If you don’t live under a rock you’ve probably heard of "Frozen," Disney's smash hit musical that brought not one but two new princesses onto the scene. Recently there’s been an argument circulating that the movie should’ve actually brought three princesses onto the scene. If you recall, the movie ends with Anna and her sister, Elsa, reconnecting and discovering that their love is what can help Elsa tame her powers. This is atypical of Disney. Usually, what happens at the end of the movies is the prince sweeps the princess off her feet and they live happily ever after. Of course, each movie is different, but they all follow this formula loosely. This is most certainly not the case in "Frozen." The creators broke the mold by having the only prince in the movie portrayed as a bad guy.
There was no one sweeping Elsa off of her feet. No beggar, frog or beast-turned-prince here. Just Elsa. Just Anna. Just sisterly love. This was a refreshing turn of events: a Disney movie in which the princess can live happily ever after without a man.
The argument being made is for Disney's first princess to sweep the protagonist princess off of her feet. This would also mean the first gay Disney princess, which would be an enormous step in the right direction. Everyone loves these movies and so many little boys and girls all over the world watch them. Disney had been diverse to show these children to love people no matter their nationality or background. But they have never sent a message to teach children to love all people no matter their sexuality and it is about time they did. Childhoods are so heavily influenced by these movies and having a gay princess would show them that all love is something to be celebrated, and not just love between a man and a woman.
Elsa, though, should not have a girlfriend. If the next princess movie came out and there were two princesses, it would be amazing and Disney would be doing what we all want them to. But "Frozen" is not that movie. In our attempts to see a message being sent about even more diversity in our beloved Disney princess flicks, we sometimes lose sight of the messages they already have. "Frozen" is the tale of a girl with a rocky relationship with her family, who, in the end, connects with her sister and finds that she is loved. This movie is close to the classic Disney concept of finding love and lives happily ever after; just this time she finds love in her sister, not in a significant other. This is still amazing.
Elsa shows that you can be happy and thrive on your own. She shows that you can find comfort in your family; you don’t need a significant other for comfort. She teaches children that you don’t have to get married and that it is completely normal not to. She can live independently in a way no other princess has. Disney needs more LGBT representation more than anything else, but we cannot try to change the message that preexisting movies present. We can only look to the future and try to convince Disney to make a new character that is gay. That way little boys and girls can have to role models, one who doesn’t need a significant other to be happy and one that needs a significant other with their same gender.
