Family: a fix for our frozen hearts
Monday, March 3, 2014
Angelique Ruhi-Lopez
My kids are slightly obsessed with listening to the soundtrack to Disney’s newest movie, “Frozen.” If it were up to them, they would listen to it incessantly in the car but frankly, I kind of just want them to “let it go” (yeah, I went there.)
Listening to the actual lyrics is tough to do in a noisy car (and with the kids belting out all the wrong lyrics), but in a rare moment of quiet, I listened closely to one particular song and was impressed by how accurately it conveys family relationships.
The song is called “Fixer-Upper,” and is sung by some trolls who desire to set up Anna (one of the two lead female protagonists) and Kristoff, an ice harvester who comes to her aid. Interestingly enough, although this song is mostly about a prospective couple, this Disney movie is unique in that the bulk of it focuses on the love between siblings.
The song’s conclusion is especially insightful:
“So he's a bit of a fixer-upper, but this we're certain of
You can fix this fixer-upper with a little bit of love (…)
We aren't saying you can change him
'Cause people don't really change
We're only saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange
People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed
But throw a little love their way, and you'll bring out their best
True love brings out the best
Everyone's a bit of a fixer-upper
That's what it's all about
Father, sister, brother
We need each other
To raise us up and round us out
Everyone's a bit of a fixer-upper
But when push comes to shove
The only fixer-upper fixer
That can fix a fixer-upper is
True Love”
My kids are currently experiencing a stage of frequent bickering (let’s hope it’s just a stage), and this song helps me to remind them of the sacrifices we need to make for each other as a family. Each of us can make bad choices, but we are called to forgive continuously and love unconditionally.
Yes, children need their parents to raise them up and round them out, as the song says, but I need them to raise me up in virtue and smooth out my rough edges too. And though it’s in part true that “people don’t really change” — as we are born with innate personalities — a family that lovingly challenges us can help sanctify and shape us into the people God desires us to be. After all, that’s the job of each member of the domestic church: to help all the other members get to heaven.
This may be a harder task for some family members than for others. As in “Frozen,” our sometimes frozen hearts need an act of true love to help them thaw. Ezekiel 36:26 says: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Fortunately for us, the greatest act of true love that ever was, the love of Christ nailed to the cross, is the only fix we fixer-uppers need.
Comments from readers
Inaki: Thank you for commenting. I agree that Disney does not always emphasize our Christian values, and I think that parents need to be judicious in what we allow our children to see. We also need to engage them in conversations about some of the choices characters make and how we are called to higher standards. Discussing 1 Corinthians 13 with children is a great idea - it's never too early! God bless you.
Although I am not a great fan of Disney movies because many times they emphasize the wrong values, it is good that you saw the 'value' in this song.
Although it is hard to 'evangelize' to children, perhaps it would be a good idea for you to dicuss with them the definition of "love" as decribed in 1 Corinthians 13.
God Bless