It is time to miss the days before the internet and social networks, days when we went to see films without knowing too much about them, and without knowing what racists in the southern United States or pro-Palestinian groups in New York thought about it even before it was filmed.
Even before its stars appeared on set, Snow White turned out to be a publicity nightmare. They say there is no bad publicity? Here, Snow White proves the opposite. The film is about a witch who gives a girl a poisoned apple, and everything that happened in the media around the film was all poison, without the apple.
It started when racists shouted when Disney announced that it had chosen an actress of Hispanic origin for the role of Snow White. They did not read the script, which takes the first animated film of Walt Disney Studios from 88 years ago and adapts it to today, so Snow White is not now named based on her skin color the preferred skin color of Walt Disney but because she was born in the midst of a massive snowstorm, which gave her persistent survival skills.
Then from the left side of the political map, pro-Palestinian groups protested against Disney for daring to cast a foreign actress as the evil queen. Some even called to boycott the film before it was filmed! because it shows dwarfs, seven of them (by the way, the word “dwarf” is not even said once in the film), and this is considered a disgraceful stereotype, partly because it was shown in the original Snow White.
Some shouted that they were changing the story, and some shouted that they should stay true to it. Every casting and content decision in this film provoked outrage from some group that found the film offensive. How tiring and exhausting everyone offended and shouting over a live-action remake of an animated film. Even if Snow White turned out to be a masterpiece, who would go to see it after two years of antagonistic media noise?
Where are the days when we judged a film a priori not according to audience hatred and preconceived opinions, but based on the credits on the poster? The creative team of Snow White is actually intriguing. The director, who directed 500 Days of Summer, and the producer, credited for La La Land, have a fascinating background.
The songwriters, winners of Tony and Oscar awards, were tasked with writing six new songs for the film, in addition to four songs from the original film. The screenplay is by a writer known for edgy, modern films with dark themes. The cinematographer and choreographer also come from a background of darker, modern productions. This is a surprising team for a Disney film.
In a normal world, where films are not judged by representation politics, one could wonder primarily why a remake of Snow White is needed. The new version shows that no one not the filmmakers, the actors, or the audience loves the 1937 original. Everyone finds it offensive to their own demographic. So why remake it? Preserve it? Rewrite it? Update it? Disney’s live-action adaptations of its animation classics have never really matured or justified themselves.
If this was their way to print new money for the studio’s profit line, fine. But most of these films were not huge successes. If they tried to update old conventions to modern versions, it also did not really work, because everything was done too cautiously not to upset conservatives, not to anger progressives.
And all this happens while parents are still happy to show their toddlers the original Disney animated films. (The exception is The Lion King, which did become a big hit, but it is essentially one type of animation remade into another type, a technical update, and therefore seemed right for everyone).
Thus, in the end, Snow White is neither a terrible film nor a good one. It is not a recreation of the classic film nor a complete rewrite. It has charm and talent and some successful moments, and although it is visually appealing, there are no moments of absolute enchantment (which another ultra-colorful, musical, female-oriented adaptation did achieve).
But it is a film without reason and without a real audience perhaps elementary school-aged girls, who have not yet been exposed to pro-Palestinian or anti-Hispanic campaigns, can still watch it innocently as a work attached to merchandise they will buy for a birthday or a costume for the next carnival.
Surprisingly, the script anticipates the reactions against it.
The actress playing the evil queen is wonderful, performing a narcissistic and corrupt queen who takes over a kingdom that was once innocent and good-hearted. Before saying “political allegory” and naming the authoritarian ruler you think this character is based on, know that the character is actually an excellent image not of a specific person, but of a contemporary human condition the world of social networks, of human poison and narcissistic communication in which everyone only sees the reflection of themselves in the mirror.
This is a film about rebellion against tyrants, and the desire to bring back a sense of grace, kindness, and consideration to a world of evil. And if it starts like Walt Disney’s Snow White, then all the new subplots are beautifully stolen, and quite effectively, from Les Misérables and the Parisian rebels’ fight against the French monarchy before the French Revolution. You wanted Snow White, you got Les Misérables and the Seven Dwarfs.