"Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin
white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony"
I still remember my teacher reading these famous words in
primary school. I have always loved fairy tales. In fact, I love any sort
of magical story. Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a kid, just so I could
read my favourite stories again: Snuggle
Pot and Cuddle Pie, The Magic Faraway
Tree, The Lion, The Witch and The
Wardrobe... If only Harry Potter had
existed when I was a back then. Although it did bring a bit of magic back into
my adulthood, for which I will be eternally grateful to J.K. Rowling.
As the story often goes, I grew up. I got an education, went
to university where fairy tales got a bad wrap. Especially Snow White. I
couldn’t help getting into the feminist readings of texts, but I began to judge
every book or movie on its portrayal of gender. When it came to fairy tales I
always felt torn. I can’t help feeling like they are a part of our culture that
I don’t want to lose. Does that make me a bad feminist?
Recently I watched the Disney version, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with my niece. She is four, and hopes
to one day grow up to be a princess. She’s often asks her Mum (my sister), if she will be
okay when she marries the prince and goes to live the castle.
It’s not hard to see why fairy tales receive so much
criticism. But watching Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs with my niece I saw something I’d never seen in the story
before. Snow White in the Disney film is loved by everyone. She’s a bit like
Cameron Diaz’s character in There’s
Something About Mary. Anyone who comes near her just can’t help falling in
love with her. When the prince first notices Snow White he thinks she’s just a
servant girl working in the palace. She is so lovely that all the birds in the
castle flock to her as she draws water from the well, singing as she goes. Even
dressed as rags, she is radiant.
The dwarfs are equally besotted with her. They are essentially
seven dumpy little bachelors, just hard working miners with a bad case of
personal hygiene. And in exchange for shelter and protection, she takes care of
them; cleans their filthy house, cooks them a hearty dinner (before which, she
makes them have a bath) and keeps them company. She gives their lives meaning
when before things were dull. Even Grumpy can’t help blushing at her warmth.
It’s not just because of her beauty that everyone loves her,
it’s because of her personality. She’s nice. And not only is she nice, but she
is nice to everyone, regardless of their looks or their status. She’s
compassionate and caring to whomever she meets, completely unaware of her
beauty and the effect she has on people.
The Queen however, is described as beautiful, but very vain.
And no matter what she does, she can never be as beautiful as Snow White,
because she does not have her heart. Perhaps she is aware of this on some
level, because she orders the huntsman to bring back her heart as proof of her
death.
Sadly, the very qualities of kindness and compassion that
make Snow White so appealing are what lead to her ultimate demise. It’s the
Achilles heel that leads to her downfall, when she takes pity on the old woman
with apples at the door. The classic tragic hero. Except that it’s not a
tragedy, it’s a fairy tale, and fairy tales always have a happy ending! Good
always triumphs over evil.
So what do I hope that my niece will learn from Snow White?
That above all, it’s your personality that counts. Kindness and compassion are
valued over looks and being yourself is the most important thing. The Queen only
becomes ugly when her true self is revealed as a witch, whereas Snow White’s heart
never falters and she remains to the end, the fairest of them all.
By the way, when my niece asks my sister if she’ll be
alright when she moves to the castle, my sister replies, “I’ll be okay. As long
are you’re happy I’ll be fine.”
