This version of Snow White not only continues in the quite recent trend started in movies such as the Pirates of the Caribbean where the filmmakers take a genre we - the audience - know very well and in many of the scenes they surprise us with just the opposite outcome of what we would normally expect; but Mirror, Mirror is also (or, in particular) strong at changing the overall story line in a way that makes the princess (Snow White) be an active player in the movie. So, for instance, in this movie, Snow White is actually the one who saves the prince by her kiss; she does not only cook for the seven dwarves, but she is also trained in fighting by the dwarves and fights with them for the prince, the kingdom, and her life; and the Queen orders to have Snow White killed because the princess threatens to overthrow her, and not just because she would be the "fairest of them all."
I am pretty sure that by now a reader might be thinking that the movie must have been a complete mess and 'why the hell should we overwrite such a nice story that makes up our traditions?'
Well, let me tell you that - first of all - the movie was still a very fairy tale like. You still got all the magic, the evil Queen, the prince and the princess falling in love, nice dresses and a castle, and, of course, the happy ending. Not the best movie of the year, but, for sure, a nice movie to go to see either on your own, or to take kids to. To answer the 'why bother changing the traditional prince - princess scheme?', let me drift away for a minute from the context of Mirror, Mirror.
Nowadays, we live in a society where women have the voting rights, they can become a president or a CEO if they want to, so why should we - really - care about who saves the kingdom?
Take me as an example. I grew up with quite the traditional take on fairy tales, and still, I consider myself to be quite an emancipated independent woman. I have my ambitions; I require others to treat me as an equal partner; and, I connect my qualifications to my knowledge, experience, and personality, and not to my gender. So, why should an active princess make a difference? Well, I thought about it and what I have discovered was that when I was little, the two movies I would watch the most were Red Sonja (the typical 80s Conan the Barbarian like movie where, however, the main protagonist and warrior is a woman called Red Sonja) and Feds (a movie about two female FBI agents). Both movies admittedly are of a questionable quality, but both are also a very clear demonstration of active female protagonists, story-movers. As a kid, I was never excited about James Bond - how could I? I could not identify with a male hero who gets every girl he wants. And should I have identified with one of his bondgirls? Definitely not! What would be the message I would take away? Be beautiful and you will get to sleep with a charismatic dangerous man? If I identified with the traditional take on Snow White, there would be a certain symbolism I would take away as well, and not quite the feminist one. One needs symbols and someone to look up to, but in a way one can relate to. Men are surrounded by examples of successful men, active players wherever they look; the same situation does not apply to women.
Therefore, if somebody makes a movie where Snow White is the one who actually succeeds in more than making a man fall in love with her thanks to her beauty, this is not something we should ridicule, but cheer to.
More on this topic later.
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