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In Defense of Disney
Also, even though it's mild, trigger warning for discussion of abuse.
I recently came across an indictment of Disney Princesses, based on the following:
Now I know that it’s just a joke, and that the movies aren’t perfect, and that perhaps the fairy tale is a little outdated, and really I should just let it go. And I know that Disney has its issues, deep, serious, let’s-discuss-this-at-length issues. But the aforementioned are not those issues, and also, Ariel is my precious. It gets my hackles up whenever she’s insulted, and I will defend her. It also annoys me that saying the ‘lesson’ or ‘point’ of any of these movies, which is sort of what this image boils down to, is what a girl should or should not do to get a man. That misses the mark entirely; the lesson/point of all Disney Princess movies (and, in fact, many fairy tales) is that True Love ™ conquers all. If your magically magical one true magical love is out there somewhere, you will eventually meet, and absolutely nothing can stop you two from being together. And that is what people, in stories and in real life, sometimes have to believe in, in order to keep on keeping on. And there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
Let’s look at this on a case by case basis.
Character: Snow White, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Criticism: “Her burgeoning sexuality is a threat to another woman, so she’s killed. Her only asset, physical beauty, is what saves her in the end.”
Response: Ok, first of all, have you even seen Snow White? Her ‘burgeoning sexuality’ isn’t really the issue. Her stepmother is unbalanced, consumed by jealousy, and you know, evil. Her thing happens to be ‘fairness’ whatever that means, and she’s pissed that Snow is ‘fairer’ than her. This has nothing to do with Snow’s sexuality, unless by that you mean that she’s finished puberty, and moved out of the awkward phase, in which case, all right, fair point. But her stepmother isn’t actually threatened by it, except in her own head. It’s not like Snow’s being pretty is going to win her her stepmother’s throne or power or anything. (Continuity point: Who rules Snow’s kingdom after she marries the prince and the Queen is dead?)
But poor word choices aside, the first problem whomever made this image seems to have is that a girl coming into her own is presented as threatening; this is something we could probably all agree is bad. However, this isn’t presented in the movie, even in 1937, as something A. normal, B. acceptable, or C. what society should be doing. It’s presented as the delusion of one evil, messed up lady. Who is the villain. If anything, it teaches the audience that killing people because they’re prettier than you is wrong and bad and will result in you being chased off a cliff by woodland creatures.
The second issue here seems to be that being hot is the only thing that Snow White has to offer, and that’s what saves her, and that’s bad. Yes, possibly, presenting a heroine who has no assets other than beauty is annoying, but it hardly seems right to condemn her for being saved by it. This issue also, I think, misses the crucial ambiguity of the word ‘fairest’. In general, that word means ‘prettiest’, but this is a fairy tale; it therefore probably refers to Snow’s inner goodness as well. Snow White is fairer than the queen not only outside, now that her sexuality has burgeoned, or whatever, but inside as well. The queen is only fair on the outside; therefore, once Snow’s outside fairness matches the Queen’s, her inside fairness outweighs the Queen’s, and the trouble starts. So really, what Snow White has, and is saved by, is not only her pretty face, but also her innate goodness. Saying that her physical beauty is her only asset is not only insulting, it’s flat out wrong. It’s been a while since I saw it, but I’m pretty sure the huntsman lets her off both because of her looks and her personality.
Now, to be fair, Snow White has always annoyed the CRAP out of me, and being saved just because you’re too pretty and nice to kill has always seemed like a really convenient way out of that mess, but teaching kids that if you’re good, sometimes people will be good back to you doesn’t seem like such an awful thing. Because sometimes they won’t (the Queen), and sometimes you’ll have to make bargains with them (the dwarfs) but in general, being nice is a better plan (you get the prince) then being evil (again: cliff).
