Movie Madness: Disney's 'Frozen' Promotes What!?!

Well, this is timely.

Yesterday, we spent a lot of time dissecting an article about Christians and the movies they watch. Today, I hearing for the first time that there might be -- and I stress the words "might be" -- a "gay family" (if so, then it's a first) in the wildly popular Disney film Frozen.

Here's a small sample for ya...

Is 'Frozen' The Gayest Movie of The Year?


7 Moments That Made 'Frozen' The Most Progressive Disney Movie Ever

Frozen Lambasted As Pro-Gay Propaganda By Christian Pastor


Conservative Radio Hosts: 'Frozen' Promotes Gay Agenda, Bestiality


Disney's Frozen Is Pro-Gay Propaganda. Or Is It?


Christian Film Critic Defends Disney's 'Frozen': You 'Really Need to Push' to Take It As 'Gay-Friendly Metaphor'

Now, this is incredibly shocking news to me.

No, not because I'm oblivious to agenda-driven Hollywood's shenanigans, or because I feel like I was duped, but because this is the first I'm hearing about it.

To put it another way, Frozen is one of our family's favorite movies right now (I have an 8.5-year-old son and a 7.5-year-old daughter) and we've seen it as a family something like 3 or 4 times if I'm remembering correctly.

After watching it closely (and considering myself a pretty astute albeit amateur Film & TV Critic of sorts since I studied that subject in college), I never once noticed this "gay agenda" myself (more importantly, neither did my kids).

That begs the question: Did Disney overtly or subtly promote a "gay agenda" in the movie Frozen or is this just more of the usual American Evangelical hysterical response to mere allegations of such that we've grown so accustomed to in the "Culture Wars" in this country?

Either way, I find it more than a little ironic that it's a Reformed Pastor (you know, those who insist that the Holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are both "symbolic" rather than actual means of grace like God intended and says they both are in His Word?) who is credited with starting this hysteria by insisting that the surface storyline and subplots are symbolic of a much more sinister agenda.

My dear friends, I'm not going to dispute that Disney doesn't ever have an agenda let alone that movies aren't power vehicles for indoctrinating people (ask Adolf Hitler how powerful the use of film was to establishing his Nazi empire).

But to seriously suggest that's what we're seeing here in the film Frozen? Come on now. If we're going to go that route, then I can probably sit down and come up with "proof" that Disney's Frozen was actually an attempt by satanically-inspired "The-Powers-That-Be" in this world to communicate their plans for what's going to happen between Russia, Ukraine, and the West in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Still, as an ex-Evangelical myself, I'm intrigued by this storyline that's beginning to catch fire, but I'm equally concerned that this is precisely the kind of thing that we were writing to warn other Christians about in all the previous posts on Pietism in recent days.

It's this whole self-righteous idea that "avoidance" and "boycott" and "protest" and "separation" is what makes you a "better" Christian than others (if not a "true" Christian for sure). Sorry, we rest upon the merits of Jesus Christ and what He did and continues to do for us, not on ourselves.

Look, I'm not saying that we Christians shouldn't make our voices heard or that we shouldn't ever enter the "Culture Wars" even. What I am saying is that we need to be very careful here since it's way too easy to cross that line over into pietism and self-righteousness.

Here's one Christian's response to all this that I think is probably where I currently find myself at the moment if I were forced to give my "official" position...

Should Christians Be In A "Frozen" Dilemma?

I love the movie Frozen. It is awesome. The only bummer I had while watching it with my 5 year old was that I didn’t know the songs which rendered me incapable of singing along! Thanks to Youtube I have learned several of the songs and look forward to watching it with my son again and again… and again.

I, for one, was thoroughly impressed with the movie. Much like this guy and this guy. Frozen had a better story and message than any Pixar or Disney movie that I have seen. It has a better message than 99% of movies that get produced, easy.

