Thereâs a post I saw a while back with a snippet from a book or interview that described how Elsaâs making the ice boat wasnât magic born from panic and how it was crafted with love to make sure both Anna and Olaf were safe and, while I appreciate the sentiment, it also disconcerts me a little because it makes the ice boat more premeditated, more thought-out, and⌠I donât think Elsa made the right choice.
I know. I know. Elsa knew Anna and Olaf couldnât face the Dark Sea. Itâs in character for Elsa to protect those she loved. Itâs in character for her to make drastic decisions based on how she grew up. Itâs in character for her to value their physical safety over their emotions because thatâs what she was trained to do by her life experiences and it does kinda parallel the creation of Marshmallow in terms of intent - keep people safe at all costs.
But hereâs the thing. It values peopleâs physical well-being over their emotional well-being - and I can understand that in the first film. Elsa has the weight of the world on her shoulders, sheâs panicked and terrified, people want to kill her, she believes sheâs a danger to Anna and Arendelle.
By making the ice boat more premeditated, I feel it makes Elsaâs actions worse. She can see the emotional damage it does to Anna. She can see Anna fraying at the seams trying to keep this family together. She hears clearly Annaâs fears and pain⌠but in spite of that, she still pushes Anna away.
Even though it puts Anna through such emotional pain.
Iâd almost appreciate the moment more if it were supposed to be less premeditated - a panicked regression to behavior we saw in the first movie.
But trying to justify it by saying it wasnât panic⌠to suggest by that justification that Elsa was in the right even if it hurt Anna and Olaf emotionallyâŚ
It honestly does make me like Elsa less and I wish that it either wasnât in the movie (because Iâd like to think of Elsa as a better sister than that - Iâd prefer that headcanon to canon if canon isnât going to interrogate Elsaâs actions) or that we saw Elsa comprehend Annaâs emotional pain and clearly apologize at the reunion scene. Having Elsa push them away in the ice boat is actually a compelling scene that opens up interesting questions and shows the imperfections and good intentions of a character we love, but as Iâve said before, the emotional thread of the scene is dropped after it happens.
Iâve seen people say, âWell, obviously Elsa apologized at a point we donât see,â but why canât we see it? It would be a powerful moment of emotional growth for Elsa. Wouldnât that be a good thing for a younger audience to see clearly, a good thing to be made clear?
I thought this movie was about âgrowth,â after all.