As for the prince, in the Disney version at least, he actually meets Snow and has an interaction with her before the big kiss at the end, so again she is saved by her personality as much as her looks. If she had been a total bitch to him, would he have bothered just because she was hot? That’s a debate we could have. And anyway, this is the magic of love here. The point isn’t that he kisses her because she’s the fairest in the land, it’s that he kisses her because he is her one true love, and not even magical death/sleep can keep them apart. Which is why the kiss breaks the spell. If any other fool with a penis had thought she was hot and kissed her, it wouldn’t have worked.
Now, let’s talk about the real issue that I think underlies the problem many people (including the image maker) have with Snow White (and many of the other Disney princesses): they don’t do anything to change their situation. They just sit around and wait for a prince to come along and save them, which is seen as sexist, because women are supposed to be passive, obviously. This is 1. Wrong, 2. Ignoring certain facts, and 3. Insulting.
It’s wrong because what, exactly, should Snow White have done to change her situation? She’s probably got three options:
A. Make herself less fair, and therefore less threatening
B. Kill the Queen, or somehow remove her from power
C. Run away
A. To be less fair, Snow would have to either be less nice (not likely, nor admirable) or less pretty. Skipping over just exactly how one would make oneself less pretty (I imagine acid would be involved) why should she have to? I think this option sucks, and I don’t think anyone would have lauded her for doing so. Also, I don’t think Snow even knew why her stepmother hated her, so it’s a moot point in any case.
B. Let’s face it: Snow White is not the kind of person who would resort to murder. (Is murder really a good answer anyway?) And that is all right, because not everyone can be a badass, nor should they have to be. Some people are just good, and don’t have it in them to kill others. As for getting the Queen out of power, I don’t know how one would do that either, but I imagine it would involve leading a rebel army of pissed off birds and mistreated peasants. That actually sounds like quite a good story, and I would love to read it, but again, I don’t see this version of Snow White going that route. That is, assuming the Queen is a bad leader, and there is a band of mistreated peasants to work with. Maybe she’s only an ass to Snow; we don’t know, we don’t see her interact with a lot of people. And even if there is such a band, how would Snow find them? She’s a palace slave. Would they accept her as their leader, or even let her into the group? It’s all very intriguing (I would read the shit out of it) but it’s also all speculation.
C. Most people probably think she should have run away. But where would she have gone? She’s a princess/slave, she probably doesn’t have a lot of options for a career, or a place to go. Maybe she didn’t want to leave her home, or maybe she was a victim of extreme and prolonged abuse, and it never occurred to her to run away, or she didn’t think she’d be able to do it. It’s not that abuse victims are weak or passive, they’re VICTIMS. I don’t know enough about the psychology to go on at length, but I’m pretty sure that part of being told you’re worthless and stupid and lazy and ugly and whatever, day in and day out, for most of your life, is that you start to believe it. And believe that you have no other options, which, let’s face it, was probably true in her time period. (It’s not like she could just go get an apartment and a job). So, she just stays in the castle and wishes for a prince, which is more or less like wishing for a million dollars today; not terribly likely, but a common dream. Also, she’s starved for affection; maybe she just wants someone to love her. Who are we to judge how an abuse victim deals with her abuse?
Furthermore, when Snow finally does escape, it’s not like she just sits down in the forest and thinks, “surely someone will come alone and rescue me!” She runs in a blind panic, yes, but she eventually finds a house, and lets herself in, and then makes a deal with the dwarfs that she can cook and clean for them (which are more assets she has, besides being good and pretty) and they will let her live in their house and eat their food. It’s a good deal, and she is really happy there, though perhaps still wishing for someone to love her. Not that the dwarfs don’t love her, but it’s not the same and we all know it. And don’t start with the housework thing. Those are the skills she has, so that’s what she offers. It’s not like she has experience mining or hunting or something. Plus, house cleaning is what the dwarfs need; it’s not like offering them diamonds (had she had any) would have gotten her anywhere.
Finally, condemning a woman for using what she has, no matter what you may think of those things, or complaining because an abuse victim didn’t escape their abuser or fight back, is wrong and insulting to both the fictional and real characters in these situations. Even if Snow White had only had a pretty face, and that is what had saved her in the end, there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT, because her life sucked, and she had every right to use her beauty to get away from it.