I knew I had to get a Snow White article out before the abomination leaves theaters (a deadline I think I’ve only just made, I’m glad to say). In this case I decided to tackle the idea of a covenant relationship as illustrated by the film:

I genuinely believe that the Snow White remake is cursed. I think that the sheer cynical disrespect that the current Disney is showing to its foundational film has goaded Uncle Walt’s spirit into a vengeful wrath, causing him to inflict it with every possible injury so as to ensure its failure. From a lead actress who couldn’t seem to open her mouth without enraging half the internet (and whose casting contradicts the very title of the film), to snubbing a whole class of actors only to replace them with vomit-inducing CGI alternatives, all the stars are aligning to make this a wreck of ages; a film that is not only unwanted, but loathed on a personal level by just about everyone who encounters it.

In that spirit, let us imitate Dante and leave this cursed creation to wallow in its own failure while we turn to better things; namely the revered original film.

The story, as everyone knows, is of a young princess with ‘skin white as snow.’ Her wicked stepmother, the Queen, is jealous of the girl’s youthful beauty and forces her to work as a servant. But when even this fails to prevent the princess from overshadowing her, the Queen tries to have her murdered. The woodsman she hires for the deed, however, cannot bring himself to harm the girl and urges her to flee. Snow White then comes to the cottage of the seven dwarfs, who agree to give her shelter.

It’s a beautiful little story, full of wisdom as most fairy tales are, and Walt Disney’s adaptation is nothing short of a masterpiece. For today, however, I want to dial in and focus on the dynamics of Snow White’s role in the dwarfs’ cottage.

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