The new upcoming live action “Snow White” movie has recently sparked controversy for many reasons. One of the main issues fans had was the casting choice for the lead role. The 22 year old actress, Rachel Zegler, has received major backlash not only because people think she is a bad fit for Snow White, but also due to critical things she has said about the movie in multiple interviews.
Many people believe that Zegler does not physically appear the way Snow White does in the original animation from 1937, which is the original complaint fans had when casting was announced. These people argue that staying true to the character’s original appearance is very important when it comes to the plot of the story. Snow White was originally described as “the fairest in the land” with “lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, and skin as white as snow”, but to many individual’s knowledge, Zegler comes from a Colombian descent meaning she would have different features such as a darker skin tone.
To add fuel to the fire, Zegler has not been doing the best promotion of the movie when it comes to interviews. Many of these interviews recently went viral because of her controversial opinions and the feminist revamping of Snow White’s storyline.
Many people were furious by her comments. They believed that Disney was ruining a beloved and classic character by changing everything about her and her story.
[Snow White] is not going to be saved by the prince, and she is not going to be dreaming about true love. She is dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be,”
— Rachel Zegler
In the original film, Snow White was saved by the prince, whom she ended up falling in love with and marrying. Yet, through the recent interviews, Zegler clearly states that this love story will not be happening in the remake. Instead, Snow White becomes independent. This new concept of Snow White was targeted towards feminists in hopes that it would show empowerment and growth within Disney.
“You can be a strong feminist woman while still being a feminine one who wants to live happily ever after,” one commenter said under a viral interview.
The fan’s idea of this remake would be “pointless” because it is so different from the original. They believe that at that point, Disney should make a whole new movie if they plan to change the plot anyway.
Not only has Zegler been receiving backlash, but also the actors who play the seven dwarfs have received criticism as well. Although many hoped Disney would cast actors with dwarfism to be a part of the seven dwarfs, they were wrong. The media has given the seven dwarfs a new name calling them the “seven companions”. The “seven companions” now only consist of one actor with dwarfism, while the rest are different ethnicities and genders.
Of course, this was another thing that added fuel to the fire. As many believe that the representation that little people could have gotten was taken away, so Disney could represent other minority groups that would not make sense to the original storyline.
The retelling of this story has sparked interest from people everywhere, good and bad. But, despite all the criticism the movie has received, it is still set to be released by Spring of 2024. While some believe it should not be released, others are excited to give it a chance
Dan Lee • Dec 18, 2023 at 1:43 am
Disney will blame Rachel if the movie does poorly. Which won’t be fair. Have you noticed all the negative things said about her that keep popping up in the media? She is actually a really good actress and a fabulous singer. Rachel you did an amazing job in the Hunger Games. However SW goes down ignore all negativity.