Disney‘s Frozen may have given us the traditional boy-meets-girl, happily-ever-after story for one of the sisters, but the other was still single when the closing credits rolled.
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Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. But what if Elsa remains single not because she hasn’t found the right guy but because it’s actually another girl she wants?
It’s a theory that’s growing legs on social media, with some fans calling on Disney to #GiveElsaAGirlfriend. This is one hashtag we can definitely get behind. After all, Disney has always been superb at teaching kids (and grown-ups) important life lessons. We’ve had “When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming,” from Dory in Finding Nemo. We’ve had “You must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul,” from Gusteau in Ratatouille. We’ve had “No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true,” from Cinderella. And so it goes. But we’ve never had a Disney message about LGBT relationships, and with Frozen 2 in the works and Elsa still very much a single gal, what better opportunity does Disney have?
Disney has already given us a gay princess — Mulan in the ABC TV series Once Upon a Time, who revealed her love for Princess Aurora. However, she never acts on her feelings and the show wasn’t a global box-office smash, so the message didn’t exactly reach the masses.
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There’s absolutely no argument against having an LGBT relationship in a Disney movie. First of all, representation is so important. Showing kids an LGBT relationship on the cinema screen isn’t going to “make them gay” (for those who believe that’s a bad thing) or confuse them — it’s going to encourage them to believe that love comes in many different forms, each one as genuine and deserving of our respect as any other.
And for kids who are LGBT, just imagine the difference it would make to their lives, their self-image and their confidence if they saw a gay Disney princess or prince on screen. The only way to make LGBT relationships (which are completely normal) actually “normal” in the eyes of society in general, is for mainstream media to embrace, promote and portray those relationships. And you can’t get much more mainstream than Disney, right?
One Twitter user, @TheDanaAddams, reminded us that Frozen is “one big metaphor for being in the closet, getting outed, and coming to terms with yourself,” which pretty much makes it the perfect movie to help us teach our kids that love between a straight man and a straight woman is only a tiny part of the picture.
So come on, Disney, let’s give Elsa the girlfriend she needs — it could just be the most awesome move you’ve ever made.
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