In the highly unlikely event that this post circulates beyond my usual almost two dozen readers, let me be clear: this is merely intended as a thought exercise and I in no way intend this to be a definitive interpretation. It's just one guys thoughts. With that said, let's begin.
Movie: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
Princess: Snow White, aged 15 or 16
Common complaints: Snow White is a shockingly naive girl who will eat anything a stranger gives her and her biggest talent is for housework, her life goal? Find a man to take care of her.
I will be trying to mention the ages of the princesses when I can find them as I think it is important to remember that we are talking about characters who in many cases are roughly the same age as an average high school freshman or sophomore. If you remember the sort of things you believed about love when you were in high school, I think you might be able to be a little more understanding of where these characters are coming from.
When our movie opens, we learn that the evil Queen has forced Snow White to live and work as a scullery maid. For those who might not know, a scullery maid is the maid that all the other servants get to boss around and give the really crappy chores to like cleaning the stove and oven, gutting and scaling fish, and scouring the pots and pans. Scullery maids generally had to eat in the kitchen alone so they could keep any eye on the food that was cooking. So we are starting with the premise of a Queen with so much power and ability to cause fear that she was able to subjugate the Princess and only heir to the throne and make her the lowest servant in the castle. Suddenly it makes more sense why Snow White is so friendly with the animals. Who else does she even have to talk to?! It seems to be common knowledge that the Queen is a psychopath with magical power (even the dwarves know about her) so it stands to reason that no one will be going out of their way to be nice to the girl the Queen hates most. This is not a pampered princess who is good at housekeeping because that's just how women should be, this is a young girl who was denied her birthright and forced to live as an indentured servant in her own home. Given her circumstances, it's actually quite surprising that Snow White still has enough spirit left to daydream about meeting a nice boy someday.
Speaking of the nice boy, our prince charming overhears Snow singing by the water well and climbs the wall to investigate, then sings full on from right behind her. A dumb naive princess might swoon and be swept away right there, but Snow White has the good sense to get the heck out of there and hide behind a solid wooden door and stone walls. She is then able to see that the prince, while not very subtle, does not intend to do her harm and she is flattered and a little smitten as well, but she does not go out to him.
We next see Snow White when she has been taken outside with the huntsman to pick flowers/be murdered. I like the fact that the Queen lets Snow change into nice clothes when she is outside of the castle, probably to give the impression that she isn't being abused horribly. Ok, it was mostly like a decision by Walt and the animation team to let Snow be wearing something other than ratty clothes for the whole movie, but my idea seems to fit too. Anyway, The huntsman stalks towards Snow White as she is having a nice chat with a baby bird when he has a crisis of conscience and cannot kill the nice girl who loves animals. He warns Snow White that the Queen will stop at nothing to see her dead and tells her to run away. This is significant because we can see by the huntsman's actions that Snow White has enough charisma and character that he would risk his life to save her. I don't think it is too big a leap to assume that he was horribly executed once the queen discovered his betrayal. You don't make a life altering decision like that solely because someone is pretty.
So Snow White freaks out and runs into the forest where she is attacked by all kinds of tree monsters. While it would be easy to view this as only a damsel in distress moment, I would ask that you watch the scene all the way through. Yes, Snow White had a full on panic attack, but in her defense, she just had her flower picking and bird watching trip interrupted when the guy accompanying her pulled a giant knife on her and then told her to run away or she would be murdered by her step mother. That's a lot for a 15 year old to take in the span of 30 seconds. But after she collapses from fear and has a good cry, she looks up and sees that there is nothing to be afraid of. Not only that, but she tells herself that the worst is over now and she shouldn't be scared because she will find a way to take care of herself. Snow White, on her own, clearly states that she is fully capable of taking care of herself, full stop. She then immediately begins to work out what her situation is so she can decide her next move. We are in a fantasy world, so she is able to ask the animals for information. She doesn't say, "please take care of me, for I am a helpless little girl." She instead notes that she will need to find suitable shelter for the night and asks if the animals know of a safe place that she might stay. It turns out that animals, like most people, are very willing to give assistance to someone who asks politely and shows kindness.
When Snow White arrives at the cottage, she sees the state of the place and assumes that this is a home where orphans live, with no one to take care of them. Since she is neither a victim nor a mooch, and since no one is home at the moment, she decides that the best way to make herself a welcome house guest to a bunch of strangers is to try to help tidy the place up and cook a hot meal as an offering. She doesn't cook and clean because those are the only things women are good for; she cooks and cleans because she wants to earn her keep, and those are two skills that she is very good at because that is what she's been forced to do almost everyday of her life. If the Queen had forced her to thatch roofs or build furniture, she probably would have done that instead. But she's good at cooking and cleaning, and she has a house full of woodland creatures willing to help her, and she only has one little cottage to see to instead of a whole castle. If my workload shrank by 90% AND I got an army of anthropomorphized critters to help me, I'd whistle while I worked too!
After cleaning the house, Snow White falls asleep in the dwarves' beds, which is a little rude, but she's had a rough day and it allows the story to shift to the plotting of the Queen and Dwarves' discovery that they've been visited by the nicest home invader not named Santa Claus. When Snow White wakes up, she is very quickly able to gain the trust of the dwarves and has them following her every command in almost no time flat. She does this by being tactful, kind, and confident. So on the same day she was almost murdered, she had the strength of character to dust herself off, find a place a refuge, and make herself head of the household before bedtime. This girl has serious leadership skills and would be top management material today. Snow White is a natural leader who commands respect by giving it generously. She is not false or calculating, and yet, everyone she encounters becomes enamored with her and wants to follow her. No wonder the Queen wants her dead.
