What on earth is going on with the frenzied ‘woke’ backlash to Disney’s Snow White?
Disney's big-budget remake has seemingly fielded controversy after controversy.
It’s been hard to shake the feeling that Disney’s latest live-action remake Snow White has seemed like a poisoned apple ahead of its fast-approaching release.
The film will finally open in cinemas on March 21, after being pushed a full year from its original 2024 slot thanks to the extensive effects of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
Disney has raised eyebrows in recent days with its decision not to roll out the red carpet for the movie at a glitzy premiere in London, as would usually be expected, instead opting for a smaller, far less media-focused event in Segovia, Spain on Wednesday night.
The evening’s celebrations had plenty of younger fans in attendance and were held at Alcázar de Segovia in a nod to the 1937 animated original, as it served as the inspiration for the castle featured in Snow White.
And this evening’s world premiere in Los Angeles also has no regular red carpet media line, in order to prevent its stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot from needing to answer any questions on the fly.
While calling the premiere ‘scaled back’ back not be entirely accurate, The Hollywood Reporter claims that Disney says it’s chosen ‘a more celebratory, family-friendly afternoon event to match the tone and target audience for the film’ – which is, lest we forget, mainly aimed at those young enough to be more interested in the magic than the media frenzy surrounding Snow White.
Star Rachel Zegler launching Snow White in Europe at Spain’s Alcázar de Segovia, one of the less media-focused premiere events than usual (Picture: Getty Images for Disney)But this is far from being the first or last headache that this mega-budget Disney ‘reimagining’ has faced on its long and very rocky road to release.
Ever since 2021 it seems that the studio has been forced to confront near-constant criticism and backlash that largely revolves around the culture wars of today, which sees a sharp divide over the term ‘woke’ – and whether or not it’s positive to be classified as such.
The sniping about Snow White first began nearly four years ago when West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian descent, was cast as Disney’s original princess, most famous for having ‘skin as white as snow’.
Such ugly complaints echoed those that Halle Bailey faced after being picked to play Ariel in The Little Mermaid, with some fans being left outraged at Disney’s push for more culturally representative storytelling (perish the thought that talent should be an important factor in the decision).
