Rachel Zegler is a 22-year-old rising star. You may know her from starring as Maria in the 2021 movie adaptation of West Side Story or from the newly released Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes as Lucy Gray Baird. Being a young woman catapulted into stardom due to her immense talent has risks, as many people feel threatened by her confidence and earnestness.
The discourse started with the announcement of Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White, which was originally released in 1937. At first, the criticism revolved around the unfortunate usual grievance with live-action Disney movies: that they cast a person of color to play a princess that was depicted as white in the original cartoon. Reminiscent of the racism (framed as “backlash”) against Halle Bailey, who was cast as Ariel, social media platforms have ramped up the accessibility of hate campaigns.
Rachel Zegler’s situation only got worse as she critiqued the misogynistic roots of the story of Snow White in an interview with Extra. She describes that there was a “big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her” and how the new adaptation was going to go in a different direction. After this, the internet exploded. People were complaining that she wasn’t “likable” enough and how Disney was “woke-washing” a classic fairy tale.
Looking back at the story of Snow White, it’s definitely a product of its time. The prince and Snow White have no real connection other than Snow White being the “fairest of them all.” The evil Queen is obsessed with being the most beautiful, and her vanity is the central part of her character. Oh, yeah! And Snow White is said to be 14, while the prince is 31. There’s that too. Rachel Zegler isn’t saying that anyone who watches the original Snow White is “canceled” or that the 1937 version should be banned. She’s offering very valid critiques of a movie that was made when our norms and priorities were different. Now that Hollywood has expanded to allow for (some) diversity in their writing rooms, the media they create will change. It should change, as our society has changed too.
Many of the criticisms that are leveled against Zegler express agreement with her general views, but explain how she should be “media trained” and speak in a more “humble” manner. Other criticisms are more focused on pushing back against the general idea of incorporating feminist undertones into remakes of movies that previously lacked them, despite having female leading characters. Both agree on one thing: that Rachel Zegler just isn’t likable enough.
So much societal pressure has pushed women into boxes, forcing them to package their public personalities into being soft-spoken and polite. Zegler is a woman who clearly loves what she does, is intelligent and engaged in social issues, and is not afraid to speak her mind about them. The minute that she critiques a piece of media (that was released almost a century ago) that does not align with feminist and left-leaning ideology, she is demonized for it. Many people don’t even take the extra step to comment on her ideas, but just express a general distaste for her “attitude” (aka: her confidence). We should all take a step towards defending her and her ideas, as they deserve to be heard without an immediate shutdown. If enough of her supporters rallied to push back against the hate campaign, that would hopefully turn the tide of public opinion around. Being a woman in the public sphere is hard, but Zegler’s situation proves being a woman in the public sphere with opinions is even more difficult.