Marred by a laundry list of controversies, is Disney’s live-action rendition of Snow White doomed to be swallowed up by the culture wars? Judging by the 1st trailer…. probably.
In a fantastical world, The Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) wishes to be the fairest in the land, but is aghast when her magic mirror tells her of the beautiful young peasant Snow White (Rachel Zegler), on her own journey to right the injustices of the Queen’s tyrannical rule.
As The Queen grows determined to kill Snow White, White is forced to flee into the dark forests. There, she comes across a magical land of animals and a group of seven curmudgeonly dwarves who reluctantly take her in. Now, it’s up to White to undergo a perilous journey to save herself and her found family from the Queen’s evil clutches.
Oh boy. Where do we begin? Disney’s Snow White feels doomed to fail thanks to controversies regarding color-blind casting, the actors’ stances on various hot-button issues, and a generous interpretation of the classic story. It got so bad that right-wing platform DailyWire is attempting to sandbag the film with their own “family-friendly” version. (Judging by DailyWire’s other work, that version won’t make any Oscar lists. Let’s leave it at that).
And frankly? All the fuss doesn’t seem worth it for a trailer displaying a middle-of-the-road fantasy adventure film with a “plucky heroine saves the world” narrative jammed into it. Zegler and Gadot turn in stilted bland performances, let down by a script giving them little to work with. Even director Marc Webb, a director well-versed in blockbuster cinema, doesn’t imbue the film with any of his usual visual panache. Everyone feels on autopilot, as if Disney higher-ups tried to lazily capture a younger diverse market with cheap PR moves and little else.
Diversity is EXTREMELY important in cinema. Snow White, despite her name, holds cultural significance in almost every culture around the world, especially Latinx countries. I have no issue with a character modeled after the fanbase enraptured by it, it makes sense. But, in order to combat the bad-faith critics waiting to pounce on any opportunity to claim “white culture is being lost to diversity”, the story & performance need to back up the casting.
And by failing on that front, Disney has ironically allowed critics of diversity in cinema to bolster their arguments. It’s a shame, as this generation’s big-budget adaptation of a timeless classic feels destined to wither away at the box office.
Directed by Marc Webb, Snow White will release theatrically in the United States on March 21, 2025. The movie stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot in the lead roles.
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