Is Snow White Still the Fairest of Them All?
It's been a while since I shared my thoughts on a new Disney movie based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Since then, Disney cast their leading lady as Rachel Zegler, who starred as Maria in the 2021 remake of West Side Story, and there has been an influx of controversy revolving around this film that has gotten too big to ignore. Snow White's casting is the most innocuous of these controversies. I have already shared my thoughts about how any girl can be a princess. Sure, it's a bit odd for a Latina person to play a character whose defining trait is having skin as white as snow, but Rachel is a talented singer and actress who would fit well into the role of any Disney Princess.
A more recent casting controversy is the removal of the words "and the Seven Dwarfs" from the title of this ambitious live-action remake as well as Disney's response to complaints about the dwarf characters not being politically correct enough for today's standards. At first, Disney made claims that they "are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community." However, a report from TheWrap soon revealed that "Instead of dwarfs, Disney will fill the void with a group of what they describe as 'magical creatures,'" potentially putting seven actors from the dwarfism community out of a job. In the midst of all this controversy, a fire broke out on the film set a few days ago, which, if you are superstitious, may have been a higher power trying to tell Disney that this movie may not be such a good idea.
Aside from the casting, a "Snow White" remake that is based specifically on Disney's 1937 classic creates other potential problems. The film was a phenomenon as the first feature-length animated movie, but after 80 years, some people consider certain aspects of it outdated. For instance, there was a complaint last year about the kiss scene being included the updated version of the Snow White's Enchanted Wish ride at Disneyland because Snow White was unconscious at the time (even though that was the only way for her to wake up). While this is a common fairy tale trope, it does not match the modern representation of the Disney Princess brand in which princesses rarely have love interests anymore. As fantastic a job Rachel Zegler would do performing Snow White's two songs, "I'm Wishing," and "Someday My Prince" will come with her vocal chops, these would likely get targeted by social justice warriors if they are included since both songs are about her desire to marry.
I think Disney would be better off sticking to their pseudo live-action Snow White from ABC's Once Upon a Time, which came out during a time when romance was still considered acceptable in fairy tales. It managed to balance out the sweetness of Ginnifer Goodwin's version of the character with some badass warrior princess prowess. Trying to recreate this classic heroine in a way that would satisfy everyone today would be likely go up in flames (and part of it already has). Titling this movie after Walt's masterpiece is also an insult to the one that launched his almost century-long legacy of nostalgia and comfort characters. There are even some who believe that these changes have already transformed the movie into something else entirely and that if they change the title, Disney could promote it as an original story.
It might be that Snow White represents a time and mindset that no longer exists, and I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. She reminds us of a more optimistic era when people took the time to enjoy the world around them instead of frantically searching for something new to get angry about. In her own pure, innocent way, Snow White is still the fairest of them all. However, her particular style of fairness is considered old-fashioned and out of touch by today's standards. I think there's something kind of beautiful about that which cannot be captured in a film produced by modern Hollywood.
Comments
This why I like to review books and films in my blog that reimagine fairy tales in their own way and don't always consider Disney's interpretation to be the "correct" or only way to interpret them.
We also know from what Disney and the actors themselves have claimed about this Snow White remake that there will be no prince in this version. The "prince" will instead be a thief so basically Flynn Rider 2.0. The movie will center around a Snow White who is fighting to take back her kingdom from the queen. And Miss Zegler has very proudly stated that Snow White was a very antiquated character who has no place in this modern world and her portrayal will be tailored towards an "empowered" Snow White who does not need romance so if any of the other controversies about this movie hadn't already turned me off, this alone certainly did.
Thank you again for maintaining this blog and championing princess culture for all the girls, boys, and people who never saw anything wrong with wishing upon a star or dreaming for true love and that what is considered traditionally feminine is not necessarily weak or something to be disdained.
