Why the 'Frozen' Movies Are So Relatable Right Now
Due to everything that’s been going on lately with the COVID-19 pandemic, I rewatched “Frozen” and “Frozen 2” to distract myself. It’s been a trying time and Disney movies are just comforting. I love “Frozen” and have always related to the mental illness metaphors in it. However, I wasn’t expecting “Frozen” to speak extra to me right now, and “Frozen 2″ just hit me on a whole different level.
The first “Frozen” is so much about isolation. I mean, there’s a lyric about it right in “Let It Go” (“A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I’m the queen.”) Elsa is so relatable right now. I feel isolated in my own head at the best of times, but right now, it’s even worse. We’re all in social isolation to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and it can feel really lonely. I miss hugging people. I’m starting to feel like Anna at the end of the movie with a frozen heart and I just need Elsa to thaw it with a hug and an act of true love. Am I being dramatic? Probably, but isolation is doing that to me.
Elsa feels like her powers are too much to handle, and right now, I feel the same way about my mental illnesses. The isolation and uncertainty are bad enough without mixing my mental illnesses in with it. She doesn’t want to let anyone in because she’s afraid they’ll get hurt, and I really get that. I go through periods where I push people away because I don’t want to lash out at them when I’m upset. Pushing them away always seems to make things worse, but my brain does it as a protective measure.
“Frozen II” brought us a song I feel perfectly explains what we’re all trying to do in the current situation, “The Next Right Thing.” I don’t know about everyone else, but I definitely feel like I’m just trying to do the next right thing. Not only for myself, but for the good of trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I relate so hard to the sense of grief and depression in that song, as those feelings seem to be drowning out everything else right now.
At the end of the day, we can’t do this alone. Just like Elsa needs Anna, we need other people. I hate the term social distancing because it makes me feel so isolated, so I’ve started saying physical distancing. Just because we can’t physically be near people right now doesn’t mean we are alone. That’s why I’m clinging so hard to the message of these movies, especially the importance of love.
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Lead image via Frozen’s Facebook