Elsa and Anna: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Meet Anna: "pixie dream girl," dorky, brave, romantic, happy-go-lucky, a social go-getter






Meet Elsa: serious, powerful, dangerous, responsible, emotional, a bit unstable, an independent loner

 Tomorrow, when you watch Disney's Frozen (and you should be doing that tomorrow because it will be available for purchase on DVD), I want you to ask yourself, "Are you an Anna or an Elsa?"
 
Of course, there are a lot of other wonderful things about the film to ponder and take note of: deep commentary about love, wonderful music, beautiful animation, much hilarity.

However, my question is one which may cross your mind, and if it does I want you to hang onto it and ponder it for a decent while.


 I must come across to most people as an Anna, based on the opinions of some friends (and a couple of my students who keep telling me I remind them of her.)  While I think that Anna is a really great character, I found it kind of odd initially that people associated me with her... because I definitely related to the Elsa character more when watching the film.

I've always been a feeler. I'm an INFP. Double on the N and the F. I pick up on a lot of things. I also FEEL things like CRAZY. Good things: friendships, romance, happiness, a pretty day....also bad things: injustice, anger, guilt, grief, loss. The only one who could ever understand/ relate to my crazy amounts of feeling isn't here anymore. So now, when the feelings come,  alone is also part of them. I really felt for Elsa in that clip at the very end of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" when she is up against the wall after their parents die and the whole room is a frozen mess all around.  When strong feelings hit me, especially grief, it feels like that sometimes.

However, I just realized, I don't act like that to most people. If I didn't have this blog, probably no one would have any idea how I felt except for a select few. Even those wouldn't really know: it's so much easier to write about something than say it out loud.

The more I think about it, the more I realize why I probably seem more like an Anna than an Elsa. To most of the people I spend time around (and most of these people are children so that heightens it surely) I am bubbly, awkward, and happy.


The more I think about that, the more I realize that these two characters could easily be two sides of the same coin.


Here's why:

Where would you keep you inner-Elsa, if you had one? Locked up of course: locked away or far removed from others. If you have an inner Elsa, no one probably gets close enough to catch her. She's too powerful, too emotional and volatile. She might scare people, so its probably best to keep her away from most people.

Meet Elsa's flaw: She's afraid of her own powers/emotions (which she has no idea how to control)..so afraid that she avoids any meaningful contact.
Meet Elsa's redeeming quality: She does this in order to protect those she loves, which is remarkably sacrificial.





If you had an inner Anna, where would you keep her?
Well Anna is always trying to get out and meet new people, so I suppose you could look as this character as the charmingly extroverted side of one's personality. This of course, is at different levels for different people. If you are naturally a bit introverted, then your "Anna" side might be like that of Anna in the movie (She doesn't get out a lot).

Meet Anna's flaw: She's in a reckless search for affection and is a little too eager to find it anywhere she can get it. Unlike Elsa, she is likely to rush into things too quickly, not think them through or feel them out enough.

Meet Anna's redeeming quality: She is fiercely brave and loyal to those who have her heart.


I love this movie for so many reasons, as you can probably tell. However, one of the reasons is that there is no true defined hero or villain. Both of the lead female characters are strong as well as flawed, and at the end of the film they both have to overcome their biggest flaws for the love they share for each other.


It's not only a powerful story of love and bravery, it's also (perhaps) a unique insight into the human psyche. A person rarely possesses only one of the following combinations of traits displayed by Elsa and Anna: Fear & Bravery, Independence & Dependence, Introversion & Extroversion. Both sisters also show different aspects of courage, love, loyalty which present themselves in a very believably human way.


So yes, watch this movie, please.