One time, when I received a strong negative reaction to a blog post I had written, a friend (a liberal Mormon at that, which made it all the better), hoping to minimize the situation and cheer me up said: "Haters gonna hate, Kathryn". 

I think about that little phrase from time-to-time, and use it to shake off the dust and get back up on the horse. If the truth be known, I have my own agenda. 

If there's one thing I'm constantly reminded of, it's that the online world changes at a faster pace than any other medium, and generally because of that, we can resume normal operations relatively quickly. 

The fact of the matter is, when I sit down to write, the subject isn't something I just randomly select to drive traffic to my blog. At least not for this blogger - it never has been. Although I suppose if I monetized A Well-Behave Mormon Women I might think differently. 

Rather, I feel compelled to share something of worth with my readers, and nine times out of ten it's likely to have something to do with my religious faith - which I value tremendously. My personal beliefs, are at the foundation of who I am, how I live, and what I have to say. 

For me, writing a meaningful piece is work. It requires the ability to discern whether I've got the stuff to make a point in a way that people will listen, because it matters; and I don't take that lightly. Perhaps it might be a bit sloppy on occasion, although I don't mean for it to be. But hey, that's what you get when you read a 54-year-old grandmother's blog, who married at age 18 and never went to college. I have a husband with integrity and five beautiful children (yes, one is a lesbian, whom I love deeply) to show for it. Also, three intelligent son-in-laws, one precious daughter-in-law, and currently 11 fantastic grandchildren. 

Now, about those "haters" who tend to form in groups, travel together, and meet-up on similar issues, research suggests that it may not be so easy for them to stop their hating. The Washington Post's, Sarah Kliff, reports:


"Now, scientists have taken it upon themselves to figure out whether this is true. Do verified haters tend to hate everything else they stumble upon? Yes, according to a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. People who tend to hate things they already know about are (surprise!) more disposed to hate things they have not yet come in contact with." (read more)

Regardless, there's no justifiable reason that anyone should treat another person, whose opinion they don't agree with, as subhuman. Which is what I've experienced in response to the post I wrote about the movie, Frozen.

I want to put it out there, that it's not okay. And I hope that you don't think so either.

The majority of comments on the post are riddled with vitriol. Some were so vile, that I felt I had to close comments. The criticism for doing so caused me to reconsider and publish all of them without reading first (I don't have the stomach). Under normal circumstances I would never allow such a display of hatred on my blog, but sadly I think this exception is important.

If this is an example of what can happen when one person, a grandmother, with a faith-based opinion about a children's movie, speaks out to inform Christian parents of something she believes is important, in my opinion, all of us should be seriously concerned, regardless of the content of the post or objection to its presentation. 

I'd like to make a few clarifications about some of the things that I wrote in the post, which are being misrepresented, misunderstood, or were never said:

  • I did not say that people should boycott Frozen, rather, I liked the film.
  • I do not think the movie Frozen is evil, although I do see a strong gay theme running throughout the film.
  • I never said that children who watch Frozen will become gay.
  • I do not believe people who advocate for SSM are evil.
  • I do not hate homosexuals.
  • I never said that Christian parents who didn't see a gay message in Frozen are stupid.
  • I am aware that others see different themes in Frozen, which are positive.
  • I believe a progressive element is strongly rooted in all forms of media and intentionally influences culture, in order to normalize that which currently is opposed by mainstream society - often so subtle that most don't detect it. 

I want to thank, my friend, Jonathan Max. Wilson, author of www.sixteensmallstones.com, who after witnessing the strong resistance to the ideas I presented in my post took it upon himself to address the subject of subversive messaging.


"Frozen can certainly be successfully applied as an allegory for homosexual struggle. The authors may or may not have had that in mind when they wrote it. But Frozen is good enough art to rise above a specific allegorical meaning. It demonstrates broad applicability to many different human experiences. That is why it appeals to so many people."

