Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A Queer Reading
of
Disneys Frozen
Kade Wilson
WRIT 1633: Fans and Fan Writing Practices
Professor Juli Parrish
The first time I saw Frozen, I was unprepared for the effect it would have on me. I went into the
theatre disillusioned by all the hype surrounding the movie and the music in it, expecting to
be disappointed when it couldnt live up to the enthused reviews of all my friends. I wasnt. As
a queer woman, I was hit hard by all of the themes in Frozen and their potential to be read as
parallel to the struggle of queer individuals (especially queer youth) in society today. I couldnt
stop singing the soundtrack for weeks, blasting Elsas power ballad, Let it Go, at every con-
ceivable opportunity. For a brief time, Frozen became an essential part of my self-image; I
was Elsa, concealing powers to protect myself from the fear of others, and the world around
me was Arendelle, beautiful but confining.
When I had the opportunity to choose a topic for the final research paper in my WRIT 1633
class focused on fans and fan culture, Frozen immediately sprang to mind. As I began my
research, the paper evolved from a discussion of Frozens fans to a discussion of the movie
itself. This paper explores the many themes in Frozen that can be connected to the queer
community and sheds light on some of the common queer narratives. In my analysis, I consider the appeal of Frozen as a queer film and the importance of media to queer audiences,
especially queer youth. Delving into different strategies for constructing queer readings of
Disney stories and other fairy tales has been extraordinarily rewarding, both academically
and personally. I hope this paper opens up a dialogue for queer readings to be viewed as an
important and necessary part of our culture, and paves the way for queer readings of other
childrens texts to become acceptable in academia.
INTRODUCTION
Disneys 2013 animated film Frozen was an enormous success, grossing over one billion dollars
and ranking as the highest-grossing animated
film of all time. Consequently, Frozen has a huge
fan following, with many fans buying into what
is called the queer Elsa headcanon, a fan-developed interpretation of the film in which Elsa,
one of the protagonists, is queer. A comprehensive queer reading of Frozen sheds light on common queer narratives and creates a lens through
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ELSA AS A MONSTROSITY
The first words spoken by Elsa and Annas parents in the film are, Elsa, what have you done?
From Frozens beginning, Elsa is set up as the
bad guy by those around her. Even from that
very first line, other characters in the story frame
Elsa as evil. This idea becomes essential for a
queer reading of the film. The outsider as a monster is a potent trope in queer readings and dates
back to queer interpretations of the Disney film
Beauty and the Beast. As Sean Griffin discusses in
his book Tinker Belles and Fairy Queens, the Beast
was often said to represent an AIDS victim, due
to how he is misunderstood and constructed as a
monster by those surrounding him. Griffin also
describes how society teaches that queer individuals are bad objects, a concept crucial to understanding how Elsas construction as a monster can be read queerly (68).
In Frozen, Elsas character is made to be a
monstrosity in several ways. When the troll leader is showing Elsa her future, he states that fear
will be her enemy. This line could be taken to
mean that Elsas fear is her own enemy, which is
later demonstrated in the film through her powers becoming unmanageable when she gets upset. However, the image the troll leader actually
displays is one of red figures attacking Elsa, not
of her own fear damaging her. The fear of others
is the most dangerous part of Elsas powers and
not her own control of them and her emotions.
This is a familiar queer narrative. Even though
there is nothing inherently harmful or bad about
queer sexualities (or sexuality in general), the reactions of others, especially those motivated by
fear, can be potentially dangerous to queer individuals, and Elsa illustrates this struggle.
When Elsas power is first revealed to the
public at the coronation ball, it is framed in
a dangerous way. She shoots out spikes of ice
around her, which could potentially harm those
in the surrounding area. However, Elsa doesnt
actually harm anyone throughout the entire
movie. She often threatens others with her powers, but it is always a form of self-protection.
For example, when the Duke of Weseltons men
attack her, she shoves one of them against the
wall with ice, a scene that, to those just entering
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of others. Elsa has accepted her fate and is willing to die because she has internalized the idea of
herself as a monster, making her a tragic hero that
is willing to punish herself with death for a crime
she didnt actually commit. Elsas acceptance entirely reverses her construction as a monster for
both the audience and for Anna, who steps in at
the last moment to save her sister, thus sacrificing herself. This act of true love serves as the
turning point that allows Elsa to see clearly and
bring back summer in Arendelle, and it shows
how Hans and the Duke of Weselton, not Elsa,
are the real monsters of the story.
senting the hetero-patriarchy and magic becoming representative of anyone outside the norm.
