Like every other family that has
children, my entire household has been taken over by Frozen lately.
Middlest girl minion meets me at breakfast in a blue lace cape and
doesn't take it off until school time. We have the soundtrack on
repeat in the background. We took the dvd in to the library for
movie time to share with any unfortunate souls that have not been
bombarded yet. We did not see the movie in the theatre, so when I
decided to finally listen to all the “Let it Go” craziness after
the Academy Awards, and let the kids listen too, they were ravenous
to watch it. Two week of counting down until we bought it, and many
tears shed when they had to wait until after showers and breakfast
that morning.
I had heard a lot of crazy things about
this movie: that it was actually about these two sisters, that “true
love” wasn't the focus, and that they imparted common sense advice
like not to get engaged to someone you just met. I had a lot of
interest in a movie that wasn't all about the girl trying to get the
guy, or that true love is immediate and supersedes everything else,
or that you fall in love with someone as soon as they kiss you. You
know, a movie marketed to children that wasn't over the top, and yet
threw out a lot of the anti-feminist mantras that most princess
movies shove in your face. I was excited to watch and excited to
share it with my girls (and boys!).
Now before I continue I would like to
point out that I usually don't consider myself a feminist in the
traditional sense. I prefer equality and respect, but I prefer it in
both directions, and I feel it is incredibly unhelpful to look down
on women who choose to take traditional roles or have traditional
families. There is nothing wrong with that. I have a uterus. I
make babies. I take care of them. I am a woman, and it is okay that
I do that instead of trying to play both the role of a man or a
woman. For that matter it is okay if someone chooses to do the
opposite that I do as well. When I use the word feminist in this
article, I am talking about the practice of treating women like valid
human beings instead of property or sex objects. You know, basic
human rights.
That being said, “Let it Go” is
really a feminist song, in all the best ways. There is a young woman
who has spent her entire life trying to conform to very restrictive
life by society's norms, and it has continuously grown harder and
harder for her to keep her true self hidden. In a moment of
weakness, she reveals that self to the rest of the world, and amidst
a sea of backlash, runs away. This song is where she finally throws
away her attempts to blend in, and is just herself. I recently saw a
funny gif where someone had photoshopped the words “fuck off”
into the snow magic that Elsa is creating. Crude yes, but also
pretty accurate: she is past the point of trying to please everyone,
and they can just deal with it and leave her alone.
Although I believe the song translates
across all genders and walks of life, it very clearly points at
feminine issues. All her life a woman is held to a ridiculous amount
of standards: she must be demure or she is called a bitch. She must
dress in a certain way or she is called a slut. She must hold
certain kinds of jobs or she faces at the least a lower pay rate, and
usually harassment or not being taken seriously. In action movies
she is relegated to the sex icon or love interest: weak, without
personality, and just there to look at. In this song, Elsa throws
off the prejudice that society pins on her for her gender, and
refuses to play by their rules anymore. She can dress however she
wants. She can behave the way she chooses. She can play the hero of
her own story.
In a way, every single person that
hears this song feels a little bit of this power. Everyone wants to
rise above the part of the victim and be heard. Everyone wants the
freedom to make their own choices without persecution. More than a
song about finding true love, or any other dribble that princesses
usually sing about, this song speaks to the heart and soul of
everyone and gives them control over their own destiny.
Which in a round-about way finally
brings me to the point of this essay: the pop version of “Let it
Go” is a sad mockery of the original and shows just how far we
still have to go as a society.
Now, the remake itself was not that
bad. I am fond of the driving beat they added to it, and they
reworked the song to have a true chorus and have more of the
traditional structure of a pop song. There were a few lyric changes
but they fit in well, I believe. The person that they chose to sing
it has the tone quality and obviously has the ability to hit all the
notes well and hit it out of the park. The problem with the entire
thing though? She chooses not too.
At the end of every phrase, she takes
an exaggerated breath. She does not have to do this: there are
other parts of the song where she holds notes for longer and strings
longer phrases together with no issue. Why would someone have such
pronounced breathing in the middle of a hit song then? There's only
one explanation for it: she is trying to make it sound more sexy.
That is not the only issue: there are
several times in the song that Demi Lovato goes in to hit a note and
instead of “letting go” and belting it out, she pulls it back,
and sings in this breathy, soft voice. Again, she does not have to
do this! There are several times in the song where she hits a note
hard, on pitch, with no hesitation. This is all a ploy to make her
sound weaker, sexier, and inviting to men.
So here you have a song that is all
about throwing off sexist labels and being yourself, and in order to
make it palatable to the rest of the world, you take all the power
out of it. You rework it so that it sounds like an immature girl
trying to engender sympathy to her sad situation (which sounds
suspiciously like a breakup that she is trying to get over) by
getting the attention of the men around her.
One step forward, twenty steps back.