Lastly, for the two or three of you who agreed that I might just be onto something, I've included links (many sent to me, thank you), to a few other sources that, though not as interesting as mine, do a much better job and validate that perhaps I'm not as crazy as some want to think. Thanks for hanging with me on this one. 

Update: I just realized that in order to read the over 1,500 comments left on the post, to date, you must scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on: load more, over and over again. #BloggerFail

tDMg,

 Kathryn Skaggs 




"Frozen's subtext is so gay, it's barely subtext; it's just on-the-nose text. The folks at Disney practically put it all out on Front Street, but for those who missed it or just weren't paying attention, let me lay it out for you: Frozen is all about a young girl who was born different, a difference that her parents told her to hide away from the world at large, partly because the world would reject her, and partly because they really care what the neighbors think. After Elsa's true nature is revealed to the kingdom, she's denounced as a freak and a monster and driven out of her own home. After that, she creates her own fabulous kingdom for herself (and sings a doozy of a number about self-acceptance and pride.)"

"Eventually, her only family left, her sister, expresses to her that she loves her no matter what, and convinces her to come back home where eventually the people around her learn the error of their ways and accept her. Yes, this is the story of Frozen, but it's also the story of almost every indie gay coming-out movie that's played Sundance for the past 20 years."

 Want to understand your gay family member? Go see Frozen.

"Elsa, the older sister, has a magical gift: She can summon ice and snow. (A troll later asks if she was “born” or “cursed” with this power, one of many lines hinting at an allegory for LGBT people. The answer: She was born that way.)"


"The stars of the show are Anna and Elsa voiced by the beautiful and talented Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel. It’s easy to say this movie is about sisterly love, but I took away a bigger sense of a family dealing with discrimination. Now that discrimination could be from an illness, handicap, or even homosexuality. Some families will go so far as to lock people out of their home as to not let outsiders in for fear of embarrassment. That’s exactly what Elsa and Anna’s parents do to them after Anna has her accident caused by Elsa’s powers. And if you think me saying that the analogy of Elsa being gay is a stretch, then why do they tell her to “conceal, don’t feel” and literally lock her in a closet? To me Frozen is a metaphor for family members accepting each other for who they are and not what the neighbors will think of them. When Elsa is finally able to come out of her proverbial closet, she leaves her bigoted town and becomes ‘fabulous” the the tune of “Let it Go.” It’s now Anna’s job to track her down in the mountains to tell her that she is still loved and to not let the hate of the people poison her heart. Both Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel did a wonderful job with their voice acting, especially when it comes to singing. I never knew Bell had such a pretty singing voice, and of course Menzel brings her talents from Fox’s Glee and Broadway’s Wicked to belt out some amazing songs."

Beware the Frozen Heart: Is Disney’s ‘Frozen’ An Allegory for Coming Out?

"Disney might not be coming out and saying, “This is Elsa’s version of coming out,” but they don’t need to; it’s evident to every boy or girl carrying a secret around with them that threatens to crush them every day, at any moment; it’s clear to the grown audience members what Elsa is dealing with."


"There is a lot of controversy to the idea of a queer character in a kids film. No matter how much heterosexual romance and kissing is in kids media, the exact same thing but with a gay couple would be considered inappropriate. Queer people are oversexualized by cis heterosexuals to be inappropriate. And that is why if they even wanted Elsa to be lesbian or bisexual, it wasn't going to happen without Disney taking a big leap. But while she isn't canonically queer, she also isn't straight and to assume she must be would be heterosexism. I like to think all the aforementioned reasons hint to her being queer but really it is about personal bias."


"That being said, I left Frozen with many similar observations about the film's empowering message. The difference is that I found them to be awesome and inspiring instead of subversive and harmful. I don't think the movie is specifically about being "gay", but I do think that it was intentionally built around the themes of being "your true self" and not the "self" society tells you to be. I doubt the parallels to current events escaped the folks at Disney. Still, that theme doesn't just apply to LGBT people, but can apply to anyone who is deemed "different" and consequently marginalized, oppressed, or repressed because of who they are.