Which brings me to a point about the whole reason the Queen wants to kill Snow White. Now I know this is a bit of a stretch, but go with me here for just a minute. I'm well aware that the word 'fairest' is an old fashioned word used to describe a beautiful woman, but that isn't the only meaning. In fact, most of the other definitions describe just and righteous behavior and legitimate actions. These are all definitions that fit Snow White. The Queen uses the word in reference to physical beauty, but she is talking to her slave in the magic mirror when she says it. Since the spirit in the mirror is a slave, it is safe to assume that it does not have the Queen's best interests in mind. What the spirit does have is supernatural knowledge of the world, and a likely desire to no longer be enslaved to a lunatic. I believe that it makes sense then for the spirit to be giving the Queen an answer to a questions she did not intend to ask. The spirit sets up the Queen by describing the physical beauty of Snow White, knowing full well that this information will drive the Queen mad with jealousy. In her rage, it never occurs to her that being 'the fairest in the land' could mean so much more than physical appearance. It is the other definitions of the word 'fairest' that inspire the animals, the dwarves, and even the huntsman to aid her and follow her. Even the prince first saw her at her grossest and was charmed by her singing and manner before he ever got a good look at her face. It is this inner fairness that the Queen never sees or accounts for and it becomes her downfall.
Back to the plot, after a rousing party with the Dwarves, Snow White is asked to tell them a love story. This is where she sings, "Someday My Prince Will Come." If you are looking for an empowered song about equal love and partnership, this is not it. This is a fairytale song about falling in love and living happily ever after. My only defense is that is is exactly the kind of story the dwarves asked for, it's catchy as hell, and I think every single person secretly has their own dream of what happily ever after is and it's ok to admit that once and a while, no matter how silly we know it is.
The next morning, the Dwarves all leave and warn her to be careful. Notice that they all trust her enough to leave her home alone. She's already proved that she can take care of herself and doesn't need constant protection. They acknowledge the reality of her situation, but she isn't treated like a victim or fragile flower. When the old hag arrives at the cottage window, Snow White does try to be careful. In fact, she gives no indication that she will have anything to do with the old hag until she is attacked by birds. Up until this point, Snow White reacts about how you would expect when a strange person is suddenly all up in your personal space. She is apprehensive and very cautious. Remember, this is the same girl who has been making fast friends with everyone she has come across until this point. It is only when her bird friends attack the old hag that Snow White throws caution to the wind and takes pity on the old woman. Snow White is still apprehensive when the old hag is in the house and it almost feels like she bites the apple partly as a sort of attempt to appease the crazy old woman so she can politely send her on her way. This is the kind of behavior I think you can understand from a 15 year old, alone in an unfamiliar situation with a disconcerting but harmless looking individual. Kudos to the Queen at this point, because it is a truly unexpected disguise. The Queen did not, however, anticipate the ferocious response to her crime. She is chased to a dead end on a cliff, and we are spared a grisly fight scene when a thunderbolt strikes just right to cause the Queen to fall to her death (and be crushed be the boulder that falls down after her) Sure is a shame that thunderbolt. It was a gloriously sunny day only moments before. I wonder if there was any sort of all seeing spirit, with supernatural powers, who might have had a grudge against the Queen and would know exactly where she was at that moment.....this is why you don't enslave spirits in a mirror and force them to constantly tell you how pretty you are.
And now we come to the scene in which hilarious bloggers and internet comedy writers like to make jokes about necrophilia and lack of consent. The Dwarves, unable to bring themselves to bury Snow White, create a glass coffin and place her in a beautiful spot in the woods where they can watch over her and mourn her. You don't get this sort of devotion by just being pretty. People have to really like you as a person to go through all that trouble. And before you ask, I assume that they never changed their minds and buried her because she never started to rot and stink. If you have a body sitting outside for months and nothing changes, either something magical is a foot, or you can't tell the difference between a person and a mannequin. Finally, the prince comes along, after months or trying to figure out what happened to that girl he met once, he finds her in the woods, on a coffin, surrounded by men in mourning. He sees the girl who he's been thinking about constantly, who is presumed dead now, and gives her a short, respectful kiss and kneels with a bowed head to mourn her as well. I've been to funerals and I've seen people kiss loved ones goodbye. That is what the prince was doing, paying final respects, giving a brief peck on the lips to say goodbye. Yes they only met once for a brief time, but this is a guy who burst into song 30 seconds after seeing her. He clearly has a lot of feelings and I am impressed that he was as subtle as he was. No goodbye ballad or wailing, just a light kiss and a bowed head. And the fact that she woke up by definition proves that their connection was real. That's what true loves kiss means. If it's not true love, she's still lying there until the end of time.
The fairytale ending is not great, with Snow White and the prince riding off into the sunset together, but she's earned it, and I think we learn enough to know that she won't just sit around eating bon bons. This is a girl who gets things done and knows how to lead. Perhaps the problem with "and they lived happily ever after" is the lack of specificity to what that actually means. Happily ever after doesn't mean a life without rewarding work and adventure. I think when we're kids, happily ever after means endless summer vacation and all the candy you can eat and when we grow older, we never reexamine that phrase. Personally, I think everyone's happily ever after is something different. I also think that since the kiss broke the spell, that it means that the prince also is the kind of person who can lead by example with kindness and respect and that they probably went on to have a very fulfilling and rewarding life together, growing and learning to the end of their days....or they were both instantly crushed to death when the story book was closed at the end of the movie, and happily ever after was a very short, but accurate description of their final moments.
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