It was a battle from the beginning. It was almost bloodshed to stop my four-year-old niece from decking out in full Elsa regalia, the ice queen of Frozen, to attend the Frozen Sing-A-Along in a cinema.
Princess costumes are not sanctioned in my household, but she has one anyway. I don't believe in Disney princesses, but the strong-willed Elsa seemed alright compared to others. Still, the thought of wading through a busy mall with a curly-haired, Asian girl in an Elsa costume holding a gigantic Elsa doll seemed a tad much for me to take. So a Ramones sweatshirt for the cold weather it was.
The much-loved Frozen has captured every little girl's heart the world over with its ice queen — with a special icy cold power and good temperament — understanding sister, Anna, and hilarious talking snowman Olaf. This is a story of sisterly love, courage and being an outcast at its Disney best.
The global success also has a lot to do with catchy tunes, especially Let It Go, which has girls and women belting it out at the drop of a hat. So it makes sense to keep the phenomenon going a little bit more with Frozen Sing-A-Long where the main idea is to screen Frozen. But when the songs come on — from Do You Want To Build A Snowman to the anthem Let It Go — hard-core fans can sing them out loud with the karaoke text on screen.
That was exactly what I explained to my niece, who at this point had never been to the cinema. As an ardent performer at home, her eyes lit up at a chance of singing along with other Elsas and Annas in the audience. "Every kid will sing loudly, and you can join them too," I said.
The reality was somewhat different. Every little girl besides my niece in Theater 7, at Major Cineplex Fashion Island, came as some kind of princess or at least wore princess T-shirts. My own little girl who didn't exactly know how a cinema worked (or karaoke) burst out the first verse of Let It Go as soon as the first flash of a commercial came on the screen and that solicited a whispered snicker from someone nearby. As we waited and waited for the actual Frozen to come on, my niece, who — to my surprise and a bit of dismay — remembers quite a bit of the dialogue, was losing her patience.
What happened was unexpected. I had thought that all the kids and some adults in the room would burst out from the top of their lungs throughout the entire show — since that's the point of a "sing-a-long" version — but none of that happened. The only person that was singing like no one was listening was my niece, and towards the end she lost interest as no others were joining in on the fun, and opted to roll around the stairs by herself quietly.
It came as a surprise that no one was screaming and stomping their feet along with Elsa as I've been imagining that we're now living in a much more expressive society, especially with the younger generation where most are not afraid to "perform". Gone were the days that public speaking or impromptu performances were things of novelty, and it no longer takes a special breed to carry off such bravery and confidence. Modesty is on the way out, and karaoke places are full all over town. Also judging by the amount of internet stars and ongoing public reaction to everything, I thought Frozen Sing-A-Long would be a dark room full of little divas.
The lack of response from other kids was disappointing. Maybe the public sphere is still an intimidating place, or maybe most children were older than my niece, who somehow hardly has a sense of inhibition as she often breaks out in song and dance. Maybe self restraint is still a thing, but at this particular space and time, isn't one actually encouraged to "let it go"? Or maybe it was just Theater 7 that was a dud. Go figure.
Just when I thought our entire day was sort of a bust, a scene near the end when Anna sacrifices her life to save her sister Elsa came on, my niece, the girl in the Ramones sweatshirt, stopped fidgeting, and turned to say: "Aunty, that's true love."
Frozen Sing-A-Long
