Pic Source: cheezburger
I can safely assume that most people in America have seen the Disney movie Frozen by now, and are very familiar with the characters. We can all agree that the character of Hans is one of the lowest lifeforms they ever animated. What made him unique as a Disney villain was the depth of his deception, and how hard it hit us when we realized just how evil he is. In addition, he has inadvertently become the face of a stock character for the role that he played!
I came to this realization the other night when my sister and I were watching the film Austenland (don’t worry, no spoilers!), and she said this about one of the protagonist’s romantic prospects: “I hope he’s not a Hans!” Now we've seen guys like Hans in films for decades now who drag the female love interest along, only to break her heart or betray her in some way, and vice versa with femme fatales and their male victims; but Hans hit the internet almost as hard as his betrayal of Anna in the film. Everywhere you looked on Disney affiliated fan sites were memes about how Hans is a jerk. When watching a film (romantic, animated or otherwise), Hans can be used as a reference to who the types of characters we suspect are only putting up an honorable front.
For those of you who aren’t too sure what a stock character is, they are characters that are imbued with specific character traits and roles. They first originated in Renaissance Italy with a form of theater called commedia dell'arte (which is a blast to do if you get the chance!). These characters were always portrayed as the same types but in different and very wacky and irreverent situations. For example, there was Patalone, who was the dirty old man who likes to chase after younger ladies, such as Groucho Marx. Another was Dottore, who was generally a slow moving character who spouted useless and often confusing information to make himself sound smart, like Cliff Claven of Cheers. There was also the innocent, perky ingénue, known by names like Isabella or Clarice, who was hopelessly in love with her boyfriend and generally not too bright, like Juliet. There are many others, but you would have to look into these plays and characters yourself to see how much they influenced writers in their character development.
In today’s television and films, we see modern stock characters arise and show up in what we watch: the socially awkward nerd who can’t make it with the ladies, the hooker with the heart of gold, the badass biker boy who’s really a softy, the mean cheerleader, or the sleazy businessman who can charm everyone around him but is totally obvious to the audience, to name a few. Stock characters are everywhere, and we can usually find them in just about everything we watch and read about. Characters like Hans are few and far between, which is why he is spearheading the new type of stock character that bears his name.
Hans is the typical love interest: he is a prince, handsome, easy conversationalist, and easy on the eyes. When we first meet him, he assumes the role of the stock character of the Disney prince. He and Anna fall madly in love upon first meeting each other and want to marry right away. We've seen this happen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid for starters: true love happens right away for these way too lucky Disney princesses. Anna seems like no exception. And for all our judgments, he seems like quite a catch! When Elsa’s powers are exposed and she runs, Hans doesn't immediately take her as the threat the rest of the kingdom does. When Anna leaves him in charge to follow after Elsa, he assumes the role of caring steward by making sure all of the citizens of Arendale are warm and protected from the harsh weather. Seriously, how could we see this coming?
The introduction of Kristoff to create a love triangle (for my views on this overdone plotline, please see this blog) for Anna does appear as a dilemma at first. Kristoff doesn’t come off as the very warm type, and doesn't treat Anna so well at first. We’re made to root for Hans and Anna despite the fact that Kristoff is pointing out the obvious fact that Elsa also pointed out earlier: true love doesn't happen in one day! As the film progresses, we do soften toward Kristoff, and Hans begins to look more extreme as he takes more drastic actions to ensure Anna’s safety. Hans comes off as more of a leader who is willing to make the difficult decisions rather than a jerk. He even orders his men to keep from harming Elsa as they try to detain her.
When Hans’ men bring her back to the castle and lock her in the dungeon, all he does to confront her is ask her to stop the winter. He doesn't make any threats or try to manipulate her; it almost seems clear that he’s holding her in chains not because he thinks she’s a criminal, but because he’s trying to keep her from harming anyone else. When Elsa tries to explain that she doesn't know how to stop the winter, he appears to believe her! Even when the dying Anna is brought back, he reacts with all the relief we would expect to see from any boyfriend.
Now here’s where we catch a very slight glimpse of his intentions: the Spanish diplomat tells Hans that he would lead the kingdom if Anna isn't found. He appears to be considering that options, but not so much that we would suspect anything. It’s when he refuses to kiss Anna for the saving act of true love that we find out his true intentions. Though the audience would halfway expect it from the earlier mention from the Spanish diplomat, Hans proceeds to monologue about being the youngest of 13 sons and never having a shot at ruling in his lifetime, and had come to seduce Elsa so he could be king!
Hans’ reveal is so drastic, it’s nearly impossible to see it coming. Any Bond villain would be proud to see the lengths of deception he pulled off. However, unlike any Bond villain (let’s face it, those dudes are pretty memorable), he came off as the good boy until that moment. Again, characters like Hans have appeared in films before, like Benny in the 1990 version of Total Recall, or the Butler character in just about any murder mystery. This is a plot twist that does happen. In fact, betrayals like this are quite popular in today’s less creative entertainment environment in order to keep the viewers engrossed. How about the Red Wedding from Games of Thrones? This plot twist is everywhere.
Hans is different because of the way he is written epitomizes the term “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Not only was that wolf dressed up like a sheep, he may as well have been bleating and acting as stupid as one of them. Thanks to the keen writers of Frozen, we can recognize any turncoat character who fools the audience this thoroughly as “The Hans.” Maybe the older viewers of this film felt it more personally because it came from a Disney movie, and this is a more adult issue to tackle when the target audience is supposed to be children.
As they say in the movie, Hans is “a bit of a fixer upper” now, but he’ll probably never be able to escape this label that he now has. Hans is now the poster child for the charming, traitorous stock character. Do you think we’ll see more villains like him now? Probably. The question is whether or not that character will be able to keep up fooled as well as Hans did!
