07/04/2025
A FAVOURITE PASS TIME PUT INTO WORDS
Snow White (2025): A Powerful Message in Silence?
This past weekend, I went to the cinema with a friend to watch Disney’s latest live-action remake—Snow White. Before diving into what the 2025 version had to offer, I have to mention how lucky I was to recently catch the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as part of Disney’s 100-year anniversary celebration. That 1937 film? It blew my mind.
It’s easy to assume that something made so long ago wouldn’t hold up. But the simplicity, the warmth, and the innovation of the original were honestly striking. It didn’t need flashy effects or a gritty rewrite to make its point. Snow White was a gentle soul whose power came through her kindness and voice—especially her singing, which is what caught the prince’s heart. Not just her looks, but something deeper. That was powerful to me.
Fast forward to 2025, and the new version of Snow White has been completely reimagined. The goal seems clear: present a strong, independent woman, not the “weak and submissive” character people apparently saw in the original. But here’s the thing—I never saw the original Snow White as weak. Her strength was quiet, compassionate, and unwavering. And I don’t think that should be undervalued.
There was a lot of pre-release promotion for this film, and honestly, I don’t think it helped. The messaging was all over the place. Actress Rachel Zegler clearly stated in interviews that this was not a story about true love. But… why is that dream wrong? Everyone wants connection, love—in whatever form it takes. I still want that. I’ve had a great love myself, as a person with a disability. It didn’t last, but it meant everything to me. And I still want that again. I wouldn’t change a thing about that hope. It’s real. It’s human.
In the film, there’s no prince this time. Instead, we get a Robin Hood-like bandit who admires Snow White’s strong will but later undercuts her by singing about her “princess problems”—as if she doesn’t understand the world. That contradiction felt jarring. For a film trying to empower, it sometimes felt like it didn’t trust its own message.
Snow White is portrayed as strong in a more conventional, action-hero sense. She stands by her people, resisting the Evil Queen who has drained society of anything good—youth, hope, kindness. The Queen herself almost feels like an embodiment of modern-day power structures: cold, disconnected, greedy. There’s definitely a metaphor there, though the film never fully unpacks it.
There are moments of homage to the original—songs, costume nods—but beyond that, it’s a new film trying very hard to be relevant. And in trying so hard, I think it loses something essential. The original spoke softly and still said so much.
Final thoughts? This remake wants to shout about strength, but the original whispered it—and somehow made a deeper impact. And in a world where love is often rebranded as weakness, I still believe it’s one of the strongest forces we have.
