All right - that's it!

I've made a decision.  This is goodbye.  I am officially posting no new content over here at blogspot.

I'll still keep my blogger account here just because it's easier to comment on other blogspot blogs with this account, so you'll see me around.

But please join me over at Wordpress!

Frozen: A review (for real this time)

In case my sense of humor and biting sarcasm doesn't translate well across the internet, the previous post was satire.  And as soon as I get around to it, the title of the post will indicate as such.

And now for what I really think –

There is SO so much I love about this movie, I don’t know how I can NOT write a novel.  I’ll try to keep this under, say, 30 pages. 

Kidding!

First of all, the opening music – here is (I believe) the full version of the song.  The movie hadn’t even started and I was ALREADY in love.

So here are the main themes I was really excited about –

1.  It’s not good to live in isolation.  Unless you voluntarily took a vow to go be a cloistered religious.  But neither Anna nor Elsa had that choice.

2.  It’s also not good to recklessly throw yourself into life without caution or self-discipline.  Anna was easily sucked into predator Hans’s web because she failed to exercise caution.  And Elsa’s “letting it go” destructively unleashed winter.

3.  Embrace life (keep the castle gates open), but channel your energies appropriately (focusing on love instead of fear), and don’t jump into a serious relationship too quickly.

4.  The true love that saves the day is sacrificial, Christ-like, sisterly love instead of romantic love.  Not that romantic love is bad or anything, but it’s been done before.  A lot.

And then there’s Olaf.

Memo to George Lucas:

This is how you do a comic relief character.

Not this.

This.

Not this.

Got it?

 I was afraid of that. 

Oh well.  I tried.

Moving on –

Overall, there are so many positive messages that I cannot overemphasize how excited I am that this movie’s popularity has caught on like wildfire.

I only have two concerns:  first, Anna spends the movie throwing emotional energy into a void.  Sure, as the audience, we see that Elsa is conflicted, but Anna doesn’t see that until adulthood, and even then I’m not sure how clear it would be from Anna’s perspective.  This message is one of those things that could be either good or bad –

1) someone in a good, healthy relationship receives a message to always keep putting effort into their relationship, even if the other person doesn’t always reciprocate right away.  When two people mutually give to each other, it’s a beautiful thing.

2) someone in an abusive, unhealthy relationship receives a message to keep on giving even when the other person continually shuts them out.  The happy ending is just around the corner, right?  Right?

In real life, if a person shuts you out the way Elsa did to Anna, let them go.  It’s the only way to protect yourself mentally and emotionally.

My second concern is that “love means putting someone else’s needs before your own.”  It does.  Absolutely.  But like Anna’s character, this message can be either good or bad in much the same way; it’s either encouraging and affirming the type of relationship that makes life worth living or it’s providing fertile ground for abuse.

So I guess when I circle back around, I wish there was a way for more people to be able to recognize abusive situations and get out before they get too far in.  I also wish we lived in a world where I didn’t have to be on the lookout for unintentional encouragement of abusive relationship dynamics in popular media.  If there were more knowledge and awareness of good vs. bad relationship dynamics in the culture at large, my concerns would basically go away.

I give this movie 7 stars out of 5.  Can I even do that?  Sure I can!  It’s my blog – I can do whatever I want!

Seriously, though – see this movie if you haven’t already.  If you need to, borrow someone’s kids (in a completely non-creepy way, of course) so you have an excuse to watch it.

Frozen: A Review (satire)

Or "Why my daughters are now lesbians."

I read that Frozen had a “gay agenda” (whatever that means) and that the movie could possibly “indoctrinate my 5-year-old to be a lesbian.”  I admit I was skeptical, especially since the guy issuing the warning hadn’t even seen themovie.

How, exactly, would he know?  Maybe God whispers in his ear?

Nah.  Couldn’t be.

So I went ahead and watched the movie with my girls, reckless heathen that I am.  And you know what?  Afterward, my 8-year-old turns to me and says, “Mommy, when I grow up I want to marry a girl.”  I asked her why.  She said, “Because Elsa’s going to marry a girl someday, so I want to marry a girl.”

I turned to my 10-year-old, who said, “Me too.  I want to grow up to be a lesbian.”

Well, wouldn’t you know!  The movie did indoctrinate my children to be gay!  And right under my nose, too!

...

What do I do now?