Why Prince Hans isn't the Villain of Frozen
So, I am of the opinion that seeing the movie Frozen was possibly the best decision I've ever made in my entire life. I loved it! It's easily the best of the new generation of Disney movies (although Tangled will always occupy a special place in my heart). Anyway, a few days ago, I was procrastinating studying for an exam and I started looking up different songs from Frozen in different languages (I've come to the conclusion that everything sounds better in Norwegian) and I came across a version of Love is an Open Door in Spanish (La Puerta es el Amor (The Door is Love - not so good in Spanish)) and there was a comment on the video that made me think. Someone had written that Disney intended this to be Prince Hans' "Villain Song", since later on in the movie you would realize how sinister it really was. This is troubling to me, because I don't think Prince Hans was the villain of Frozen. Sure, he was a villain in Frozen, but he's not the villain.
I mean, don't get me wrong - Prince Hans definitely did some despicable things, but most of the time he just sat around handing out cloaks and having gigantic sideburns (I mean, seriously, can someone explain his sideburns to me?). I mean, I think Anna should have known he was up to no good just based on his sideburns - he looks like a wolf man. Like, the only really villainous thing he does is refuse to kiss Anna (and try to kill Elsa, but let's be real here, a lot of people were trying to kill Elsa). He's not a nice guy, but he's not the villain. He's just a gold digger with a mutton-chop-sideburn kind of attitude.
I mean, I resent the idea that every Disney movie has to have a character labeled 'villain'. I mean, conflict is necessary to plot, but conflict does not necessarily equal villain. Like, in regular life people don't go walking around with signs around their necks saying 'don't trust me, I'm a villain', so why should they do that in movies? Far more often, the villain is something intangible. And not every Disney movie has a 'villain' anyway; look at Bambi. Who's the villain in Bambi? I suppose you could make the argument that the hunters are the villains in Bambi, but they aren't really bad, just careless. I mean, the whole purpose of that movie was to raise awareness about environmental stewardship and forest fires; so the enemy in this movie is really ignorance. The same is true of Alice in Wonderland; there is no real villain in that movie, because nothing is really real. Really, the person causing the most problems for Alice is Alice herself. The whole movie is really just representative of her inner conflict.
This is the case for Frozen. The real villain in this movie is fear: the townspeople's fear of Elsa but also, in a much more profound way, Elsa's fear of herself. I mean, consider that every problem in the movie is solved in like three seconds once Elsa realizes that she doesn't need to be afraid anymore; all she needs is love. I think Anna's frozen heart is a great metaphor for this (Frozen Heart - that's also a great song in Norwegian). Elsa's capacity for love was held hostage by her fear and mistrust; it is really this emotional isolation that brings out the dark side of her powers. Thawing a frozen heart isn't just what happens to Anna; it's the resolution of Elsa's internal conflict. That's a very feel-good, Disney-ish message.
And, most importantly, Prince Hans has nothing to do with any of that. He's just sort of an annoyance. Really, I'm just surprised that there aren't more crown-snatchers in Disney movies, considering everyone gets married after knowing each other for five minutes. I'm just glad that some Disney princess finally figured out that that sort of thing is a bad idea. I just wish Hans would come to a similar realization about his sideburns.
Just sayin'
I mean, don't get me wrong - Prince Hans definitely did some despicable things, but most of the time he just sat around handing out cloaks and having gigantic sideburns (I mean, seriously, can someone explain his sideburns to me?). I mean, I think Anna should have known he was up to no good just based on his sideburns - he looks like a wolf man. Like, the only really villainous thing he does is refuse to kiss Anna (and try to kill Elsa, but let's be real here, a lot of people were trying to kill Elsa). He's not a nice guy, but he's not the villain. He's just a gold digger with a mutton-chop-sideburn kind of attitude.
I mean, I resent the idea that every Disney movie has to have a character labeled 'villain'. I mean, conflict is necessary to plot, but conflict does not necessarily equal villain. Like, in regular life people don't go walking around with signs around their necks saying 'don't trust me, I'm a villain', so why should they do that in movies? Far more often, the villain is something intangible. And not every Disney movie has a 'villain' anyway; look at Bambi. Who's the villain in Bambi? I suppose you could make the argument that the hunters are the villains in Bambi, but they aren't really bad, just careless. I mean, the whole purpose of that movie was to raise awareness about environmental stewardship and forest fires; so the enemy in this movie is really ignorance. The same is true of Alice in Wonderland; there is no real villain in that movie, because nothing is really real. Really, the person causing the most problems for Alice is Alice herself. The whole movie is really just representative of her inner conflict.
This is the case for Frozen. The real villain in this movie is fear: the townspeople's fear of Elsa but also, in a much more profound way, Elsa's fear of herself. I mean, consider that every problem in the movie is solved in like three seconds once Elsa realizes that she doesn't need to be afraid anymore; all she needs is love. I think Anna's frozen heart is a great metaphor for this (Frozen Heart - that's also a great song in Norwegian). Elsa's capacity for love was held hostage by her fear and mistrust; it is really this emotional isolation that brings out the dark side of her powers. Thawing a frozen heart isn't just what happens to Anna; it's the resolution of Elsa's internal conflict. That's a very feel-good, Disney-ish message.
And, most importantly, Prince Hans has nothing to do with any of that. He's just sort of an annoyance. Really, I'm just surprised that there aren't more crown-snatchers in Disney movies, considering everyone gets married after knowing each other for five minutes. I'm just glad that some Disney princess finally figured out that that sort of thing is a bad idea. I just wish Hans would come to a similar realization about his sideburns.
Just sayin'
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