We're now less than a month away from the premiere of the live-action remake of 'Snow White,' and if you can't see this train wreck barreling down on Disney at full speed, I don't know what to tell you.
It's the latest in Disney's long line of live-action reboots of beloved animated classics and one that started with 1994's remake of 'The Jungle Book' and while some of those remakes have been more warmly received than others, 'Snow White' will be met with a reception as frigid as Wisconsin in February.
Why? With most of the remakes, Disney largely tried to remain faithful to the original animated classic that inspired it. But we live in the waning days of the era of woke, and this latest installment was plagued by the politics of its lead actress, Rachel Zegler.
It started years ago, when Zegler proudly proclaimed in an interview that 'it's no longer 1937 and we absolutely wrote a Snow White and ...she's not going to be dreaming about true love, she's dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.' She called the Prince 'kind of a stalker' and that the original film was 'weird.'
And it only got worse from there. In August of last year, Zegler posted 'Free Palestine' on X to even more backlash (how she feels about Israeli co-star Gal Gadot remains to be seen). In November, she said she wanted Donald Trump and his supporters to eat a poisoned apple and wished them harm, even though she apologized for her remarks.
Recommended
All the backlash and controversy surrounding the film were entirely driven by Zegler and her politics, things emboldened by Disney's push for a 'modern' take on the classic movie (including recasting the dwarfs after Peter Dinklage raised a stink so we ended up with, well, whatever the heck these monstrosities are).
The makers of entertainment -- be it movies, television, or video games -- never engage in a moment of introspection and self-reflection about why there's fan backlash in the first place. Instead, they blame the fans, as Zegler is doing here:
Variety reports (emphasis added):
While Disney’s live-action re-releases have seen better days since 2019’s “The Lion King,” the “Snow White” rehash has been a particular point of contention in some circles due to Zegler’s Columbian heritage. The outrage came to a head when the “Y2K” star called the 1937 original “dated,” featuring a prince that “literally stalks” Snow White. Zegler now says she interprets the controversies as an overprotective reaction to a beloved Disney classic.
“I interpret people’s sentiments towards this film as passion,” Zegler told Vogue Mexico. “What an honor to be a part of something that people feel so passionately about. We’re not always going to agree with everyone who surrounds us and all we can do is our best.” (Quotes were independently translated from Spanish to English by Variety)
See? It's not Disney's missteps. It's not Zegler's offensive remarks.
It's the 'passionate' fans. Including the ones who -- *checks notes* -- have issues with Zegler's Columbian heritage? This writer spends a lot of time watching film criticism and reviews and has yet to come across anyone who objected to Zegler's heritage. Blaming the fans for the failure of your movie, after making it clear this isn't our grandma's 'Snow White' is the epitome of hubris.
This isn't passion. This is a fan base that is sick and tired of studios like Disney making woke garbage movies that force THE MESSAGE on audiences. They're tired of actresses like Zegler saying this movie is not meant for the lifelong Disney fans, but for 'modern audiences' -- who have neither the numbers nor the interest to make movies like 'Snow White' a success. When films like this fail, they then blame the fans and so-called 'toxic fandom' for the flop.
After the election, the cultural shift is palpable. People are rejecting this nonsense. People want entertainment that entertains, not 'content' that 'holds up a mirror' to the world. People want to escape the real world for a while and get lost in the silver screen. Our time and money is too precious to waste on movies that fail to do that.
Maybe when 'Snow White' rots faster than the Evil Queen's poison apple, Disney will get it.
