美国国家公共电台 NPR For Many With Disabilities, 'Let It Go' Is An Anthem Of Acceptance

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Today for our American Anthem¹ series, a song that's been heard over and over and over again in many households where the kids dictate² the soundtrack.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

IDINA MENZEL: (Singing) Let it go, let it go, can't hold it back anymore.

MARTIN: "Let It Go" from the Disney animated³ film "Frozen" - Idina Menzel is singing this version. The song won an Oscar and a Grammy. But here's something you might not know. For many people with disabilities, "Let It Go" became a personal anthem. Here's NPR's Joseph Shapiro.

JOSEPH SHAPIRO, BYLINE⁴: First, some background - in "Frozen," "Let It Go" is sung by Queen Elsa just moments after her dark, dark secret has been discovered. For years, she's tried to hide that she possesses a magic power.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) Don't let them in. Don't let them see. Be the good girl you always have to be. Conceal⁵, don't feel. Don't let them know.

SHAPIRO: Elsa can create snow and ice. It flies from her fingertips.

KRISTEN ANDERSON-LOPEZ: She's this little girl. Nobody has ever been born like her.

ROBERT LOPEZ: This girl with a secret.

MENZEL: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez - they're married - wrote the songs for "Frozen." Elsa can't control her power. On the day of her coronation, by accident, she turns her entire kingdom to ice. She runs away to the isolation⁶ of a distant mountain. Lopez and Anderson-Lopez started writing the song thinking about how Elsa was ashamed and afraid.

ANDERSON-LOPEZ: I pitched the idea of "Let It Go" as the hook being about letting go of her past, letting go of the expectations but also, how it could let her power go. And then Bobby started playing this vamp that had all this pain in it, that (vocalizing) that was full of all that fear and shame and secret isolated⁷ pain.

SHAPIRO: Now alone, Queen Elsa accepts that she has these powers. She starts to let go of her shame.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) The snow blows white on the mountain tonight.

LOPEZ: For this to be a good musical, that's one of the best parts - when a character transforms.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I'm the queen.

SHAPIRO: The moment when Elsa transforms and accepts who she is, many people with disabilities could identify, like Michelle Black.

MICHELLE BLACK: She gave me words to describe this bipolar that I had that nobody had given me before.

SHAPIRO: Black's diagnosis⁸ of bipolar disorder⁹ was still pretty new and confusing to her and her family when the film came out.

BLACK: She used words like, the wind is howling like this swirling¹⁰ storm inside. And that's exactly - oh, I'm going to cry (laughter). That's exactly what it felt like to me - this swirling storm of emotions and thoughts and feelings going on inside of me that no one else understood. But Elsa seemed to get it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) Couldn't keep it in. Heaven knows I've tried.

SHAPIRO: Black is a choreographer¹¹ in Utah where she lives with her husband and three young children. She says sometimes, she liked her bursts of creativity and the energy. But when depression came, she'd spend hours in her room. And she could be mean to people. She had that in common with Elsa.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) Let it go, let it go, can't hold it back anymore.

SHAPIRO: The day Michelle Black watched "Frozen" in a theater, she was sitting next to her 7-year-old son.

BLACK: And I just - I started bawling¹² watching this - especially this song because someone finally understood me.

SHAPIRO: It wasn't just people with bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions. Autistics, people with physical disabilities identified, too. For years, long before "Frozen," people with disabilities often felt misunderstood, isolated and excluded. A big change came in 1990 when President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act into law.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH: Let the shameful¹³ wall of exclusion¹⁴ finally come tumbling down. God bless you all.

SHAPIRO: More people with disabilities began to reject the stigma¹⁵, even when people around them still saw their disability as a negative.

CARA LIEBOWITZ: When you tell someone you have a disability, they go, oh, I'm so sorry. No, there's nothing to be sorry about. This is who I am.

SHAPIRO: Cara Liebowitz is 26, born two years after the ADA became law. She uses a wheelchair. She has cerebral¹⁶ palsy. So Elsa feels like an ally.

LIEBOWITZ: Elsa says, I don't care what they're going to say. And I love that line.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) I don't care what they're going to say. Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway.

LIEBOWITZ: For once, she's confident in herself. And she's not letting other people's opinions drag her down.

SHAPIRO: The Census¹⁷ Bureau estimates that about 1 in 4 Americans has a disability. On college campuses, the number of students seeking mental health services keeps going up and up. One college health research group asked students, have you ever been diagnosed with depression? In 2000, 1 in 10 said yes - today, 1 in 4. It's Elsa's generation - a generation that's quicker, like Cara Liebowitz, to accept having a disability.

LIEBOWITZ: She's actively¹⁸ using her ice powers. And they're part of who she is, just like disability is part of who we are.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) It's time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free.

ANDERSON-LOPEZ: No rights, no wrongs, no rules for me, I'm free.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) Let it go.

SHAPIRO: When Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez wrote "Let It Go," they weren't thinking about disability. They were thinking more about the pressure to be perfect - perfect as a woman, perfect as a student expected to get the best grades.

ANDERSON-LOPEZ: I think it's the ultimate individual over society moment, especially those individuals who have - are working so darn hard every day...

LOPEZ: To conform.

ANDERSON-LOPEZ: ...To conform and fit in and meet expectations.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) My power flurries through the air into the ground.

SHAPIRO: Lots of people identify with "Let It Go." It's an anthem for a time when people take pride in who they are the way they are. Joseph Shapiro, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET IT GO")

MENZEL: (Singing) Let it go. Let it go.

1 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

2 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

3 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

11 choreographer   

n.编舞者

参考例句：

• She is a leading professional belly dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 她既是杰出的专业肚皮舞演员，也是舞蹈设计者和老师。 来自辞典例句
• It'stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe. 它站在一旁，我优雅的舞蹈指导，并祝福每个指尖与脚尖。 来自互联网

12 bawling   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• We heard the dulcet tones of the sergeant, bawling at us to get on parade. 我们听到中士用“悦耳”的声音向我们大喊，让我们跟上队伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Why are you bawling at me? “你向我们吼啥子？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

13 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

14 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

15 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

16 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

17 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

18 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。