The Oscars aired last weekend, and as usual it was a riot of opulence, flashy dresses and questionable award winners.
This was actually the first time I had ever watched the Oscars (*Gasp!* I know!), and for the most part I really enjoyed it. The fashion was insane, people I like won awards, there were some pretty funny jokes (we’re not going to talk about the Cats thing, I still haven’t recovered from that). Overall it was a pretty fun evening.
BUT.
While I agreed with most of the decisions, there is one choice made by the Academy that I simply cannot allow: “Into the Unknown” should not have been nominated for Best Original Song!
Any of you who are avid readers of Her Campus will know that I LOVED Frozen 2, and I found “Into the Unknown” to be really powerful. But anyone who’s seen the film knows that the real Best Original Song in that film is “Show Yourself!” If any song deserved to be nominated (and win!) it would be that one.
Let’s discuss, shall we?
“Into the Unknown” discusses a growing discontent with daily life and a restlessness, a desire to find one’s own place in the world, even if it means risking everything. This is an awesome idea, and it fits into Elsa’s arc beautifully. She has broken free of the fears that plagued her in the first film, but she has yet to really investigate what she wants and where she belongs. Plus, it’s a catchy song, but it doesn’t make me cry.
“Show Yourself,” however, makes me ugly cry every time I hear it. Elsa accepts who she is and her role in the story, realizing her powers are a gift and not something to be feared. She gets a blessing from her mother that this is what she is meant to do, finally giving her permission to fully embrace her powers. It’s just the perfect conclusion to her arc. Compare, if you will, “conceal don’t feel” with “show yourself, step into your power” (damn, I’m crying in class writing this).
Even taken out of context, this is such a solid song. “Let It Go” is about letting go of the things that hold you back and embracing who you are, “Into the Unknown” is about being brave and risking it all to find your place in the world, and “Show Yourself” is the powerful anthem of a person who has discovered who they are and where they belong, and is shouting it for the world to hear. If you want a song that’s moving and powerful and kind of punches you in the chest with how fucking good it is, “Show Yourself” is what you’re looking for.
So, there you go. The Academy screwed up when they nominated “Into the Unknown” instead of “Show Yourself” for Best Original Song, and I will never forgive them.