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  }

Spiritual Makeup on our Bare Necessity {with special guests Idina Menzel, High School Musical, and Shel Silverstein}

We walk around life with brown paper bags over our faces.

Trying not to let them in or let them see, trying to be the perfect girl society says we have to be. We conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Icy chunks of ice, frozen solid, while deep inside, we're melting.

Sometimes we slather on eyeliner and mascara simply because we're insecure. Because sometimes we shrink from the tired-eyed ghost reflecting in front of us and we grab brushes and paint to try to change the fact that we're humans with natural flaws in all our bleary eyes and pock-marked skin. So we smear on concealer, trying to disguise our weaknesses behind a false veneer.

Oh God, why do we do this?

That's how we walk through life, isn't it? We stroll through with masks and facades, hiding behind our plastic surgeries, trying to appear picture perfect.

When makeup is simply a pitiful endeavor to hide our weakness from others, from God.

Imagine, a classroom, a soccer field, a church full of the desperate yet full of pretense. Full of people pretending that life is good, pretending that the sun still shines, while everything around them lies frozen and bleak and so piercingly cold.

Lord, we have so many empty shoulders around us, so many shoulders to lean on and cry against. Yet why does pride imprison us within ourselves? Why do we walk this journey alone?

Because we're proud. Because we care about self-image. An image of big eyes, full lips, right body proportion. Independence. The ability to do everything on our own. Isn't that how America was established? The belief that yes, we can work to better ourselves, and through our own effort, we can build our own future. By ourselves. Yes, this is me. So self-deceivingly prideful. Nose high in the air, tripping over my five inch stilettos. 

But deep inside, those eyes are quivering with unshed tears, as we bite those full lips, trying to contain the hurt inside, body aching with stress and worry. Because the truth is, we can't. We can't do everything by ourselves.

But yet we still stand apart. Apart from each other. Apart from God. 

This is ridiculous. 

People suffering under one giant tent, but yet each one encages themselves, holding onto invisible bars, shutting out everything and everyone. And not only that but we have a Savior in that tent with us. A Savior who defied death and sin to redeem His children from the judgment of eternal darkness, and who promises to never leave us nor forsake us. His love is unconditional. And still we hide away in our own little dusty corners rather than throw away our pride.

So here I am today, admitting that I am broken. I am weak. I am proud. And I won't lie to you. These past three weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster for me. I've had some of the best days of my life, and God has blessed me with so much. Yet, these past weeks have really worn me out at times, and I've discovered how weak I am. People and things have broken me, and sometimes I feel so incapable and worn and indecisive. Also, it's that time of year again where we have to plan next year's school schedule, and sometimes things are just frightening. Like the choices I make now will deeply affect next year and the year after that and college and life, and I just have no idea. 

But yet here I am today, ripping away the frozen mask, letting it go to the icy wind, arms out wide, face bared to the world. Shredding that brown paper bag of mine and burning all my mascara, all my pride.

It takes one person to open up.
It takes one person to make others feel secure.
It takes one person to let others know that suffering is universal and these masks, this makeup, these paper bags are useless.

Alone we cannot overcome life's difficulties. But together, with our heavenly Savior and our spiritual brothers and sisters, yes, yes, we can. 

We're all in this together.