Will you still love Snow White after "blackening"?

This seemingly simple question may require a different answer from today.

Disney is once again on the cusp:

On June 23rd, Disney announced that it would remake the live-action movie Snow White, and announced that this version of Snow White would be played by Rachel Zegler, a Latino actress with brown skin.

Many people feel dumbfounded when they open the photos of the starring role:

"This Snow White ... why is it a little dark?"

Snow White's skin color changed from white to red, and then to healthy wheat color.

"Why Snow White?"

This is not the first time Disney has caused controversy on casting.

On 20 19, Disney announced a remake of the live-action movie The Little Mermaid, with the black female singer Halle Bailey as the heroine Ariel.

The decision announced by Disney caused an uproar, and foreign netizens protested on Twitter #NotMyAriel#. Many people express incompetence when accepting this version of Ellie, which is very different from their own image.

The new mermaid with brown and black eyes is completely different from the traditional image of red hair and blue eyes.

Snow White with black hair and red lips became a Latin with brown skin. Ariel with red hair and blue eyes reappeared as an African-American with black skin.

This not only subverts people's inherent understanding of the image of Disney Princess, but also easily leads to the conjecture that "Disney is pleasing ethnic minorities":

"If Disney really wants to give more opportunities to non-white actors, aren't Princess and Frog, Romance in the Wind and Romance in the Sea all ready-made good stories? Why start with Snow White and the Little Mermaid?

To say the least, can't Disney create a new story of its own for ethnic minorities? "

Princess and Frog is Disney's first cartoon about the black princess, which has not been filmed yet. /"The Princess and the Frog" stills

As the most influential animation company in the world, Disney chose to do this, obviously with its own considerations:

On the premise of respecting the core elements of the story, adapting the existing classic princess IP can not only maximize the influence and promote diversified values, but also break through the image of Disney princess for the second time, making future stories more possible.

In fact, this is not the first time Disney has taken a "radical" move on the big IP.

Looking back at past movies, you will find that Disney almost always starts with big IP, whether it is to break through the single princess image, to deconstruct the traditional values in the story, or to promote diversified values:

The Sleeping Curse, based on the story of Sleeping Beauty, opened a "whitewashing road" for Disney villains. The real-life version of Aladdin was adapted from Aladdin's story, which directly made the princess take over the prince's script and added another member to the heroine series; The casting of the controversial real mermaid used ethnic minorities as the leading role in the previous ABC musical version to show more diverse values.

To some extent, compared with Princess and Frog, which has little influence, choosing the most classic IP such as Snow White and Mermaid for drastic adaptation can better highlight Disney's determination to try to subvert the tradition and make bold innovations.

It is understandable that Disney tries to show the public diverse values. However, people are skeptical about this, which does not mean that they are on the side of opposing pluralism.

Everyone's worry is not unreasonable. After all, before this, Disney had made many princess movies with the theme of ethnic minorities, and their reputation was not satisfactory:

Romance in the Wind is based on real history, but the story of the criticized princess is too different from history. The black princess Tijana in The Princess and the Frog has more and more white facial features in other films.

Many plots in Mulan do not conform to the cultural background of China; The legend of dragon hunting takes Southeast Asian culture as its selling point, but it just presents a witty hodgepodge. ...

What people are worried about is that Disney didn't even tell the exclusive stories of ethnic minorities. This time, it directly changed the image of ethnic minorities and whites. Isn't this another kind of laziness, and it won't be more self-defeating?

If the new version of Snow White and the Mermaid only covers a big IP shell, but actually tells the story of a white core, it will make ethnic minorities feel disrespected and considered "superficial more than practical".

Under the overwhelming criticism of the film itself, it is difficult to continue the discussion of diversified values.

Disney may have full sincerity, but the final result may not be satisfactory. /Mulan stills

"Why not shoot according to the original?"

"The characters don't conform to the original" is also a major controversy in this Disney casting.

In Andersen's original fairy tale, the queen pricked her finger at the window and made a wish "I hope her daughter's skin is white and red, and looks like snow and bright red blood";

In Disney's animated version of Snow White, Snow White is also the image of "lips as red as roses, black as ebony and skin as white as snow".

For many people, "white skin" is not a dispensable setting, but the biggest feature of Snow White herself. After all, Snow White is the only princess who directly writes her skin color in her name.

