Disney princesses have and always will play a crucial role in one’s childhood. I was no exception to this. I was the little girl who lived and breathed Disney princesses! When I was little, I dressed up as Princess Ariel for Halloween four years in a row! For my little sister’s first Halloween, she dressed up as Ariel’s goofy sidekick, Flounder. I think it is pretty obvious how much I loved “The Little Mermaid.” If you still need convincing, at one of my mom’s ultrasounds I insisted that we would be naming my little sister Ursula — sometimes, I still think we should’ve.
When Disney started producing their live-action remakes of each Disney princess movie, I was so excited. Even as a young adult, I couldn’t wait to see the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid.” I have to admit, I was slightly ignorant when casting for the movie was announced. It wasn’t that I was mad because a Black woman would be Ariel, but I was upset because she wouldn’t look like me. I saw TikToks of how excited little kids were while watching the trailer and see themselves as Ariel. That was when I realized, I was feeling what so many little kids had felt every time Disney released another white princess movie. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what a Disney princess looks like, as long as kids get to enjoy the beauty of their story.
When it comes to all the live-action remakes thus far, you can tell every actress is over the moon to get the part. In interviews, you can hear their excitement and love for the princess they are playing. They all acknowledge what an honor and privilege it is to play a Disney princess and follow in the footsteps of those who voiced the animated originals. That is until the newest Snow White was announced.
I understand her name is literally Snow White, but I don’t really have a problem with a non-white woman playing her. I do, however, have a big problem with the way Rachel Zegler behaves when it comes to her role as Snow White in the upcoming remake. In almost every interview, Zegler is bashing the original, and if that wasn’t bad enough she isn’t even accurate in her convictions. On multiple occasions, Zegler has made false comments about the plot of the original in an attempt to promote the version she is in. I don’t think I would be so angry if what she was saying was actually true, but its pure nonsense.
In an interview with Variety, Zegler discusses how in this version of the film Snow White isn’t being “saved” by the prince or dreaming of true love, but actually dreaming of becoming a leader. That’s all fine and dandy, but what’s so wrong with wanting true love? Rachel Zegler is walking the line between a modern feminist take and a degrading narcissistic take — and she’s on the wrong side of that line. You can promote a “modern” approach of the film where she saves herself, but that absolutely does not mean you put down everyone who does in fact dream of true love. Both true love and being a leader are equally as admirable of a choice. Call me crazy, but I thought we watched Disney princess movies to unwind and escape the real world. I think the mom in the new “Barbie” movie had the right idea, an ordinary Barbie that doesn’t have to be a leader, fall in love, be a mom, or any other predetermined standard — she’s just an ordinary woman. There is nothing wrong with wanting love or leadership or anything in between.
During an interview with ExtraTV, Zegler does not ease up on her outlandish claims. In this interview she claims the original Snow White focused on her love story with a guy who stalks her. It has been awhile since I’ve seen the original film, but I feel like the real stalker was the evil queen. This lady literally tracked her to a remote cottage in the woods and essentially “roofied” Snow White. The prince is barely even in the movie and just stumbled upon her one day while she was under the queen’s spell. Zegler also claims the original is heavily reliant on a love story. However, I would argue that the original isn’t even a full-blown love story, but more so a journey of self-discovery. I mean, seriously, she runs off to a cottage in the woods, lives rent-free and just does whatever she wants. So what if she wants is to bake and clean all day! She seemed genuinely happy living in the seven dwarves cottage with them.
While I am on the topic of the seven dwarves, I want to mention perhaps the biggest flaw of this new remake. In casting the seven dwarves, six of them are played by tall men. So at this point, I think everything this film has done to try and be inclusive went right out the window with that casting call. I mean seriously, this film presented the perfect opportunity to include a group of people that is rarely featured in films, and the producers just said, “you know what, lets make all but one of the seven dwarves average height or tall.” This is absolutely baffling to me. This tells me they really don’t care about all aspects of inclusivity and diversity. They seemed to have picked a non-white actress to “satisfy” the media, and then metaphorically checked the “inclusive and diverse” box off. Which is just not the case.
If this remake of “Snow White” is supposed to be modernized, based on Rachel Ziegler’s interviews, I think they really missed their mark. If the real movie is anything like how Zegler is describing it, I would go as far as to say they didn’t make anything more modern, they just made the 1937 film with a reversed plot.
Every time I watch Rachel Zegler talk about this film, I tense up wondering what she could possibly say next. She shows no gratitude for the opportunity she has. She especially shows no respect to the original or the woman who voiced the original Snow White. “Snow White” was the first full-length animated film Disney did and was among many other firsts in the film world. Adriana Coselotti, the voice of Snow White, was uncredited in the initial release of the film and was underpaid. She was paid $20 a day during recording, which was approximately a total of $970. This would be around $14,000 today — which was considered underpaid even back in the 1930s for an actress. It was even rumored that Disney blacklisted her from getting any other roles in Hollywood in order to preserve Snow White’s voice.
After all of this, a little part of me still wants to see the movie to see how much of a fail it will be. However, I don’t really want to see it on the account that it seems awful. If I do watch the movie, I will be sure to post a review — good or bad!