Sunday, January 19, 2014

"Frozen" - Disney's Portrayal of Wolves

     Disney recently made a new animated musical movie called "Frozen."

     This movie is wildly popular among all ages (#1 in the country, in fact); probably more than 75% of my friends and classmates have seen it and they all are crazy about it. They've all been trying to convince me to go see it. In passing, one of my friends mentioned that there are wolves in the movie. I looked it up on the internet and this is what I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF7AfwMzrpc
     The vicious wolves, of course, are trying to eat the heroes. My friends say it's no big deal, that people don't even remember the wolf scene; but I think it's solidly reinforcing the Little Red Riding Hood mentality that young (and old) people have of wolves. What do you think is the impression of wolves that people are left with after seeing this? If you didn't know, what would you think about wolves? 

     Wolves do not attack and eat people. The fear of wolves is drilled into our heads starting with fairy tales in our infancy. We don't think to question them, and the idea that wolves are killers is reinforced throughout our lives, from phrases like "thrown to the wolves" to short scenes in movies like Frozen to whole movies like The Grey. Only people who take the time to actually research wolves will know that they are any different than what the media shows them to be. Society will only want to protect something they love, and they won't love something they fear - and they fear wolves. How can anyone be blamed for not knowing that wolves don't kill people? That's all they've been told, and we see wolves demonized at every turn. Why are wolves always the villain? I suppose it's just part of our culture - a part we need to work to change.
Displaying photo.JPG
Photo of Jesse at Wolf Haven International.

3 comments:

  1. YES, thank you! I was thinking the exact same when I watched this movie. I loved it except for that scene.

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  2. I'm so glad that other people feel this way.

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  3. I kinda think in Frozen 3, Elsa should turn into a wolf to represent the "good wolf" statement. Since she is one of those princesses who destroyed those "Damsel in distress" stereotypes. And besides, ice powers? Because Disney really needs to "Let it Go" with the evil wolf stuff.

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