As I child I've always loved the animated Walt Disney films, well pretty much all of them except for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves which I have always absoloutely hated with a passion. I don't think I've even been able to watch it all the way through without angrily switching the video player in disgust...yes video player as it really has been a long time since I last attempted to watch it. Even from a very young age I thought it was a pile of sexist drivel. I find the whole film pretty annoying, but the bit that I do find particularly frustrating is when the Queen sends the hunter/woodsman to murder Snow White but he is unable to carry out the deed as he says she's too pretty (who I'd like to point out is seriously lacking in the personality department). I'm not saying I'm condoning murder, but I'm not happy the fact it was her beauty that saved her...so if she had been a bit of an ogre it would have been okay to slit her throat? I would have been far more impressed if she had been witty enough to talk her way out, or if she used some nifty self defence moves. To say that appearance is everything, is this really the sort of message we want to be giving out to young girls or anyone for that matter???
Anyway enough of my ranting, from the sounds of it it looks like I should consider getting some serious therapy as I'm obviously more scarred by the whole experience than I'd imagined. The reason I even started thinking about Snow White is because I recently came across these amazing photos by Dina Goldstein.
Snowy
Belle
"These works place Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the Princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict. The '...happily ever after' is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues.
The project was inspired by my observation of three-year-old girls, who were developing an interest in Disney's Fairy tales. As a new mother I have been able to get a close up look at the phenomenon of young girls fascinated with Princesses and their desire to dress up like them. The Disney versions almost always have sad beginning, with an overbearing female villain, and the end is predictably a happy one. The Prince usually saves the day and makes the victimized young beauty into a Princess.
As a young girl, growing up abroad, I was not exposed to Fairy tales. These new discoveries lead to my fascination with the origins of Fairy tales. I explored the original brothers Grimm's stories and found that they have very dark and sometimes gruesome aspects, many of which were changed by Disney. I began to imagine Disney's perfect Princesses juxtaposed with real issues that were affecting women around me, such as illness, addiction and self-image issues." Dina Goldstein
