After watching "Miss Representation" in class over the last week, female empowerment and the role of females has been on my mind quite a bit. In the documentary, it was mentioned that even women in animated movies such as "Snow White" were portrayed as damsels in distress, wearing suggestive clothing, who needed to be saved by men.
This weekend, I watched one of the newer renditions of the classic story of "Snow White" called "Mirror Mirror." In this movie, you have the expected characters: Snow White, the evil queen, the seven dwarfs, and Prince Charming. The plot has characteristics similar to the classic movie, but one huge aspect that is different is that of Snow White's personality. In this movie, Snow White is no longer the damsel in distress. She is trained by seven dwarfs to fight for herself and in one scene, when she has to face the beast, she says to the prince and the dwarfs,"I can think of no greater group of warriors to lead into battle, but this is my fight."
In contrast with the 1937 Walt Disney classic, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the female protagonist has gone from a needy, semi-clueless female to a clever, vivacious female perfectly capable of defending herself. However, in the other rendition of "Snow White" that has been released this year, "Snow White and the Huntsman," the character of Snow White is even more different from the classic protagonist of Snow White. Portrayed by Kristen Stewart, this Snow White is a full on warrior with armor and weapons. Through this great change, we can see how our view on females has changed over the years. Though women still have ways to go, females have come very far from the once completely male-dependent persona that was so commonly portrayed in the years past.
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