Heads-up: There's gonna be some minor spoilers for Frozen 2 in this blog as this is about a song from that movie.
Anna is my favorite character from Frozen. I have established that time and again. Yes, I love how funny and adorkable she can be but there is more to her that can be explored. Anna is a character that has faced many hardships throughout her life. And the song, The Next Right Thing is a prime example of that.
Now for context, Elsa has traveled further than she ever has before and is frozen in ice akin to what happened to Anna in the first movie and Olaf has died. Anna has given up hope and thinks that there is no point in carrying on. Caitlyn Stevens at The Mighty wrote about this song back in November and how it is an anthem for dealing with depression and she's right.
In this moment, Anna is feeling such strong grief, sadness and guilt I personally felt she was descending into depression.
Consider the character of Anna for a moment, she is one of the most optimistic princesses that we've seen that always tries to find the positive in everything or as Les once said.
What I also love about Anna is her unlimited enthusiasm and energy she puts into everything.
This is normally true of Anna but one of the biggest factors that kept Anna going was her love for Elsa but now, she's gone.
I can't find my direction; I'm all alone
The only star that guided me was you
The idea of the star i.e. Elsa being the thing that guided Anna speaks to how Elsa was the support that Anna finally had now that their relationship was stable. This is something I've written about before Elsa and Anna as little kids had a strong relationship until things changed after Elsa accidentally hurt Anna and she slammed the door on that relationship. Contrast what Anna is singing at the start of the reprise of For The First Time in Forever to the opening of this song.
You don't have to protect me,
I'm not afraid!
Please don't shut me out again,
Please don't slam the door.
You don't have to keep your distance anymore.
Anna is reaching out to be support for her older sister and in a way to have support from Elsa. Whereas with the opening of this number...
I've seen dark before, but not like this
This is cold, this is empty, this is numb
The life I knew is over; the lights are out
Hello darkness: I'm ready to succumb
The happy-go-lucky attitude of Anna and the idea of her being support is gone and has been replaced by her having no support to help get out this depression that she's in. But she realizes that she has to find her resolve and carry on.
I won't look too far aheadIt's too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath, this next step
This next choice is one that I can make
What Anna is doing here is so important, she is supporting herself and as Caitlyn Stevens writes...
Anna encourages herself and the viewer to listen to the sometimes very quiet inner voice that tells you to go on. Find the tiny first step you can make and celebrate that victory.
I agree with what's written here and this speaks to how carrying on can be hard. You have to look inwards sometimes to find the will to live can be hard. If you read any of my Dear Evan Hansen blogs last year, you know that I talked about how I had wanted to end it all before and that's why I resonated with the character of Evan so much.
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In many ways, both Evan and Anna highlight two sides of who I am. Evan, like me in high school views himself as a loser and that people didn't really care about me. Whereas Anna is someone that tries to find the good in everyone and everything but she lost that will. I've been there before and felt the darkness that Anna sings about at the beginning of the song. This song is in my opinion just as powerful as Let It Go and speaks to how when people want to give up, it's important to find something that keeps you going. And I believe this song will serve as an important reminder for people that struggle. Sure, it's just a song but sometimes the smallest things can help people in the biggest way.
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