Last year, Disney tapped Rachel Zegler, most well known for her breakout role in Steven Spielberg’s box office failure remake of West Side Story, to play Snow White in their slate of live-action princess film adaptations.
Since scoring the role the 21-year-old star, who lists her preferred pronouns on Twitter, has used publicity for the film as a soap box to voice her distaste for the source material and the audience. Big shocker.
In a now deleted Tweet from the day her casting was announced, Zegler presumptuously wrote, “yes i am snow white no i am not bleaching my skin for the role.” The Polish-Colombian actress was clearly eager to preemptively clap back at haters, a supposed faction of militantly bigoted Disney superfans whose very existence is still up for debate.
Zegler revealed that film director Marc Webb planned to strengthen the character of Snow White beyond “existing solely for a prince, existing solely to be rescued.” Both Webb and his starlet are oblivious to the fact that repurposing a 19th century folktale to suit 21st century tastes is an exercise in futility.
Zegler announced in an interview at the 2022 D23 expo that her portrayal of Snow White will offer what she considers to be the 1937 animated film’s much-needed update.
“The reality is that the cartoon was made 85 years ago and therefore it’s extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman is fit for in the world,” stated Zegler.
The actress continued, “When we came to reimagining the actual role of Snow White, it became about ‘the fairest of them all’ meaning ‘who is the most just’ and who can become a fantastic leader.”
Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen in the film, added, “The fact that she’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s the proactive one and she’s the one who set the terms is what makes it so relevant to where we are today.”
In a red carpet interview with Variety, Zegler elaborated on the remake’s modern edge: “She’s not gonna be saved by the prince and she’s not gonna be dreaming about true love, she’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
“She’s not going to be saved by the prince,” interjected Gal Gadot, towering over her younger co-star and seeming to inadvertently slip back into her role.
It sounds like the new Snow White won’t even feel reminiscent of its predecessor. Romance and whimsy have been supplanted by shallow moralistic lessons about power and self-reliance.
Blame Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage for the erasure of the Seven Dwarves from the remake “to avoid reinforcing stereotypes.” We simply can’t have nice things anymore.
Young girls will eventually memory-hole the original Snow White in favor of its unrecognizable remake.
If woke Disney adults wanted a version of Snow White to fit their ghoulish tastes, they could have pushed for a remake that stayed true to the original Brothers Grimm fairytale. Instead, Disney had to ruin something loved by fans of all ages.
If you’re interested in hate-watching, the film is set to release on March 22, 2024.
