Disney’s new Snow White is a live-action remake of the beloved 1937 classic that was cinema’s first full-length animated feature and is still regarded as Walt’s greatest masterpiece – even if fans of The Jungle Book will always have something to say about that. It stars Rachel Zegler, which set the cat among the pigeons, as she is Latino so doesn’t have ‘skin as white as snow’. However, because I’m not a stickler for ‘historical accuracy’ when it comes to fictional characters in fairy tales, this didn’t bother me.
The problem with the film isn’t that it’s gone ‘woke’, it’s that it contains workaday narrative, blandly generic characters and a leaden script that wrings all the magic from the story. Also, I’m not convinced every princess wants to be reinvented as a ‘girl boss’ but I’ve never asked one directly so I can’t be sure.
The film is written by Erin Cressida Wilson and directed by Marc Webb, and set in a land far, far away, by the looks of it. A nice King and a nice Queen have a little girl, whom they name ‘Snow White’ because she was born in a blizzard. The princess is brought up to be ‘fearless, brave, true and fair’ and also to be ‘a leader’. (I’m all for girl bosses, or was. But hasn’t this trope been done to death now? Give us something new. Surprise us!) After Snow White’s mother dies, her father remarries, which leads to all sorts of blended family issues. Most notably, the new Queen (Gal Gadot) is riven with sexual envy when Snow White grows up more beautiful than her.
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