Bitter Apple: The Snow White Controversy
“I interpret people’s feelings about this film as passion for it.”
In a Vogue Mexico profile released earlier this week, Rachel Zegler, the star of the upcoming Snow White remake, addressed the movie’s ongoing controversy in positive terms.
“And what an honor to be able to be a part of something that people are so passionate about,” Zegler added. “We’re not always going to have the same feelings as everyone around us and all we can do is give our best.”
From its inception, controversy has trailed this reimagined, live-action Snow White film. Similar outrage surrounded the modern remake of The Little Mermaid. While promoting The Little Mermaid, the film’s lead actress, Halle Bailey, endured a “hate campaign.” The hashtag #notmyariel was trending, as trolls expressed anger over a black Ariel. Zegler, who is of Colombian descent, has confronted racism as well. Some critics complained that her skin tone is too dark to be “as white as snow.”
Unlike The Little Mermaid’s controversy however, the Snow White backlash has extended beyond a commentary on the main character’s race. Instead, there seems be an undercurrent of distaste for an actor who speaks up, too. Zegler has been vocal on social media for her anti-Trump and pro-Palestinian stances. Perhaps a public response to an actor’s political position is to be expected.
Yet critics have seemed most fired up over her opinions regarding what a modern Snow White should be.
In 2022, Zegler described her vision for her role: “She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true.” When Zegler infamously referred to Prince Charming as a “stalker,” the fall-out was immediate. Some members of the public, presumably attached to Prince Charming and Snow White’s happily-ever-after, raged at Zegler’s opinion.
But not all of the anger surrounding Snow White centers on its star. In particular, the dwarves’ presence has not aged well. Actor Peter Dinklage, who has a form of dwarfism called achrondroplasia, expressed frustration: “I was a little taken aback by [the fact] they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs … You’re progressive in one way but you’re still making that f***ing backward story of seven dwarves living in a cave.”
The ongoing Snow White controversy reveals the minefield of issues at stake in modernizing a fairy tale.
In the early 1800s, the Grimm Brothers canvased Germany for its folklore. They released a book of fairy tales aimed at children, entitled Children’s and Household Tales, in 1812. In its earliest iteration, the fairy tale was called Little Snow White or Schneewittchen. The dwarves had no names. The prince lugged the glass coffin containing Snow White’s corpse home with him. Most frightening of all, the evil queen was Snow White’s mother. In jealous fury, the evil queen/mom instructed the huntsman to stab her daughter to death and to return with her daughter’s organs - so she could ingest them.
Disney’s original Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, beloved for generations, is decidedly softer.
However, the 1937 film’s treatment of its female heroine and its dwarves no longer reflects society’s values. In remaking its films, Disney endeavors to realize financial success - and also to update its fairy tales for a modern audience. So far, Disney continues to stand behind its diversified casting. With more live-action remakes in the pipeline however, viewers can take note as to whether these controversies ultimately influence Disney’s stylistic decisions.
On its face, a remake of a beloved classic makes good business sense - not unlike sampling familiar music for a brand-new song. With a remake, Disney is able to immediately leverage the nostalgia of an existing fanbase. However, Snow White doesn’t belong to Disney alone - and her story has always evolved with the times.
The original version of Snow White, Schneewitchen, was adapted from oral narratives. In subsequent editions, the Grimm Brothers continued to edit the fairy tales according to cultural tastes. For instance, while they removed the fairy tales’ sexuality, they retained much of their violence. They added religious overtones. They included moral lessons. The German landscape, in particular the nationalistic hold of a vast, dark forest, figured prominently.
As author Donald Haase wrote in The Reception of Grimms’ Fairy Tales: Responses, Reactions, Revisions, “Fairy tales are never fixed and always changing from one region to another, from one teller to another, they still preserve a stable core.”
Regardless of how audiences receive Zegler’s portrayal of Snow White, she appears to have triggered a collective resistance to change. And currently, Zegler appears to be advocating passionately for Snow White’s “stable core.”
“Her superpower is her heart,” Zegler said. “There is no supernatural power that Snow White possesses beyond her love for humanity, for all living creatures and her fundamental belief that there is goodness in everything. That’s something I really believe the world could take advantage of more.”
Perhaps in recognizing a fairy tale’s “stable core,” we can recognize that we’ve been here before. Storytellers crafting a moral lesson, tweaking the details to meet the needs of a modern audience. A public protective of its beloved story. A princess yearning to break free. And a villain, always a villain.
Here is the true timeless tale, the story behind the story, that the Grimm Brothers would’ve recognized.
