Feature
3 February 2025
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don’t care what they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway
– Lyrics of the song “Let It Go”
The lyrics of the song “Let It Go” from Disney’s animated film Frozen (2013) are familiar to many in our culture today, even more than a decade after the film was released in cinemas. Shortly after its release, with its catchy melody and easy-to-remember lyrics, many children and young people were singing the song. Even till today, parents with young children dread those times when the little ones would ask to play the song over and over again.
At the same time, some have voiced concern about the ideas contained in its lyrics, including a line in the song which goes “no right, no wrong, no rules for me, I’m free”. A Christian writer called it a “regrettable message”.
Unsurprisingly, “Let It Go” topped music charts in many places. The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2014. On the other hand, the film Frozen grossed nearly US$1.3 billion at the box office. A sequel was released in 2019, and more are currently in development.
In many ways, the song reveals something deeper within today’s culture.
Expressive Individualism
The lyrics of “Let It Go” reflect what theologian and historian Carl R. Trueman referred to as “expressive individualism”. This is the idea that “each of us finds our meaning by giving expression to our own feelings and desires”. (Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, p. 46)
This philosophy sees the “self” in psychological terms. It emphasises that a person should live authentically by expressing one’s inward desires, regardless of anything imposed by other people, society, previous generations or any kind of authority.
Since sexual desire is one of the strongest human desires, sexual expression is seen as essential to authentic living, so that even the “self” is seen in sexual terms. In recent times, this has taken a political turn since, in the view of its proponents, “to be free is to be sexually liberated; to be happy is to be affirmed in that liberation”. (Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, p. 268)
Perhaps the most well-known manifestation of expressive individualism today is the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc.) movement, which sees a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) as an essential part of one’s identity.
Thus, disapproval or lack of endorsement of a person’s sexual expression is not merely seen as non-approval of one’s behaviour, but in fact demeans and denies self-fulfilment to the person.
This is amply demonstrated by the 2015 United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalised same-sex marriage throughout the country. There, a majority of the judges said that “[it] demeans gays and lesbians for the State to lock them out of a central institution of the Nation’s society” (i.e. marriage). Declaring a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, they said that same-sex couples “may aspire to the transcendent purposes of marriage and seek fulfillment in its highest meaning”.
Apart from its numerous incorrect views about marriage, this reasoning is a logical outflow of the idea that expressing one’s desires is essential to self-fulfilment.
A Higher Call
One of the sharpest refutations of this set of ideas in recent times came from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, who was also a neurologist and psychologist.
In his book, The Unheard Cry for Meaning, he wrote that “self-actualisation”, “identity” and “happiness” are things which, “[the] more we make it a target, the more widely we miss.” Instead, one should be directed to something or someone other than oneself, to “a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter, a cause to serve or a person to love”.
He added:
Only to the extent that someone is living out this self-transcendence of human existence, is he truly human or does he become his true self. He becomes so, not by concerning himself with his self’s actualization, but by forgetting himself and giving himself, overlooking himself and focusing outward.
Frankl’s insight is perhaps the closest secular equivalent of what Jesus taught, that “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt. 16:25)
In other words, “self-fulfilment”, “self-actualisation” or “living authentically” cannot be found in oneself. Instead, they can only be found as a consequence of seeking the highest possible good, which is Christ Himself.
Jesus Christ, being truly God and truly man, was Himself the most authentic and fulfilled person, having chosen a path of self-denial in order to purchase our salvation. As the Bible says, Jesus is “the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2)
In light of this, Christ calls each one of us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves, adding that “there is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
Christ’s Law of Love
Coming back to the film Frozen, the moment when the character Elsa sings the song “Let It Go” is a poignant reflection on the caution in Scripture that “where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Prov. 29:18)
Thus, as an article in The Gospel Coalition rightly noted, the overall message of the film actually dismantles that narrative of expressive individualism contained in the song, by revealing the emptiness of living for self and that love for others is more fulfilling.
Notwithstanding the tides of culture, the gospel still speaks powerfully to our time, that Christ’s law of love is not a hindrance to our authentic selves. Instead, we find true fulfilment by living out our salvation in according to His will.
* This article is written in the author’s personal capacity, and the views expressed herein are the author’s own.
Darius Lee holds a Masters of International Law and Human Rights from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the Executive Director of Cultivate SG, an organisation dedicated to “cultivating culture together for the common good”. He has also published a number of peer-reviewed articles in academic journals on various issues in international and domestic law.