Monday, April 14, 2014

Understanding the Culture: I'm Born This Way and Letting It Go: The Hidden Message Behind Disney's Soundtrack

"Let It Go," a watered down version of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." 

I have nothing against Frozen or the song itself, but its poisonous message, being spoon-fed to our generation, undermines Christianity and standards upheld by society, producing more Lady Gagas in our world today.

The main problems I have with "Let It Go" can be found in these stanzas:


The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in;
Heaven knows I've tried



Don't let them in,
don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
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, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care
what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway

It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I'm free!



Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone


Elsa teaches us that we all possess an uncontrollable innate behavior. We try to hold it back from wreaking havoc, but we cannot. We have to let it go and sin. Due to societal pressure and restrictive moral standards, we've always had to play the good girl, but now, we don't have to be the good girl. We don't have to abide by a moral code. The perfect girl is gone, and thus we can be truly free.


This is what six-year-olds sing today in our households, in our neighborhoods, and in our churches. Hollywood and Disney has brainwashed us from recognizing the message sugarcoated behind such an innocent sounding song. Frozen seems like such a sweet movie about love between sisters, and it's true. It is a sweet movie. On the outside.

First of all, Elsa sings about how rules prohibit freedom.

This is not only false but unbiblical. Freedom abounds when rules are obeyed and followed. Without rules, there is no freedom.

We see this concept in society today. Rule-abiding citizens enjoy the most freedom. Without laws, there would be anarchy. Each man would live for himself without any enforcement or protection of individual rights. 


The laws in our society today defend the individual freedoms of each person. Because we value the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have these laws regarding murder, child abuse, theft, etc. Those crimes violate the freedom of others, and this is why they must be restrained. 


When we live according to the law, everyone experiences true freedom and success. However, when we violate it, we experience the penalty for our actions and become restricted, whether through imprisonment or a monetary payment, as a direct consequence for violating the freedom of others.


In the same way, when we look at Scripture, we see that God's laws in the OT were placed there for a specific reason, as a reflective mirror that demonstrates our sin. Without the law, we wouldn't have a standard to compare ourselves to. But with this standard, we notice our dependency on God. We see how we constantly fall short of His standard of perfection. This law, this mirror allows us to see our own depravity.


We were all born as slaves to sin, and these laws imparted to us a realization of the inherent sin nature of mankind.

Elsa also equivocates freedom with a lack of moral standards. Yet, true freedom is when we acknowledge the standard of good and evil and choose to abide and live by this standard.

However, Elsa clearly disagrees. According to "Let It Go," true freedom is about doing whatever you want, even if it's against societal standards, even if it's against the law, even if it's wrong.

And kids are singing this. A Lady Gaga song watered down to our younger generation. This is horrific. 

There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are
She said, 'cause He made you perfect, babe
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes

Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause baby, you were born this way


Isn't this the same message as "Let It Go?" Can you see the similarities? Both idolize the bad girl. Both celebrate our depravity. Since we are born to sin, let's throw a party over it.

Society and Hollywood embraces this lifestyle. Instead of feeling shame over sin, instead of concealing and not letting people know, we let sin go. The loss of the perfect girl is glorified, and America rejoices over depravity openly. Look at the gay marriage legislation passed in numerous states today. Look at the immorality celebrated in TV shows, in movies, and in our neighborhoods. Look at the greed in society.

All this is a direct result of embracing the ideals in "Let It Go." In a children's movie. 

Think about it. Pray about it. Talk to your friends and family about it. Christianity provides a way out of our depravity and of the way we're born in. Let's effectively analyze the beliefs presented to us by Hollywood before we let it go. 


{For more information, please listen to Ben Shapiro's incredible analysis on Frozen starting 10 min into his podcast at:
 http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=577&a=9969383&p=1093&n=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show  }

3 comments:

  1. I always thought when I first heard that song "man, the gays are really gonna make capital out of this" and I agree Disney does have some share of secularism, but I never interpreted it that way. Elsa's powers weren't evil, she was just an ugly duckling, always in the wrong place at the wrong time. She really wasn't struggling with something totally sick that any normal person would be disgusted with, and although the perverts claim to "relate" to her, they don't really understand what's going on at all. The "ugly duckling" story is actually a very Christian theme, the feeling of being born in the "wrong world" and being made for something bigger than yourself.

    This huge movement on freedom and individuality is only a perversion of this idea, the same way "tolerance" is a perversion of respect. Lady Gaga is singing about this ideology openly, and although Let it Go has some of that mixed in there as well, I think there's a spark of truth in it.

    Let it go can easily be interpreted as a rugged individuality/moral relativism song, but it can also be seen as a duckling who has discovered that he is a swan. In the end Elsa finds how to use her powers for the benefit of other people, and since that's NOT how rugged individualism plays out in real life, it suggests that there is a different theme we're dealing with.

    I don't think Frozen was really "a wolf in sheep's clothing" as it was "a sheep who has been hanging out with his wolf friends and picked up some bad words from them". Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic because I love Disney animation and anything is better than Pocahontas. Disney has gone downhill since the glory-days, but with a lot of heavy influence from Pixar gurus I've seen a marked change. I don't know. I just don't want to hate the whole thing just because it has some secularism sneaked into it. In my opinion, the Christian themes win out, because they are infinitely more powerful in any situation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Raymond!! I really appreciate you taking the time to read all this and formulate your own opinion. I'll message you and we can continue the conversation that way. (:

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had basically the same concerns about the song, Amanda, and tried to explain them to our young daughters. In the end, the song is just too big to ignore so I made my peace with having them sing it around the house, but I hope they understand that the message is a little messed up.

    ReplyDelete