Thank you for reading my posts and sharing your insightful comments on these issues! It's nice to have other people to discuss them with. I also loved Ginnifer Goodwin's portrayal of Snow White in Once Upon a Time and feel that she was the peak live-action version of this character. I actually don't do much research on actresses because I usually feel like their personal lives aren't any of my business and have little to do with the characters they play. I have heard a little about Rachel Zegler's behavior on social media, but I didn't know about her scandal with the Oscars. I really enjoyed her role in West Side Story, so I'm a little surprised she wasn't invited to the Oscars. Then again, I stopped watching award shows a few years ago.
I was initially disappointed with Flynn Rider when Tangled came out because I think that men should be role models in family movies just as much as women, so I didn't like that they made him a criminal. However, he grew on me over time after watching the series. I'm not too surprised that Snow White isn't going to have a prince, but it's a shame that the next generation of children won't be able to experience the fairy tale the way that it was meant to be told. Hopefully, romance will come back into fashion one day in the future.
I've never been a Flynn fan. I love your statement that men should be role models in family movies just as much as women and I also believe that if we have princesses who are role models for children, it's just as important for the princes to be role models as well. For every Snow White and Cinderella, there's also an Aladdin and Prince Phillip. While Aladdin may be a thief, the movie establishes from the very beginning that he's not proud of it and only doing it to survive because of the lack of opportunities for someone of his class in Agrabah. That, plus the way he feeds children who have even less than him makes him pretty moral and someone to root for. Flynn, on the other hand, becomes a thief for the purpose of fame. They try to throw in a contrived story about being in an orphanage but for the most part, Flynn comes across as a real philanderer and the way he brought a sheltered girl like Rapunzel into an inn full of drunken ruffians always disturbed me. Thank goodness Disney would never be realistic about what probably would have happened in a scene like that. I've never been a Tangled fan (I much prefer Barbie as Rapunzel and the original Rapunzel fairy tale), so I've never seen Flynn's depiction in the TV show but I've heard from lots of people who had lukewarm feelings on Tangled that the show is much better. I do hope Disney comes back to their old school style that made them the brand they are today, but I'm not holding my breath :(
My thoughts about male characters needing to be role models also relate to why I can't stand the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise or the pirate craze in general since they were known to be dangerous criminals. Maybe I just don't get it. I was at Disney World when they used to have Pirate and Princess Parties, and even though I thought they were amazing because of all the additional princess entertainment and merchandise, I wished they could have picked a better fantasy archetype for boys than pirates.
I don't have any issue with pirates in general but I've never really been a fan either. I don't know if I don't get the appeal because there's a gender divide but I've seen plenty of girls who like pirates and plenty of boys who like princesses so it can't be that. Princes have sadly never been too popular with boys, not even when Disney tried to market the Disney Heroes/Adventurers line with Prince Phillip, Aladdin, Tarzan, Hercules, and Peter Pan. Interestingly enough, the only villain they bothered to market as part of that line was Captain Hook. Your comment about how pirates aren't good role models for children also reminds me of how when Keira Knightley made her tone-deaf comments about how she wouldn't let her daughter watch Disney movies because the female roles are too offensive, some people pointed out how her own Elizabeth Swann was hardly a bastion of morality between becoming a pirate queen and kissing Jack Sparrow while engaged to Will.
It's so hard to find minorities who don't take the whole "I'm a minority and even if another minority disagrees they're either white in real life or they're a traitor." I have gotten bullied for calling out SJWs and saying that anti-white racism is a thing, and that we should strive for original POC characters over racebending.
In fact, I found a good article listing racebending of all kinds, showing all the latest trends in SJW pandering:
https://awfulmovies.miraheze.org/wiki/Character_race_changes
I think the only actress I can think of who was kind and respectful and embodied the values of a princess was Mackenzie Foy, who played Clara in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. At the same time that her co-star Keira was dissing the princesses, we have Mackenzie who talks about how Cinderella is her favorite princess. It's sad how that's such a novel idea now since pretty much every other princess actress makes a point of only liking the modern ones like Tiana, Moana, etc. These new princesses will not stand the test of time (nor will the remakes of the classic ones) but Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, etc. will always be iconic and beloved characters.