Introduction to Frozen as Religion
For thousands of years all types of religions have played a major role within society; it has influenced history, politics and the average life of human beings. Primitive religions and traditions have evolved into great institutions seated at the heart of society. However, times have changed and modern religions in Western society have visibly taken a step back from the center. Even though this has happened it actually still has a major role and grasp over our lives and what is deemed as popular. Religion is still imbedded within our values, beliefs and codes of society; evidently and arguably still playing a considerable role in popular culture. It has passed down these beliefs and morals through story-telling and the heart of these meaningful and captivating stories is permanently fixated in Disney’s narratives. The main goal is to preserve the value of love and family and to continue this strong sentiment within the modern family. Disney’s Frozen does exactly this. I want to take a major belief of Western religions, the morally good stories, and show how a modern multi-billion-dollar company has used that as its bases for the movie Frozen to continue sharing those values. Using Emelie Durkheim’s idea that religious values are a product of society, Joseph Price’s secularization theory and Bruce Forbe’s snowball theory to show that Frozen is indeed a creation of religious stories and values.
In summary…
To begin this discussion of how religion and Frozen are interconnected I want to set the context by giving a brief explanation of the film itself. Using Western narratives and values I will show how this has influenced the modern version of Frozen later on.
The movie begins with two estranged princesses, Anna and Elsa, who at a young age lost both of their parents in a tragic accident. Set in Arendelle, the kingdom becomes trapped in an endless winter due to the uncontrollable and secret powers of its new queen Elsa. In order to set things straight the queen flees the village in hopes of thawing the ice in the community and restoring peace. However, her attempt to fix her mistake is fruitless and Anna attempts to help her sister and their community by simply being there for her sister. Elsa wants to protect Anna from her powers and casts her away while accidently hurting her with the extraordinary powers she possesses. Anna becomes sick and searches for the cure to her illness. She discovers that only true love will thaw her icy heart and even though the sisters have become estranged, the true love that they share between one another, was the only thing that could save Anna in the end. It is a story of family relationships, love and redemption.
