Love them or hate them, Disney live-action remakes aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Disney is moving full steam ahead on the remakes, despite fans becoming increasingly frustrated with them. Most recently, Disney released its newest live-action remake, The Little Mermaid. In the months leading up to its release, Disney faced backlash for the movie, not as much because it was a remake, but more because Disney cast a black actress to play Ariel. Its next live-action — Snow White — is facing the same criticism for casting West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler in the lead role. Zegler is part Colombian and part Polish.
However, it’s not just Zegler’s skin color that has fans upset. For months, Zegler has been making comments about the new film — as well as the original animated one — that Disney fans aren’t crazy about. Zegler has admitted that the new movie will tell a more modern story, it will not just be about Snow White waiting for a prince to rescue her. Zegler even went so far as to call the Prince in Snow White a “stalker.”
Zegler, and co-star Gal Gadot — who will play the Evil Queen — have said that Zegler’s Snow White will have more of an active role in what happens to her and will make more decisions for herself.
Recently, TikToker Angie (@cosywithangie) took to the social media platform to call Zegler out for being a “pseudo-feminist” and criticizing Disney Princesses. Zelger has said that “it’s not 1937” and Disney has written a version of Snow White where the princess is working to be the leader she knows she can be. Angie argued that not every Disney princess wants to be a leader. She said that it’s okay to want to fall in love, get married, and be a homemaker.
@cosywithangie Just because a woman values something different, does not make her any less valuable. Some women want a career and not marriage. Some women want a marriage or family and not a job. Some women want BOTH. All are to be heard, and seen, and valued. Write stories about ALL women and depict them ALL as valuable and worthy, instead of trying to mold them into one specific image of what you deem worthy. Thank you. #snowwhite #snowwhiteliveaction #snowwhitecontroversy #disney
Angie also called out people who “completely write off” princesses because they fall in love. She mentioned Ariel, who is criticized for giving up her voice for a man. She also points out Cinderella, who she points out managed to stay kind in the face of years of abuse, but the only thing people care about is her love for the Prince. In another turn, she says that no one seems to criticize Hercules for diving into the Underworld and risking his life, so he can save the woman that he loves.
Another user who was not thrilled with Zegler’s comments was @nuttybutter96, who shared the interview of Zegler calling the Prince a stalker. She questioned that, if Zegler had such an issue with the original story, why did she agree to be in the live-action remake?
@nuttybutter96 If you hate the original this much, why would you want to make the remake. Pls make it make sense. #greenscreenvideo #snowwhite #rachelzegler #galgadot #disney #disneyliveaction #movie i hate this kind of #fakefeminism
Despite the backlash for her comments and her casting, Zegler has not backed down and is committed to being a Snow White she thinks fans will love. Snow White is scheduled to be released on March 22, 2024. The movie will also star Andrew Burnap as Jonathan (the Prince) and Ansu Kabia as the Hunstman.