FROZEN Movie Review: A New Classic Disney Animated Musical

"Is Elsa gay? I think there’s certainly a valid queer reading to be found in the film. It isn’t like she has a girlfriend - or any romance at all - but the idea that she was born different (it’s explicitly specified that she was born this way, not cursed) and that her difference makes her not a ‘good girl’ (a phrase repeated) lends itself to that interpretation. If we read Elsa as gay, Anna’s quest to show her that she is loved and accepted becomes all the more profound."




"Let me reframe this story in a different light now. Imagine if Elsa didn’t have ice powers. Imagine instead, for the purposes of this entry only, that her real secret is that she is gay. When I left the theatre I couldn’t help but notice some parallels between Elsa’s struggle and what some individuals deal with today. Elsa is taught by her parents at a young age to “conceal, don’t feel.” She is asked to hide who she truly is because it might upset others. Her escape to the mountains and acceptance of her powers as who she is can also be seen this way. After leaving what is familiar and being allowed to find herself, she isn’t forced into a mold."

"In fact, Elsa’s shame and misplaced fear of herself can apply to anyone struggling with an identity crisis. I think it is only in Frozen’s pro-female story that I specifically pick up on the hidden-self vibe as gay. During a scene with ballroom dancing, the man romancing Anna remarks how he couldn’t get close to her sister. This is clearly about her fear of ice powers, but that isn’t the only reason to brush off a dancing partner. Under normal Disney guidelines, by the end of the film, Elsa’s goofy snowman would turn out to be the snowman of her dreams."

Slant: Disney's Frozen teems with gay themes long before it hits its stride.

"Disney's Frozen teems with gay themes long before it hits its stride. It tells the story of Elsa, a princess from the land of Arendelle endowed with inexplicable, ice-emitting powers that shame her parents. In childhood, she injures her sister Anna during snowy playtime, and the half-stone trolls beseeched with healing Anna's wound ask if Elsa was "born" or "cursed" with her gifts. (Fans of the similarly queer-friendly X-Men saga will note some striking parallels: Elsa develops a can't-touch-this mutation a la Rogue, while Anna's trauma leaves her with the Marvel character's white-streaked hair.) Mom and Dad do acknowledge that Elsa was born this way, but after having Anna's memory wiped, they nevertheless urge Elsa to remain in the family's castle, its locked gates signifying the girl's closed-off, guilt-ridden heart. "Conceal, don't feel," the princess is taught to tunefully recite in the film, which is based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen, and hinges its chief conflict of eternal winter on the dangers of emotional suppression."

Sorry for the “CROOD” Comparison but I Just Can’t “LET IT GO”

Now that some time has passed and after being subjected to every rendition of “Let it Go” my kids have seen fit to share with me, I have discovered my problem with the movie really is with the music. Not the singing of course, but the lyrics. The more I hear them, the more convinced I am that I just can’t stand the lyrics from this movie. The more I see them sung over and over by innocent young children the more I am so irritated! Music has such power. It can literally stay in you for a lifetime. Why in the world would anyone want those lyrics running around in their head for the rest of their life?

7 Moments That Made 'Frozen' the Most Progressive Disney Movie Ever

"Disney's latest movie musical Frozen has been hitting high notes ever since its release over Thanksgiving. In addition to the serious cash the film has raked in, it looks like it's going to bring in a few awards as well. After winning Best Animated Film at the Golden Globes,Frozen is up for the Best Animated Picture Oscar. Its signature song "Let it Go" also earned an Oscar nod. Frozen's monumental success can and should not be understated. The film isn't going anywhere."

"One reason for its success is its huge divergence from other Disney films, particularly in its depiction of modern people, problems and ideas that resonate with millennials."

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