Let What Go?

Middle-Aged Mormon Man, a blogger my Mom follows, recently wrote a blog post about Let It Go, a song from Disney's Frozen. I have not yet seen Frozen (though I have every intention to watch it later), but I've seen many clips from it on Youtube, including the song that MMM was blogging about. I found it just as catchy as everyone else did, and had some of the same concerns as MMM did.

The concern mostly stems from a few lines in the song, which, taken out of context, are much scarier than they were when I considered them as a part of the song and the story.

No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
I'm free.

It's so wrong that I can feel the wrong-ness as I type it. Mom pointed out to me last night that those lyrics are even scarier when we consider that the song they're in is very catchy and popular. Those words are floating through dozens, if not hundreds of people's heads, mostly without their knowing it, subconsciously teaching them that abandoning rules and moral accountability leads to freedom.

I don't know what to say about this. On one hand, I could suggest that Disney included those lyrics and other bad messages in this and other movies intentionally, purposefully trying to manipulate our children into more and more worldly ways, but I honestly don't think that's the case. Personally, I see Disney as a business. They want to sell movies (and toys and books, etc). Sure, they could influence the rising generation through their movies, for good or evil, but why would they? What's in it for them? I don't think they would slip subtle messages into their films unless it would lead to them making more money.

But I know someone who would.

I think that there's good and bad in everything, if you look hard enough. Sometimes, you don't have to look very hard because the messages are obvious. Sometimes, the messages are more hidden. We could focus on the negative message, or we could counter it with our knowledge of eternal truths (all actions have consequences, obedience to the commandments leads to freedom, disobedience leads to bondage), and pull positive messages from the song and the story instead.

Though the song's title is "Let It Go," it's never clearly specified what "It" is. It could be several different things at once. Right now, I'm choosing for it to refer to fear, specifically the fear that holds you back from being honest with yourself. Elsa had magical ice powers, but for all her life, she tried to act like she didn't. She was afraid of her powers and tried to suppress them. Many of us have traits that we try to suppress or hide. That could mean burying our talents or hiding our faults. Either way, once we get those traits out in the open and have the courage to be honest with ourselves about them, we can begin to make positive changes concerning them.

Using myself as an example, on the plus side, I have some talent for writing. When I acknowledge that, I can improve that skill and polish that talent. On the other hand, I also have my faults, including one that vexes me in particular. I could try to bury it, or I could acknowledge it as something I have to deal with and work on. Whether Elsa saw her powers as a blessing or a curse, she wasn't able to learn to control them or use them until she acknowledged that they existed and let go of her fear of them.

The song, Let It Go, then could refer not to letting go of rules and restrictions, but rather letting go of the fear of failure or of criticism. The song can still be liberating in a positive way, and that's the way I'm choosing to see it and the message I'm choosing to learn from it.