MAGA supporters are celebrating online after the live-action remake of Snow White has been hit with negative reviews following its release.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Disney via email outside of regular working hours for comment.
Why It Matters
Multiple controversies have plagued the film, some of which stemmed from the decision to modernize its themes and characters, which ultimately led to backlash and some people labelling the film as being “woke.”
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The criticism comes amid a wider cultural shift toward conservativism, in tandem with the beginning of President Donald Trump‘s second term in office. Trump has branded Disney as “woke.”
What To Know
The film, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot has been widely panned by critics. Though some reviews have praised Zegler’s performance and the attempt to modernize the classic film, others perceived it as overly political and failing to capture the magic of the original.
Snow White topped the box office chart despite the negative reviews. According to Box Office Mojo, the film took an estimated $87.3 million overall during its opening weekend, $43 million domestically. However, this is below expectations for a film that cost a reported $270 million to make, according to the BBC.
The film has faced criticism from conservatives and the right more generally for being too “woke” or too “feminist,” though some have defended the updates that were made to it and argued that this is part of the nature of remaking a film in a different era.
In a 2022 interview with Variety, Zegler was asked by a reporter about bringing a “modern edge,” to the film, to which she responded, “I mean, it’s no longer 1937.” She said that Snow White was: “Not gonna be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
The casting of Zegler was also criticized by people who were upset that she was playing Snow White as she is of Colombian descent. Much of the criticism was discriminatory and openly racist.
Zegler also faced criticism from Trump supporters following her reaction to his re-election in November, when she wrote on “May trump supporters and trump voters and trump himself never know peace,” a remark she later apologized for.
What People Are Saying
Clay Travis, founder of Outkick.com on X: “Disney is going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars on their Snow White remake. It’s going to be one of the worst profit losses of any movie in their history. And it’s Snow White, one of the most poplar movies in world history. Do you know how impossibly hard this is to do?!”
Community Notes & Violations on X: “Disney literally hired the most insufferable human alive to be Snow White.”
One social media user on X: “the og snow white isn’t even that good for y’all to be acting like this.”
One social media user on X: “There is a contingent of weirdo that will tell you that Rachel Zegler “ruined” Snow White, but as usual, those people are wrong. Her natural fairy tale princess energy elevates a fairly ordinary modernized retelling into something more. When she’s not on screen, you wish she was.”
What’s Next
While the film has been continually plagued by controversy, now that it has been released this will likely begin to die down. Discourse in the broader culture wars and upset over things being “woke,” however, are likely to continue.
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