key out of this situation. In fact, it was a portal to escape the entire realm, and she planned on using it tonight if her dear husband were not to make it to the castle to rescue her.

This brave young woman, Marian, knew that using the bean would forever separate her from her beloved husband and their child, but then again, so would her death. She had made her decision to disobey the queen’s wishes and help the ‘traitor’, Snow White, and that by doing so she would pay for her insolence if caught. But, for giving the kingdom hope, and for helping to dethrone the Evil Queen and providing a safer land for her son to grow up in, she was willing to pay this most heavy of prices. She was, in fact, prepared to die until she remembered her late mother’s magic bean and took it into her pocket right before the Queen’s guards ransacked her home and carried her away.

So now she sat in her cell, waiting for her husband and his band of men. She decided that she would wait until she was tied to the stake, right before the fire was to be lit, before using the bean, thus giving her husband as much time as he needed to enact whatever rescue plan he had in mind. However, as the day turned to night the guards came and took her from her cell into the courtyard where she was forced to climb the pile of timber that was to be her own personal bonfire, before she was tied roughly to the large wooden stake in the centre of the pile. As she looked directly into the Queen’s mirth filled eyes she knew he wasn’t coming. And as the Queen gave her orders for the fire to be lit Marian prayed that her husband and child were safe before she dropped the bean she had been holding onto this whole time.

…

“Hey!” a young, wild-haired woman shouted from atop a large rocky pillar, which stood erect near a tall waterfall “Angus! Look up here.” Her accent was a heavy Scottish one.

As she shouted the attention of a larger black and white horse was caught by his mistress’s voice, before he turned his attention back to the wooded glen behind him. He looked into the trees with a skittish stance as she steadily climbed down the pillar to meet him. Merida noticed that her faithful horse would always look away whenever she was doing something dangerous, but this time he seemed to be looking at something specifically, rather than just looking away from her precarious situation. Sure enough, upon closer inspection of the place which currently held her horses gaze, she could see smoke. Without a seconds hesitation she jumped aboard Angus and directed his gallop in the direction of the fire.

She and the horse ran a short distance through the woods until they came to a clearing near a small lake, and there, at the water’s edge she could see the origin of the smoke; a small, yet expanding fire, flamed by a huge pile of chopped wood.

“Come on Angus! Let’s go. It’ll burn itself out.”

Just as she was about to leave, however, she caught a glimpse of what she thought might be an animal trapped in the pile of burning rubble. Upon moving in for a closer inspection she could finally see it was really a woman who was caught in the fire.

Merida jumped from atop her horse, and in one quick leap was beside the damsel in distress, who Merida could now see was tied to a large wooden stake. It didn’t take long for Merida to cut the rope which was binding the stranger to the stake with an arrow head, before dragging her to safety.

…

It didn’t take much deduction for Marian to realise she was laying on a very comfy bed. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing nothing but an orange blur before her until the outline of a young woman with wild red hair came into focus.

“You’re awake!” said the redhead

When Marian tried to speak all she could manage was a hoarse cough. She had meant to drop the bean before the bonfire was lit, but had wanted to wait until the absolute last second. Unfortunately she misjudged, and ended up landing in this new realm amongst a burning pile of timber.

“Here.” Said the redhead, handing her a goblet of water.

Marian drank and immediately felt better for it.

“Thank you… for saving me.” She managed, before coughing again.

“No problem. My name’s Merida by the way. Why don’t you rest for now, I’ll come back later and we can talk.” Merida turned and walked towards the bedroom door while Marian lay back down and closed her eyes.

“Then maybe you can tell me all about the beast who tied you to a stake and left you to burn!” Merida said as she exited the room, far too quietly for the other woman to hear.

…

As it transpired, Merida was rather receptive to Marian’s tale of how she ended up in the burning pile of timber Merida had rescued her from, as, unbeknownst to Marian, she had actually landed in a realm which also had magic. As Marian told Merida of her shocking past she in turn was shocked to find out that Merida was this realm’s princess, and the two became instant friends.

Over the years it took for Marian to move on from the loss of her family she and Merida grew even closer, to the point where they could no longer deny the feelings they harboured for one another. And thus, Merida declared her love for this strange woman from another realm, and her family, people, and kingdom’s allies could either accept it or ‘get stuffed’ (her words)!

Luckily her parents were not condemning of her relationship with Marian. They could see just how happy the young women made each other and, along with Merida and Marian, made plans with their allies to unite their kingdoms by way of having Merida and Marian carry their allies’ heirs.

…

6 years after Merida and Marian’s first meeting;

Merida was taking an evening gallop with Angus to the stone circle in the woods near her castle. Marian and their three beautiful children were staying in tonight, as there was to be a royal gathering of the tribes that night, and Marian always needed at least 3 more hours to get ready for such events than Merida did. Merida laughed to herself as she remembered that, although Marian’s feminine ways were alien to her, she never the less found them endearing.

“No doubt my ‘insatiable need to be feral’ still drives her crazy!” she said to herself, as another bout of laughter erupted. Just as she was about to turn around and head back to the castle she heard a familiar sound; a whisp had just materialised amongst the trees to her left.

“Hello wee fella!” She greeted it like an old friend, and to her surprise it talked back.

“Young princess” it said to her in a quiet, ghostly, child-like voice “Your family is in danger!”

