Fairy Tales 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

the Queen

In the Disney film, the Queen is explicitly stated as being vain and jealous, and more importantly, a stepmother. Likewise, in the 1916 version, there is a blatant disclaimer that the Queen is not the real mother. While the Queen is clearly the antagonist of every version, her characterization differs significantly across the films.
In the 1916 version, the Queen has a name to distinguish her character. Rather than being the sole source (or even the main source) of evil, Queen Brangomer has an evil witch helper, further removing genuine peril from within the family circle. This stepmother's evilness is simply the result of a stupid, foolish woman's dark dealing with a non-familial witch. Furthermore, this woman is not born attractive, but becomes beautiful (aka possesses long, thick hair) with the witch's help.
While the other movies begin with the audience's loyalties tied to Snow White, Disney's Snow White's first frame sets up the audience to view the story from this villain's perspective.
This Queen is a film vamp, with her femininity sexualized by her curvy figure, dark eyes, and red lips. In this version, beauty equates to sexual threat, and the Queen (who is arguably more physically beautiful than Snow White) only views the girl as an enemy when she is a capable sexual being.
In the 1961, it is evident that the Queen inspires fear in her subjects, exemplified by her handmaid who has no choice but to obey. This Queen, unlike the others, is blonde and (in my opinion) the only queen who is believably not "fairer" than Snow White. She is not a witch nor does she have a witch helper. Instead, she simply dons a disguise using her own craft, rather than enlisting the use of the dark arts. This Queen's ending is one of psychological torture rather than of physical murder, unlike its 1916 and Disney counterparts.



No comments:

Post a Comment