Identity, Animation, and Politics: How Disney is Teaching Our Kids to Behave
by Wes Siler
The Nordic Alpine world of Anna and Elsa in Frozen. Image courtesy of Patrick Schneider on Unsplash.
“The virtues of empathy, kindness, and gentleness have been rendered antiquated. It is now considered naive to entertain or even listen to someone who may have a difference in belief.”
"I am found!" Elsa sings in a tearful celebration of the magical ice cave. "We were voyagers….we were voyagers!" Moana squeals in delight as her grandmother nods. "I'm proud to be part of his family!" Miguel shouts to the sky after finding his true father. Empowerment surges through the veins of our young animated protagonists. The forces against them can no longer stand. Victory! Roll credits, and cue the cute post-credit scene.
If your house has been home to young children anytime in the past ten years, you've probably heard these lines more than once. You might even be aware of what I discovered today; namely, that most Disney movies now contain an automatic replay feature. It helps explain why the rest of my household is currently watching Elsa complete her dangerous quest to Ahtohallan for the fifth time today. I wasn't particularly concerned about Elsa's safety the first time. I seriously doubt trip number five is going to be any different.
What does concern me, however, is the visceral hatred that seems to be swelling in our adult world. Partisanship, ideological confidence, and adamant self-righteousness seem to be on ever-increasing display. The virtues of empathy, kindness, and gentleness have been rendered antiquated. It is now considered naive to entertain or even listen to someone who may have a difference in belief. After all, what could I learn from the enemy's viewpoint? You want evidence of why they're wrong? I mean, just look at their ridiculous opinions on COVID-19, or Black Lives Matter or the upcoming election. They're SHAMEFUL!
I'm not particularly worried about Elsa in Frozen 2 (2019) because I've seen her navigate the Northern waters over and over just fine. I have greater reservations about whether she (or anyone) could safely navigate the raging currents of today's political debates. With so much anger spewed from so many angles, it seems like you need more than an animated horse spirit to ride it out.
And yet even with such division, maybe these quaint Disney fairytales deserve a closer look. When I turn down the TV enough to think (and when my kids allow the rare occurrence), I unexpectedly find thoughtful messaging in these kidsy films. The type that might just be useful to all of us adult types...especially now.
Elsa, after all, makes her trip to a magic glacier because she's in search of something. She hears a mystical voice and recalls a story from her childhood. She eventually comes face-to-face with her family's true history and tradition. Prior to this encounter, she had an idea of who she was, but important details were missing. During her quest, she discovers the missing pieces of her past, confronts the dark secrets of her family's legacy, and leads her co-animated friends to make things right. In the process, she experiences an awakening of her truest self.
Sound familiar? Coco (2017) traces the maturation of a young boy named Miguel on a similar journey. Miguel argues furiously with his family, and the dispute is only resolved after the boy takes a mystical journey. In doing so, he discovers that his deep passion for music isn't a rejection of his family's tradition; instead, it is the epitome of it. Like Elsa, he unveils dark deeds in his family's past, and Miguel leads a course correction that redeems both his own identity and his family's heritage.
Moana's (2016) family was likewise ignoring their authentic selves as they hid on an island. Their true inheritance as a culture was that of brave exploration; they simply needed their young princess to remind them of this and lead correction. With a little help from The Rock, an encounter with a singing New Zealand crab, and the redemption of a fire monster, Moana leads her people to rediscover themselves. In doing so, she finds her place in the world. If you haven't seen these films, be warned; the main characters will remind you of their discovery with loud songs that you may never be able to get out of your head.
Aside from Disney's trademark songs, deep themes of identity are surprisingly common in these kidsy films. And make no mistake; our kids are watching and learning more than we realize from these movies. They see the characters carefully piece through their past, identify the harmful elements that need to be fixed, and labor to redeem their true tradition. They might not express it yet, but our kids are absorbing the lessons of wrestling with our past, rather than rejecting it wholesale. These movies tell them that success is defined as discovering our truest self, and they can accomplish this by uniting with their tradition and heritage in its most real sense.
It's in the enlightened adult world, ironically, that we seem incapable of such nuance. Our traditions are either decried by liberals as worthless, or conservatives defend them without condition. Our media and authorities deal with us in absolutes -- telling us that either all statues must go or all must remain. They tell you masks are entirely useless, or they are absolutely required. America's either deeply and irrevocably racist, or it's the undisputed best country in the world in every way. And if you happen to disagree with such ideological extremes, just hold on a sec because someone's about to destroy you with a meme. See it and surrender.
And yet, that's not how mass media talks to our children. In the real world, with its far more complicated problems, how can we be given more elementary solutions than a Disney character?
The philosophers of wisdom and tradition. Image courtesy of Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash.
“Lost in today’s visceral culture war is an honest and soul-searching quest to explore our tradition fully. ”
Lost in today's visceral culture war is an honest and soul-searching quest to explore our tradition fully. Like Edmund Burke once wrote, "steady, independent minds" to "judge of human institutions as they do of human characters...sorting out the good from the evil which is mixed in mortal institutions, as it is in mortal men."
It's the lifelong struggle that forces one to admit fault and error no matter how much we may prefer to ignore it. It calls us to search for the good and the evil even if one might be hard to find at times. It causes us to dive deeper into our heritage, and when we come up for air, there might be some actions we need to take to fix both it and ourselves.
But who has the time? I've got my kids' toys to pick up then I need to hop onto social media and blast some fools. We, adults, are too busy, after all, defending and advancing the frontlines of this national culture war. We're too busy demonizing and dismissing our opponents to admit any weakness or fault in ourselves.
If only there were guides to help us. If only we could equip ourselves to see the past, and ourselves, from a more nuanced point of view. If only we could admit our faults, defend our strengths, and redeem our tradition. If only we could pursue wisdom and understanding over hate, as Proverbs 3 reminds us.
This might just be the elixir we need to start to heal today's culture war. In doing so, we might just get a better view of ourselves and our country from more sides than one. We need guides to show us how to perform such a task.
I'm still not concerned for Elsa’s safety, mind you, but right now, at my house, one such guide is making her sixth quest.
Resources
We’ve created a free downloadable PDF to explore the article deeper. It contains discussion questions about the topic in general terms that will give you a jumping-off point for beginning a conversation.
The second page contains a way to see the topic from a biblical perspective.
And finally, to go deeper into the subject, we have chosen a few curated resources to explore from other authors’ and thinkers’ research or perspectives.
Read. Engage. Enjoy!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Depending on how a gem is held, light refracts differently. At B+PC we engage in Pop Culture topics to see ideas from a new angle, to bring us to a deeper understanding. And like Pastor Shane Willard notes, we want “…Jesus to get bigger, the cross to get clearer, the Resurrection to be central…” Instead of approaching a topic from “I don’t want to be wrong,“ we strive for the alternative “I want to expand my perspective.”
So, we invite you to engage with us here. What piqued your curiosity to dig deeper? What line inspired you to action? What idea made you ask, “Hmmm?” Let’s join with our community to wrestle with our thoughts in love in the Comment Section! See you there!