I could hardly sit through 'Frozen.' There was an attempt to craft a moral message and to build the story around that, instead of building the story and letting the moral message emerge. It was the subjugation of art to propaganda, in my estimation.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes the prioritization of moral messaging over storytelling in art.
Jordan Peterson argues that in the film 'Frozen', the creators focused too heavily on imparting a moral lesson rather than constructing a compelling narrative. This detracts from the artistic value of storytelling, as he believes that a story should naturally convey its themes rather than have them imposed upon it, leading to the idea that art should not be compromised by overt propaganda.
In practice
In a debate about the importance of storytelling in children's films, this quote highlights the pitfalls of moralizing art.
Part of the reason there's an injunction to the truth, for example, is that if you're in a circumstance of extreme uncertainty, your best weapon, let's say, or your best tool or your best defense is the truth, because it keeps things simpler.
I don't tell people, 'You're okay the way that you are.' That's not the right story. The right story is, 'You're way less than you could be.'
Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits and biding their time, they are much diminished. Much of what they could have been has dissipated.
If you learn a martial art, you learn to be dangerous, but simultaneously, you learn to control it.
Life is tragic. You are tiny and flawed and ignorant and weak, and everything else is huge, complex, and overwhelming.
Music has an intrinsic meaning, which has always been mysterious to me.
No matter how many times you do it, you don't get used to the sadness - for me at least - of coming to the end of a film.
When something in art or music piques my interest, I tend to go check it out, and most things I check out, I'm not very good at. But a few things I've gone to check out have given me back as much love as I gave them, usually much more.
The way a small child might dream of visiting Disneyland, I dreamed of writing books. Never did I think my poems would become that.
Gene [Siskel] often mentioned something François Truffaut once told him: the most beautiful sight in a movie theater is to walk down to the front, turn around, and look at the light from the screen reflected on the upturned faces of the members of the audience.
A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event. I have fun with my clothes onstage; it's not a concert you're seeing, it's a fashion show.
My dear sister! I’m amazed to discover that you can compose so delightfully. In a word, your Lied is beautiful. You must compose more often.
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