The internet is abuzz with promos for a new version of Snow White starring Kristen Stewart. In this version, apparently the Huntsman, instead of just dumping Snow White in the woods, teaches her to fight. Will this be an improvement over the original? Or will the movie treat this newly-badassed Snow White with a patronizing pat on the head, when it's not undressing her for no good reason whatsoever? Frankly, it's too early to tell.
The original fairy tale is surprisingly similar to the Disney version that so many of us have memorized. There are some details which have been changed, but for the most part, Disney stuck to the original script.
One thing which struck me, in re-reading the original fairy tale, is that everyone in it is sort of awful. You want to root for Snow White, obviously. But first of all, Snow White is allowed to live with the dwarves because she agrees to a classic example of the patriarchal bargain:
"If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want."
Uh… huh. Okay, well, that's not so great, from a feminist perspective. Why can't the dwarves teach Snow White how to mine ore, and enlist her to help them in the mines? Surely with her greater height, she would be a valuable asset to their efforts. But no mention is ever made of this possibility.
But the worst part of the original story is that Snow White is repeatedly done in by her own greed and vanity. The evil queen comes to her in disguise three times.
The first time, she asphyxiates Snow White after luring her into trying on a pretty bodice lace. The second time, she combs Snow White's hair with a poisoned comb. The third time it's the famous poisoned apple.
You would think Snow White would learn to be more suspicious of unsolicited visitors. If the queen is evil and greedy and vain, surely Snow White must shoulder some of the blame for continuing to fall for her ruses. But let's not blame the victim.
Let's blame, instead, the dwarves who preserve her un-rotting corpse inside a glass box. Then sell said glass box to a passing prince who becomes smitten with it, and simply must have it. (Why???) In the original, she is not saved by a kiss, but by the incompetence of her bearers, who jostle her corpse such that the poisoned apple wedge falls out.
There is a lot of room for feminist reclamation in this story. Neil Gaiman's "Snow… Glass…. Apples" is the canonical re-telling. But I have tentatively high hopes for this upcoming version. We shall see!