Snow White and the Huntsman
Jun. 22nd, 2012 02:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleI loved Snow White and the Huntsman. The friend I went with only liked the first hour, and another friend who saw it opening weekend hated it, so I was expecting more varied opinion, but after collecting opinions, they're still the only two people I know who didn't like it. I thought about writing about the movie before, but I didn't really know where to start or what to say; I loved nearly everything about it, and it's the kind of movie I should have seen alone (and did see alone the second time) so I could just enjoy and revel in it without having to talk about it. But I've read a couple of things about it - a small handful of delighted fannish posts and a meta post - none of which get anywhere close to talking about the things I liked best about it. (In the interests of full disclosure, part of the reason I haven't written about the movie is that summer meltdown number one was about this. Even while I was in the midst of it, a part of me kept thinking, "Snow White and the Huntsman, really? This is what's going to send you into a meltdown?" It wasn't about the movie, of course, but about feeling like I was wrong, which I'm even less emotionally equipped to handle in the summer.) So here's a short list of some of the things I liked about the movie, and why I disagree with the tiny part of fandom I've seen talking about it.
The troll and the white stag. The moment the troll rose up behind them, I was waiting for it to recognize Snow White and stop. Both the troll and the stag are a way of showing us that the land itself recognizes her as the rightful queen. I keep thinking "the rocks and stones themselves would start to sing" when I think about it.
Death and resurrection. That quote in the previous paragraph is from Jesus Christ Superstar, which brings us right to this point: I find Christ figure/mythic hero stories (except for The Matrix) fascinating, and I loved that this movie had a Christ figure who was a woman. Snow White dies, is resurrected, and ushers in a new era. I also liked the symbolism of her gorgeous white dress with no shoes for her resurrection.
The fairy tale. I loved this movie as a fairy tale. There's a possible critique to be made that even in a movie about women, the Huntsman is the one who gets most of the character development. But of course he does: Snow White is Good, Ravenna is Evil, and the Huntsman is the human caught in the middle. Even beyond that, I found that I didn't have any problems understanding Snow White or Ravenna as people, but then, I've read a lot of fairy tale retellings and am used to their style.
The contrast between William and the Huntsman as past and present/future. One of my absolute favorite moments in the movie is when Snow White says, "We were children," to William and crosses the stream to the Huntsman. The plot hinges on Snow White coming of age, and I love that she explicitly makes that distinction. I also like the contrast in how they're involved in the Snow White-Ravenna struggle: Ravenna takes on William's guise to trick Snow White (and how much did I love the old woman being the reality and not the disguise in this version?) and believing that is what leads to Snow White's (presumed) destruction. When she kills Ravenna to complete the redemption of the kingdom, she does so with the move the Huntsman taught her.
That last point brings us to where I disagree with fandom: you're going to have to do a lot of work to make me believe a threesome. William is the past; he and Snow White don't actually know each other as they are now. I might believe it if a significant portion of the story were about Snow White and the Huntsman and William getting to know each other as people. Even then, you would have to work to convince me; I love the Queen in love with the competent commoner plot, so that's the romantic happy ending I want for the characters.
The troll and the white stag. The moment the troll rose up behind them, I was waiting for it to recognize Snow White and stop. Both the troll and the stag are a way of showing us that the land itself recognizes her as the rightful queen. I keep thinking "the rocks and stones themselves would start to sing" when I think about it.
Death and resurrection. That quote in the previous paragraph is from Jesus Christ Superstar, which brings us right to this point: I find Christ figure/mythic hero stories (except for The Matrix) fascinating, and I loved that this movie had a Christ figure who was a woman. Snow White dies, is resurrected, and ushers in a new era. I also liked the symbolism of her gorgeous white dress with no shoes for her resurrection.
The fairy tale. I loved this movie as a fairy tale. There's a possible critique to be made that even in a movie about women, the Huntsman is the one who gets most of the character development. But of course he does: Snow White is Good, Ravenna is Evil, and the Huntsman is the human caught in the middle. Even beyond that, I found that I didn't have any problems understanding Snow White or Ravenna as people, but then, I've read a lot of fairy tale retellings and am used to their style.
The contrast between William and the Huntsman as past and present/future. One of my absolute favorite moments in the movie is when Snow White says, "We were children," to William and crosses the stream to the Huntsman. The plot hinges on Snow White coming of age, and I love that she explicitly makes that distinction. I also like the contrast in how they're involved in the Snow White-Ravenna struggle: Ravenna takes on William's guise to trick Snow White (and how much did I love the old woman being the reality and not the disguise in this version?) and believing that is what leads to Snow White's (presumed) destruction. When she kills Ravenna to complete the redemption of the kingdom, she does so with the move the Huntsman taught her.
That last point brings us to where I disagree with fandom: you're going to have to do a lot of work to make me believe a threesome. William is the past; he and Snow White don't actually know each other as they are now. I might believe it if a significant portion of the story were about Snow White and the Huntsman and William getting to know each other as people. Even then, you would have to work to convince me; I love the Queen in love with the competent commoner plot, so that's the romantic happy ending I want for the characters.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-25 01:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-25 09:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-27 02:41 am (UTC)I never seem able to put down my thoughts in meta form anymore, but you've touched on a lot of things I loved about this movie and some I hadn't even thought about, including the resurrection analogy. I adore fairy tale retellings and adaptations and I enjoyed this one a lot, definitely more than expected.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-29 03:25 am (UTC)I'm glad this hit the same things you liked! I also adore fairy tale retellings, and I found this one very satisfying. (But fair warning: stay away from Mirror Mirror. The first hour is fun, and then it hits a point where it's suddenly sexist and racist, and not subtly, but in really cringe-inducing ways.)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-02 06:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-02 07:09 pm (UTC)