WHY IS HOLLYWOOD OBSESSED WITH 'SNOW WHITE'
What is the obsession with 'Snow White'?
"Put simply, Snow White is one of the few fairy tales about a political struggle between two powerful women," according to IO9.
IO9 analyzes the 'Snow White' trend going on and makes some interesting points. "The struggle between two powerful women" is something that is not common on screen especially placed into a blockbuster style film.
They also point out that Disney's 'Snow White' movie was in theaters during the depression era. Given the state of the economy today with the housing market and financial institutions closing, job losses etc..., the film gives people hope with the good in Snow White going up against the evil Queen.
IO9 goes into further analysis which you can read here. But check out what they have to say about SWATH:
None of today's Snow White stories dramatize the conflict between the old and new forms of female power more than Snow White and the Huntsman.
Though the movie hasn't come out yet, Snow White and the Huntsman is already wowing audiences with its intense, violent trailers showing Snow White as a commander of armies and the Wicked Queen (Charlize Theron) as what amounts to a female version of Darth Vader. When Theron asks, "Who is the fairest of them all?" it's clear what the real question is: "Who is the most badass of them all?" This is a rivalry between two powerful women that's verging on Game of Thrones territory — all the bluebirds and bunnies have been stripped away to reveal nothing more than the clash of steel on steel.
It's as if Snow White and the Huntsman is struggling for a narrative adequate to explain what it means to be a powerful woman. Is this a war movie, traditionally a male genre? Or is it a bitch movie, full of snarky putdowns and fashion, designed to appeal to women? I think it's likely that shifting ideas about female power have helped create a strange hybrid genre where female and male rivalries start to look awfully like the same thing.
Fairy tales are, by definition, stories that get retold. They do not exist as static texts, but rather as variants on a theme. Like fairy tales, our social conventions change when we rethink old ideas. To bring women into positions of public authority, we've had to revise old laws and tweak our traditions. Maybe that's why a fairy tale, retold in many new ways, is the perfect vehicle for working through cultural transformation. As Snow White's story changes, so too does the social understanding of female power — along with women's understanding of our own potential.
via @malenacasey
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