Fairy Tale Friday: Yikes! Zipes!

Mmmm…mostly I want to talk about this quote from Jack Zipes with regards to the raft of fairy tale remakes this year. He feels that the recent films (specifically Mirror, Mirror and Snow White & the Huntsman) are "offensive" to women, because they highlight the conflicts between women, often to the point of physical confrontation. In particular, he doesn't like how they must symbolically "become a man" via wielding a sword or some such in order to defeat their enemies.

"The point I want to make is all of these productions are offensive to women,” he says. “In all the ‘Snow White’ films the conflicts are between the older and younger woman."

Let me preface my reaction by saying that I respect and admire Zipes as a scholar and author. He's a pro, and he's done more than almost anyone else I can think of in terms of legitimizing the fairy tale as a kind of literature that deserves serious discussion.

But this quote seems off-base.

The whole point of the Snow White fable is the power struggle between two women, and specifically the older woman and the younger woman. There are no significant male figures in this myth. The prince is nearly incidental: often unnamed, sometimes a total stranger to the comatose Snow White. Even the dwarves (dwarfs?)* frequently exist not as individual characters, but rather as a community to shelter the fugitive princess.

If the movies show Snow White picking up a sword and heading off to do battle with the evil Queen, well, perhaps that more to do with the medium's preference for action and iconic struggles (like a battle) over the more subtle trickery of the traditional narrative. In most versions of the story, the Queen disguises herself and tricks Snow White into accepting her dangerous gifts (tight laces, poison comb, poison apple). Does Snow White's continued naiveté during those encounters show her in a more flattering light than the movie versions? Why should using a weapon like a sword be "offensive" on the part of female characters when the Queen has always been shown to be fond of weapons like poison?

Quite possibly, Zipes' comments were taken out of context or presented in a different way then what he meant. The article is primarily interested in pushing every reboot of a fairy tale that still coming out this year, so there's that.

And Zipes aside, my biggest takeaway from the changes in the new Snow Whites in Mirror, Mirror and SW&tH is not that the women are shown to be different than their traditional analogues, but that really, they aren't. Defined by physical beauty, "goodness", and one's ability to attract a powerful male? Dang, that sure is a stride toward "becoming a man." Oh, wait.

*"Dwarfs are very upsetting!" (Points if you get the reference.)