This is How Queen Elsa is Like Shakespeare

Seriously, what does shape have to do with anything, how does the literal shape of a poem structure effect anything? Songs. Songs are basically poems sung to music. When you think of songs, you can usually imagine some sort of structure, kind of like how a sonnet is usually a square. When I think of songs, I usually see a pretty recognizable hourglass like shape.  Each >< part of the hourglass means a chorus that usually pertains to the title of the song. Each <> part shows of the lines that do not rhyme, those that you do not memorize as fast, but usually hold the most meaning and sense behind each song, unlike the catchy chorus.

As overdone as it is now, "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen is ingrained into the heart and minds of millions around the globe. In Frozen, Elsa, the Snow Queen, is tormented by herself and her own, hidden power. Her flaws and struggles from having to hide herself from her beloved sister (post parent death) has not contributed positively to her being. In the song, in the <> part, Elsa sings about not being the perfect girl her parents expected her to be, not concealing herself, and building up to letting it go. Weird as it might seem, this is how Frozen can, in a way, be connected to the poets and epic ballads of old. The catchy, drawing lines in the obvious parts always draw you in, but whether it is "Sonnet 18", or "For The First Time In Forever", it is the thought-bending, contributing lines of the song or poem that holds the most meaning, and that is how the literal layout and shape of the piece contributes.

Because in Sonnet 18, it may seem to be Shakespeare flirting with some lover or other being, at first glance. But once again, when you get into the good dark meat of the sonnet, can look at it as an even distribution, it adds more depth and more feeling. By comparing this person to both the hot and the cloudy, the perfect and imperfect, it shows how his words are not just seeming to be the general cliche that poets of his age tended to use. But since Shakespeare never refers to the being as a woman or man, and how he states that as long as people can see, this poem will speak the truth about a specific person. This makes it relate able to everyone, just like how Let It Go's message of casting out the expected and being yourself can also be true to a specific person. So Mr. Lindsey, next time you see a song, and think, "Oh, this overplayed annoying piece of trash is on again", think about the message this artist may be trying to pursue to an audience through a song, or poem, or story, or ballad. Even though Poker Face seems to be about some really intense poker game, its really about Gaga's lesbian activities. And even though Frozen seems to be another Disney movie empowering young women and making misogynistic men weep their hopes and dreams of putting down women, its a movie about how someone can be their self. 

P.S.- Also, if you want the key to someone's heart, write a poem saying how they are at best average, but of course, average is perfect.

Down The Rabbit Hole and Out Of Oz

    All characters are connected in the great circle of life. The Lion King and Hamlet, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard Of Oz. Alice and Dorothy both came out of the same era, emerging from the same viewpoint, and were based off of girls that Carroll and Baum both knew, so that archetype of female characters exploroing the world they live in that seems to be "out of this world" was copied, processed , and published in a multitude of movies and books that continue into today.

  So the question is, can these characters, that all seem new and inviting and glowing with hope, be considered original? Yes, because all of these common characters were seemingly established as archetypes. There will always be the misunderstood teenager, strict mother, and annoying little brother. The creativity in a story comes from the way a story is written, not in the way that the characters were formed. James Cameron's Avatar is a Pocahontas carbon copy, but that's okay because of its insanely hypercritical movements, creatures, and even the world, because the movie literally is meant for you to marvel at the beautiful art and effort put into creating an entire world out of mutated horses and cat people, built into a computer on another planet. Pocahontas is just another whitewashed Disney film, but nevertheless, the "colors of the wind" are painted into the heads of kids everywhere, who now view American history in a colored palette of racist native history.

  So what does that mean for us intellectuals that can see where the story is going in the first five minutes of the book or movie? Keep reading. It might change. Just because the powerful feminist Mockingjay seems to radiate an era of confidence and positivism, she will not win everything. The love triangle is deeper than it seems. Keep reading, and do not fall into the "rabbit hole" of assuming you know better.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Unless it is Made by the Good Guys.

When you think of the Wicked Witch of the West, you normally think of "Ill get you my pretty, and your little dog too!", not necessarily a misunderstood teenager. In the book (and now Broadway hit), Wicked, the classic quest story gets thrown around and ultimately smashed to pieces...sort of. You have the archetypes regarding the pieces of a quest, the knight (Elphaba), the dangerous road (terrible, messed up life), in a sense, a goal of being normal, the princess (well in this case the prince, Fiyero) and the evil knight and the dragon are the Wizard and Madame Morrible. It looks like everything is according to plan. Wicked is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, whose protagonist is Elphaba Thropp, destined to be the Wicked Witch of the West. In her mind, her "holy grail" is just to be a normal girl. Her quest does not seem to be following any of the baselines. So that is the question; is Wicked a quest or not?

A quest is some sort of journey leading to a conclusion, with some classic character plot lines that seem to be repeated constantly: the evil cheerleader, the handsome football captain, the snarky best friend, and the normal white protagonist. That is why Wicked seems to "Defy Gravity"; it throws the traditional sense of a quest into the wind. The lead is a girl of a different color, her best friend is the popular girl who is the best a person can be, and the popular jock chooses the lead over the pretty, preppy, popular girl. In the story, she has always envied the Wizard and all things that come with him. She eventually figures out that he is in fact the evil knight, and rebels against him, ostracizing herself to a life of pain and sadness as a wicked witch. She tries to save her sister, her sister gets killed. She trys to save Fiyero and friend, Boq, and ends up turning them into the Scarecrow and the Tinman to save their lives.  In turn, all of her good deeds end up hurting her, making herself think she is wicked through and through. If she was considered a good person, which was her dream, she would not have gotten punished for her deeds, so her quest might have seemed to failed. Classically, quests usually turn out to a happy ending; the girl gets the football jock, vice versa. In the book of Wicked, she gets killed accidentally by Dorothy Gale, who trys to save her by throwing water on her flaming cape. In the show, she gets pseudo-killed, by citizens thinking that the whole water allergy thing is true. She in turn runs off with Fiyero and leaves Oz for good. In either situation,the plot is a quest. 

But how is that? According to How to Read Literature Like a Professor (by Thomas C. Foster) a quest is defined as stated above. Wicked conforms to those archetypes, just in a different manner. She has her quest, but it does not end up with the "holy grail" she originally intended. She runs off with Fiyero in order to save her friend, the Good Witch, Glinda. So in her quest, her motives shift from establishing her self worth to saving her friendship and her various relationships.  So is she wicked, or just a very faithful family member and friend? According to a quest storyline, she is a hero, and a wicked one at that.