This division of worlds manifests in a concrete way when Elsa is locked in her room and,
in a larger sense, when both sisters are locked in
the palace. Anna has the entire palace to roam,
but she longs for both the outside world (representative of reality) and entrance to Elsas room
(the mini-world that has been created around
Elsa to maintain her powers). Elsa is trapped
in a small world inundated with her magic, and
despite how she may long to enter the reality of
normal society, she must remain where her
parents and society have placed her, supposedly
for the good of both Elsa and those around her.
Even once the gates to the palace are opened and
Elsa must come out of her room, she has a clear
conflict between her desires and what she believes is necessary. In response to Annas probing
about why the gates cant be open all the time,
Elsa merely responds, [They] just cant, never
providing a clearer explanation. Here, the viewer
can distinctly see how Elsa is seeking to combine
her real and magical worlds. She enjoys being in
the reality world of the castle with open gates;
however, she believes the only place she can exist
is in her room, the magical world of ice that
has been built around her, teaching her to feel
shame about her powers.
When Elsa escapes to the North Mountain
later in the film, she literally creates her own
world, a palace made of ice. This castle, in contrast to the one in Arendelle, is made from and
by her ice powers, creating another magic
world that she uses to escape the pressures of the
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powers, even more dramatic. The removal of Elsas glove creates the tension that causes her to
shoot ice spikes in a circle around her, further
revealing her powers to everyone. Being outed creates the turning point where Elsa can no
longer pass as non-magical (or straight) and so is
no longer safe inside the hetero-patriarchy. Her
various outbursts show the tension between reality and the magic world Elsa constructs (or has
constructed around her), demonstrating a queer
narrative where rejection from mainstream society necessitates the building of ones own external fantasy world.
By the end of the film, Elsas magic and real
worlds have finally become one. She resides in the
Arendelle palace, where the gates have opened,
rejecting the isolation that characterized earlier
moments in the movie. Additionally, Elsas powers are widely known and, as far as the audience
sees, widely accepted. Annas role as the vehicle
of reality has also diminished, with the notion
of marriage (earlier shown to create the tension
that facilitated Elsas outburst) abandoned. Additionally, Anna is talked into skating on the ice
that Elsa created. Even Olaf, a snowman brought
to life by Elsa, has a place in Arendelle. Though
summer, and thus normality, has been restored,
Elsa creates a snow cloud to follow Olaf around,
ensuring he doesnt melt. These examples of the
magic and real worlds blending together demonstrate the perfect conclusion of a queer narrative:
the comforts of mainstream society intertwined
with the magical aspects that have served as the
vehicle for Elsas queerness throughout the film.
Sells writes that in The Little Mermaid, Ariels
CONCLUSION
Frozen is important to read queerly because of
its high visibility and popularity, in addition to
its unique plot devices and subversion of many
norms of its genre. Queer readings such as this
one, particularly of popular Disney films and
childrens films, serve an important cultural
role. They generate important conversations,
as they illuminate identities and ideas that are
often obscured by mainstream media. Everyone deserves to see their identity represented in
their media, and childrens media in particular
are lacking in positive portrayal of queer characters. Though queer readings of texts such as
this one are a strong beginning, they cannot be
the end. Representations of openly queer characters in childrens media need to exist as role
models and guides for children struggling with
their identities in a world that is often uninviting
and intimidating. But for now, Frozen fans of all
ages can look to Elsa and see something beyond
a side character or a one-dimensional stereotype.
Elsa is a queen: powerful, beautiful, and queer.
WORKS CITED
Dhaenens, Frederik, Sofie Van Bauwel, and Daniel Biltereyst. Slashing the Fiction of Queer Theory: Slash Fiction,
Queer Reading, and Transgressing the Boundaries of Screen Studies, Representations, and Audiences. Journal of
Communication Inquiry 32.4 (2008): 335347. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
DoRozario, Rebecca-Anne C. The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, the Function of the Disney Princess. Womens Studies in Communication 27.1 (2004): 3459. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
Frozen. Dir. Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck. Walt Disney Pictures, 2013.
Griffin, Sean. Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out. New York and London: New
York UP, 2000. Print.
Jenkins, Henry. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge, 1992. Print.
Ryan, Caitlin L., and Jill Hermann-Wilmarth. Already on the Shelf: Queer Readings of Award-Winning Childrens
Literature. Journal of Literacy Research 45.2 (2013): 142172. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Sells, Laura. Where Do the Mermaids Stand?: Voice and Body in The Little Mermaid. In From Mouse to Mermaid:
The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture. Eds. Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas, and Laura Sells. Bloomington: Indiana
UP, 1995. 17592.
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