Hola Frida (Kadi and Vézina, 2024)
Hola Frida is a film so winsome in its conception that it is almost impossible to criticize it for perceived flaws in its execution.
The Frida of the title is Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, portrayed here through vibrant two-dimensional animation. Kahlo has been an icon, first of feminism and later of GLBTQ+ people. This film focuses on her disability, which is a lot of banners for a little girl to carry.
Representation is important these days, and it is hard to overstate the potential value of having young people with physical impairments see themselves represented on screen as mentally and emotional strong, courageous, and worthy of respect. Yet I worry when such topics get packaged in positivity vehicles at age-appropriate levels. A fellow toddler tells the weeping girl who is dealing with the physical after-effects of polio: “There will always be someone out there who doesn’t like or appreciate your drawings or the way that you sing or dance.” That is certainly an age-appropriate way to remind child viewers not to tease or mock others who are different, but doesn’t equating being teased for a funny laugh with having a debilitating illness tend to dismiss the singular nature of some suffering?
That observation is complicated by the fact that I think a not insubstantial portion of what makes Kahlo great as an artist is that she doesn’t prettify suffering. Her paintings can resonate with us in some of our deepest pains, like deep crying out to deep, not because she is a model for how to transcend the suffering but because she is model of honesty in naming it and refusing to soft-pedal it to an audience that might be more comfortable (and praise us more) were we to assure them that we are okay. Many of her paintings are beautiful because of their…ugliness. The flip side of that argument, however, is that such responses — and the art that engenders them — may not be age-appropriate for the audience Hola Frida is looking for.
Does that mean Frida Kahlo is simply not a suitable subject for a children’s movie? Not necessarily. It may explain, though, why I kept thinking about kids’ bibles or films like King of Kings, that try to introduce people or events to kids that contain elements those kids may not yet be able to fully grasp or understand. And make no mistake, Hola Frida is for kids. I am not saying it should be for adults, but adults may find it harder to look past or dismiss the necessarily simplified presentation of its subject matter.
Why then give the film an upvote? Maybe if there were more films with greater diversity made for kids, I would knock the film more heavily for what it isn’t. In the current political and social landscape where any insistence that are should strive for inclusivity or cultural sensitivity can be sneered at as “woke,” I think we do need some Fridas next to our Barbies and Doras and Sponge Bobs. So I vote yes for the sanitized and curated Frida experience. Just be ready, if your kid likes the film, to give some honest answers about polio, childhood mortality, and suffering.
