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A Conversation With a Six-Year-Old Boy About 'Frozen,' Princess Movies, and Female Heroes

By Dustin Rowles | Film | December 26, 2013 |

By Dustin Rowles | Film | December 26, 2013 |


Me: What did you think of Frozen?

Kid: It was awesome. It was so awesome. It was my favorite movie ever.

Me: Really? I think it was one of my favorite kids’ movies, too.

Kid: I really loved Olaf [the snowman, voiced by Josh Gad], but I thought it was going to be a peaceful movie, but Daddy, it wasn’t a peaceful movie.

Me: No, no it wasn’t. Why did you think it would be a peaceful movie?

Kid: Because I just thought it would be about the snowman and the reindeer, and they’d just be walking around la de la de la.

Me: Because that’s what you saw in the trailers?

Kid: Yeah, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was really exciting. And it was funny. Lots of parts were funny. Definitely, right?

Me: Yes, it was really funny. But did you know it would be a princess movie?

Kid: No, I thought it was just going to be a peaceful snowman movie.

Me: Would you have liked that better?

Kid: No, I would still like a peaceful movie of a snowman and a reindeer, but I like this more. I would like a peaceful movie and a war movie. But, mostly I like war movies where they fight for peace and a happy ending. Everyone loves happy endings, except for people that vote for bad guys. But not many people vote for bad guys, right? Because ‘bad guys’ even have ‘bad’ in their name.

Me: Right. Exactly. What would you say that this movie is about?

Kid: Well, it’s about a snowman, and the freezing cold, and frozen stuff, and people who are trying to get warm, and safe from the Queen (Idina Menzel), and about the Queen just trying to help instead of getting ice everywhere, and she wanted to get away from everyone because of her powers. She hurt some people with her powers, and she didn’t want to.

Me: Right. Who did she hurt?

Kid: The Princess (Kristen Bell), who was her sister.

Me: Was her sister mad?

Kid: No, but the Queen went to the castle that she made out of ice at the top of the mountain with her powers, because she wanted other people to stay away from her power.

Me: Did her sister, the princess, listen?

Kid: No. She tried to go to the castle to tell the Queen not to make the city icy anymore.

Me: Did the Queen listen?

Kid: No, because all she wanted to do was keep people away from her powers. Hey Daddy, ask the question, ‘Did Olaf (the snowman) melt?’ That’s an important question.

Me: OK. Did Olaf melt?

Kid: No. Another good question is, ‘What did Olaf like?”

Me: What did Olaf like?

Kid: Warm hugs. And he also liked summer, and that was really funny.

Me: What did you think of all the songs?

Kid: That was great, too. They were pretty songs. [They really were. Idina Menzel has an amazingly soaring voice that filled up the entire screen.]

Me: Do you normally like princess movies?

Kid: No. Not normally, because there’s no war in them, and I like movies that have war in them, and not walking around and stuff.

Me: Do you think girls would like Frozen?

Kid: They might like it, but they might not. But they would definitely like Olaf.

Me: Why do you think they might not like it?

Kid: Because there was lots of war.

Me: Why wouldn’t girls like war? Do you think that girls like Star Wars?

Kid: I don’t know. Some of them, but girls can be like boys, and boys can be like girls. Some boys might not like Frozen because some boys don’t like war.

Me: That’s true. So, girls and boys would like Frozen equally?

Kid: Yes.

Me: Who do you think the hero was in Frozen?

Kid: I think the hero was all of them, except the bad guys. But, well, the princesses were the actual heroes, but they were all good people, except the bad guys.

Me: Do you think it was unusual that the princesses were the heroes?

Kid: Well, it was a little unusual, but not very much.

Me: Why do you think it was unusual?

Kid: Because most of the time, boys are heroes. Like Superman, and Spiderman, and Captain America, and Hulk. Those are all boy heroes, but not Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a girl hero, but most heroes are boys instead of girls.

Me: Do you think it was cool that the girls were the heroes instead of the girls?

Kid: It was cool.

Me: What would you think if the only movies you ever saw had only boy heroes?

Kid: I would think that was bad, because girls are heroes, too. Boys and girls should both be heroes. They’re both nice, and they’re the same things, except that they’re called different things. They’re all humans, and they all live together.

Me: Do you think that it’s important that, when your sisters are older, that they can see girl heroes in movies?

Kid: Yeah. And boy heroes, because both are really good.

Me: If boys saved the girls all the time, what do you think the girls would think?

Kid: They’d be a little mad, and a little sad. Or mad-sad.

Me: Why do you think that?

Kid: Because it’s important for girls to feel good, and it’s important for boys to feel good, too.

Me: I think that’s very true. Do you think that, if girls only saw boys as heroes in movies, that they would think that they couldn’t be heroes, too?

Kid: Yes, and that’s wrong, because girls can be heroes, too.

Me: Did you like Frozen better than Monsters, Inc.?

Kid: Yeah, it was pretty much my favorite movie.

Me: Do you think your sisters would like Frozen when they are older?

Kid: Yes.

Me: Why?

Kid: Because the girls are the heroes, and I think they would like the snowman.

Me: I agree that they would like that, and that they would like the snowman. Did you know that in most movies that were made before you were born that boys almost always saved the princesses?

Kid: No, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know anything about that.

Me: Do you think that it makes Frozen an important movie because it is different?

Kid: Yeah, it does. Because everyone should be together, and all be heroes.

Me: Would you recommend Frozen to other people?

Kid: Well, I wouldn’t tell them they have to see it, but I would tell them that it’s a really good movie and they can see it if they want.

Me: Thank you for answering all of my questions.

Kid: Thank you for asking me all the questions.