As White as Snow

When I was in first grade, I decided to go as Snow White for Halloween. Then in second grade, I once again put on that yellow and blue dress and black wig. In third grade I decided to ditch the scratchy wig, but was once again found in Snow White’s princess costume. For whatever reason, I was infatuated. The few times I visited Disney World in my childhood years, the only person I cared to meet was Snow White. It could have been for the color of her dress, as yellow was my favorite color, or for her magical ability to talk to animals, although there were certainly other princesses with the same ability. Ultimately, I cannot figure out why it was not Ariel or Jasmine or Cinderella who caught my attention. Why Snow White?

Now, when I watch the film, the feminist part inside of me wishes I could have loved a stronger, more independent female lead as a child rather than the one resembling any typical 1930s housewife. Although I respect and acknowledge the time period in which the film was made, times have changed, and in no Disney movie nowadays would an audience ever allow a princess to have no aspirations other than to do the cooking and cleaning and marry her prince. 

I wonder if in loving a more rebellious and outspoken princess I would have become so as a child, or if rather the shy, angelic piece of me led to my idolization of a more peaceful character.

Either way, it is interesting for me to now look upon one of my greatest childhood role models with a critical eye.

In Tracey Mollet’s“With a Smile and a Song…”: Walt Disney and the Birth of the American Fairy Tale, Mollet discusses how Snow White was also the role model of a separate age, the age of the Depression. This gives me a new perspective on the character of Snow White, whose ability to dream possibly inspired another generation of people to keep the American Dream alive in their minds. She is “kind, good, and placid and awaits the coming of her prince with patience and virtue” (Mollet 114).  However, I also see a downside to that as it gives the impression that if you wait long enough, your wishes will be granted. I definitely believe that dreams are achieved through hard work and perseverance, and “as noted by a psychiatrist in Studs Terkel’s oral history of the Depression, there was a sense that people accepted the situation and remained quiet (80)” (Mollet 114). By her example, people waited.

I guess Snow White has always been a bit of a controversial topic, even though it is one of the simplest stories. There is always something to critique, something to complain about.

When will Disney catch a break?