“What?! Why? Tell me whisp!”

“The past… is changing.” Angus was starting to get jittery, to the point where Merida had to dismount him to hear
the whisp’s voice.

“The past? What are you on about? What’s going to happen to my wife?!”

“The events are already in motion. You must act quickly.”

Just as the whisp had finished saying its words Merida felt an agonising sting in her heart. She fell to the floor, screaming, and that was not all. She could feel her head throbbing, and a sensation like she was slipping in and out of consciousness, and she knew that her memories of Marian, her memories of their children, were being stolen from her.

“Whisp!” she called desperately “What do I do?”

At her words the whisp moved closer; “Give me your heart and your love and memories will be preserved.” It said, hovering in a sort of dance in front of her. “I will find you once the curse is broken. Your heart will be restored.” Now there were more whisps, gathered around Merida and the original whisp, circling them and chanting as Merida lay in agony in the middle of the stone circle.

The second Merida nodded her approval to the first whisp it glided towards her until it passed through her chest, and in one final expression of excruciating pain Merida fell to the floor, unconscious.

…

Storybrooke, Granny’s bedroom;

Granny gave a suspicious look over her shoulder, making sure no one was in the room with her, before pulling the doors of her ornate wooden wardrobe open. As she entered a blast icy air escaped into the bedroom and blew the curtains, making them flutter.

She was in and out of the wardrobe at least 5 times before she was finally satisfied with the magnitude of the winter coats before her, piled high on the floor beside her bed. With one final look back into the wardrobe she sighed, closed the wardrobe doors, and proceeded to take several of the coats out of the bedroom to the freezing cold Storybrooke residents who were currently sheltering in her establishment. “Oh well, here we go again. Another witch, you say? Another day in Storybrooke, I say!” She said to herself on her way out the door.

As the bedroom door closed the wardrobe door opened, and out of it stepped a feminine figure clad in a green and gold cloak. The figure pulled back the hood of the cloak to reveal a mass of curly red hair.

“I will find you Marian.” said Merida. As she exited the room and closed the door behind her the large, green coloured crystal pendent clasped in her hand hit the door, causing the green smoke inside it to swirl hypnotically.

…

Meanwhile, back in the mayor’s office:

Regina peered through the tiny hole the bird had just created which emanated a strange white glow. At first all Regina could see was a blinding whiteness, until finally she could see movement, like she was peeking through a keyhole.

In this new view Regina saw two of the strangest looking witches she had ever seen (for it takes a witch to spot a witch). They paced up and down their tiny, paper-filled room, in what seemed to be a very panicked motion. The dingy light from the candles littered across the room threw their shadows on the walls, making the room look even creepier than it ought to.

“Christ Horror!” said one of the witches “How are we going to get them from that damned island?”

“How should I know?!” said the witch who Regina presumed to be Horror “You should have thought of that before we sent them to Neverland in the first place, Kisses!”

“Me?! Why m…”

“Shut it!” Horror shouted out of the blue “I’ve just had the best brain-fart moment ever!”

A minute of silence passed as Horror looked like he was contemplating the inner workings of his declared ‘brain-fart’, when it seemed Kisses had finally had enough of being left in the dark.

“What the HELL Horror?” he screamed “In the name of Plot Divisius; I demand you tell me… what are you doing now?”

Horror rummaged through a trunk full of what looked to be Hawaiian paraphernalia, before triumphantly pulling a round brown object from the trunk. Holding it in front of him as if he was showing the Savannah animals their new-born future king, and looking at it as though it held the answers to the meaning of life, Horror turned to Kisses;

“Behold!” he exclaimed

“A coconut?” Kisses deadpanned, looking thoroughly unmoved by the entire experience. “How is a damned coconut going to get us out of this mess?”

“You’ll see, brother. You’ll see.”

And with that Regina recoiled from the coconut as if what she had just witnessed had burned her.
Just then the little blue bird pooped just above the coconut. When the poop landed on the coconut both the poop and the hole disappeared in a tiny puff of smoke, before the bird itself disappeared in a tiny puff of little white feathers.

“What the hell?!” was all Regina could bring herself to say.

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

If they replace the sister relationship element of Frozen with a brother-sister relationship they will be ignoring one of the best messages to come from the movie; women don’t need men to save them (and yes, it really does matter that the man is a brother as opposed to a lover). I will be indescribably disappointed if Anna is left out or replaced by anyone, especially a male character, as Frozen was a big step forward for the Disney Princess franchise with its emphasis on female independence and empowerment.

If Elsa and Will’s stories are related somehow I hope it has something to do with Will’s sister’s death, and NOT because Elsa is Wills sister. I also hope that the writers will be more imaginative than to make Elsa one of his bloody ‘jilted lovers’ (sorry, but by now any plot-point like this should, imo, be labelled for what it is; unoriginal, boring, sexist, shallow, and lazy bad writing)!

I. Want. This!!!

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Felie]

Yes, if she has a connection to anyone already in SB then my guess is Snow given her birth.

I don’t think she is related to Regina because we JUST did that. I don’t think she is related to Rumple, but I think she and Rumple have a history where Rumple wanted to take her powers and couldn’t because she’s so powerful so he put her in an urn instead.

My God I hope she is more powerful than Rumple. I would genuinely love that.

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[Author]

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