Insert: gay family. When I left the movie theater I had no idea gay family made an appearance in the film. The first I heard of it I didn’t believe the person that told me. Thankfully, my good friend google helped me see that their probably was a gay family in the movie. I think it is debatable, but that is my assumption after seeing the picture of Oaken’s family. The dilemma: it has a great central message, but it also has a gay family in it- these two realities led to a friend of mine asking this:

Any thoughts on it being the first animated movie with a gay family in it & advice to families/Christian organizations who may want to boycott it or protect their kids from it because of it?

I am going to answer both of these questions:

1) It sure would have been nice for Disney to leave that out. Not because it had any impact on the movie- it was totally unnoticeable to me when I watched the movie. I wish they would have left it out because now the country is caught up in debating whether or not it was a gay family, gay activists cheering its existence, and many Christians bemoaning that it’s there. All the while the great central message and theme of the movie is being pushed to the side.

I would much rather have our country discussing how sacrificial love is far superior to a “true act of love” than “a true love’s kiss” and other emotion-laden nonsense. Salvation came through a sacrificial act of love. I am sure I have heard that somewhere else.

2) I’m not a perfect parent and I do not have all the answers. Walking our children through these issues and teaching them how to chew the meat and spit the bones is very difficult. I do not fault parents who choose a different approach than me. They will stand before God on how they raised their kids, not me. With that said, here are a few principles as to why I will continue to watch Frozen with my kids, despite the appearance of a gay family.

*- I would prefer to let my kids watch a film with a fantastically truth filled story with one unnoticeable gay family in it than a movie without a gay family that has a central message that is garbage. The theme of sacrificial love and salvation was crystal clear to everyone while most people who watched the movie didn’t even catch the gay family. It’s overall story is so much stronger than 99% of the animated films those same parents probably let their kids watch already.

*- There aren’t very many opportunities in which a movie gives such an easy picture of the gospel as the movie Frozen. There are several comparisons that can be made with very little mental effort from my kids. Most of the time it is hard to come by a story in which it is such an easy step to the gospel. My oldest kid is 5- it needs to be clear and simple, Frozen does that for me.

*- Gay families aren’t going anywhere. I have no idea when my kids will see their first gay couple kissing, holding hands, etc. It may have already happened and I am unaware. I would rather be right beside my sons when they first experience what will be for them a very abnormal relationship. This opens the door to a helpful conversation about truth, sin, love, and grace.

*- “Everyone is a fixer upper.” This is one of the songs and lines from Frozen. If my kids ever notice the gay family in the movie I am happy to take that moment to show them that one way people sin against God is through gay relationships- they, like the rest of us, are “fixer uppers.” How do you fix a fixer-upper? Love.” What kind of love would that be? The same kind of sacrificial love we see from Anna is why Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. No one is unfixable, Jesus died so that all who repent of sin and believe in Him can be made right with God. Like Anna, he gives them a new heart (we have already talked about that a lot).

In Frozen, we have an opportunity to share the gospel with our kids through a good story. I am thrilled to take full advantage of it.

I think that's a pretty good, measured (and Biblical) response here, don't you?

I mean, instead of talking about something that may or may not be the case (something that me, my wife, and our kids hadn't noticed at all until I saw these articles start popping up all over the place), why not take the approach of the radio show Cross Defense and proclaim the apologetics of the Disney film Frozen, or how it clearly reminds us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ instead?

Surely, that is what people need to hear from us since they already know that homosexuality (and so-called "gay marriage") is a sin...even if they don't accept or believe it.

In a Lutheran layman's terms, even if it's proven that this is what Disney was up to in this flick, don't let it freeze your heart to the point where you lose love for your neighbors so much so that you decide to talk about why the movie's bad as opposed to why it's good.

NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a Lutheran-In-Name-Only at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by common Evangelical concerns/criticisms that perhaps wouldn't be too big a deal for us Lutherans. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Finally, please know that any time we engage in interpreting a specific portion of Scripture exegetically, it will always follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible unless otherwise noted. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!

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