The fervor for Elsa of “Frozen” to swing for the rainbow team in the next installment of the Disney franchise has reached the likes of the film’s director.
According to HuffPo, the grassroots effort to “#GiveElsaAGirlfriend” began shortly after the film’s release in 2013 when many SJW fans began to see the famed song “Let It Go” as a “coming-out anthem” based on these lyrics:
Conceal don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well now they know …
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore– “Let it Go,” “Frozen”
Petitions soon began and the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend for the film’s sequel began trending on Twitter:
Dear @Disney, #GiveElsaAGirlfriend
— Alexis Isabel (@lexi4prez) May 1, 2016
@lexi4prez #GiveElsaAGirlfriend let the romance begin pic.twitter.com/Lo1hVpVqrg
— Λshley (@ashleyencalada) May 1, 2016
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend cuz damn if there was representation when I was a kid I would have known that luv isn’t only between a guy and girl
— gabzy (@gabzydiana) May 2, 2016
Much of the talent behind the film has supported the idea of Elsa going LGBTQ. Idina Menzel, the voice of Elsa, seemed to give the idea a thumbs up, at least tangentially.
“Maybe at first I was a little surprised because it’s Disney, but I can say that I’m excited that the conversation is happening,” Menzel said in 2016. “I can’t promise anybody that that’s what’s gonna happen… But deep down am I really happy that it’s causing people to talk about it and have these kinds of conversations? Yeah, I am.”
“Frozen” director Jennifer Lee, who will be returning for the sequel, said the creative team behind the film has had “tons of conversations” about giving Elsa a girlfriend.
“I love everything people are saying [and] people are thinking about with our film ― that it’s creating dialogue, that Elsa is this wonderful character that speaks to so many people,” Lee said. “It means the world to us that we’re part of these conversations.”
“Where we’re going with it, we have tons of conversations about it, and we’re really conscientious about these things,” Lee added. “For me … Elsa’s every day telling me where she needs to go, and she’ll continue to tell us. I always write from character-out, and where Elsa is and what Elsa’s doing in her life, she’s telling me every day. We’ll see where we go.”
No Disney animated film has explicitly highlighted a character, especially a lead, as being LGBTQ. Though the 2017 rendition of “Beauty and the Beast” sort of hinted at it with a glimpse of LeFou dancing with another man, with director Bill Condon calling the scene an “exclusively gay moment,” many pro-LGBTQ activists felt the move was just a cheap ploy.
Jennifer Lee wrote the screenplay for the upcoming film “A Wrinkle In Time,” which will be directed by Ava DuVernay.
Via DailyWire