Under this premise, it is not impossible for Disney to tell a new story, but it must be rationalized to convince everyone.

How to introduce the origin of Snow White's name is bound to be a difficult problem that the new version of Snow White will face-perhaps the creative team can interpret "Snow White" as "a heart as pure as snow", after all, it can't point to a Latino lady and say "skin as white as snow".

Snow White, played by Lily Collins, has been recognized by many audiences because its appearance best conforms to the original image. /Still photo of Snow White Mirror

However, apart from Snow White, it is worth discussing whether most Disney Princess IP characters need to fit the original works.

I don't think the characters need to fit the original completely.

Of course, the core elements of the story still have to follow the original settings. The story of Mulan joining the army as her father is rooted in the cultural background of China, and the Day of the Dead in Dream Journey is also a unique traditional festival in Mexico, so it is naturally inappropriate for others to shoot it.

But for some unnecessary non-core or even completely overhead plots and settings, a brand-new adaptation can bring freshness to the audience and broaden everyone's imagination.

Frozen tells a brand-new story, which makes many viewers shine at the moment.

Another interesting point is that when people say that "characters should be suitable for the original", what we mean by "original" is more Disney cartoons that are popular all over the world than original fairy tales.

However, when Disney animation was created, in fact, the original princess image had been adapted for a round.

Mermaid is a good example:

In Andersen's fairy tale "The Daughter of the Sea", not to mention that the story background is a completely overhead underwater world, the author has no clear setting on skin color and hair color. The image of the little mermaid is actually "with eyes as blue as the sea, smooth and delicate skin and a fish tail".

If Disney animation decided to abandon the image of the blonde princess before and designed a bright red iconic hair color for Ariel, which is a second creation recognized by the public, then Disney live-action movies should also be regarded as a reasonable second subversion.

The story of the mermaid actually has a lot of room to play.

Many post-90s and post-00s children spend time with Disney cartoons.

Snow White with black hair and red lips, Ai Lier with red hair and fishtail, and Cinderella with blonde hair and blue eyes are not only "Bai Yueguang" animated characters, but also irreplaceable symbols and symbols in our childhood memories. No one can shake their position in our hearts.

"Mermaid can have many versions, but I only recognize Ariel with red hair." This personal feeling is obviously beyond reproach.

But for the immature 10, Disney Princess IP is a brand-new unknown territory. In the face of all the possibilities of the future princess image, perhaps we should also show more tolerance-

After all, the reason why fairy tales can be popular all over the world and win everyone's love is not that the author is Danish or German, but that they construct a story full of imagination, beauty and hope.

What can distinguish princesses is not their different skin colors, but those unique qualities and highlights such as kindness, courage, wisdom and independence.

All kinds of Disney princesses are isomorphic to our childhood.

"Can't Disney choose a better-looking princess?"

Disney filmed a live-action version of Snow White, and many people objected to the casting, but the voice of opposition was actually much milder than that of The Little Mermaid.

The latter is also facing a fierce "face value" dispute.

Haley Bailey, who was chosen to play the little mermaid, has a catfish appearance that does not conform to the mainstream aesthetics. Many viewers think that the starring face value has dropped sharply, which is unacceptable:

"It's not the color of her skin. I just think she's ugly." "It's also black. Isn't it sweet to switch to Rihanna and Zendaya? "

In Reuters's latest photo, Haley Bailey was dressed in a gunny bag, with a dirty braid and no painted style, and was scolded by the audience. She didn't shoot The Little Mermaid, but The Croods.

Some viewers think that the little mermaid can actually have a better candidate.

Mermaid's "face value is not enough" is the reason why many people think Disney is "perfunctory to the audience and responsive".

But is Disney's casting really so careless?

It should be noted that the live-action version of The Little Mermaid is a musical film-so is the live-action version of Snow White, and the original crew of the theme song of la la land and the King of Circus is specially invited. At first glance, it aims to focus on brand-new music and stories.

The factors that Disney needs to consider in casting must not be limited to appearance. Temperament, voice, acting and other conditions are also factors that cannot be ignored.

In the original work, the mermaid actually has no perfect setting, and there is a certain space for her appearance. In particular, the biggest feature of The Little Mermaid is its good singing skills, which also means that Disney will pay more attention to the actor's timbre rather than face value when casting.

This is the advantage of Haley Bailey. Haley Bailey is a singer and public lover of Beyonce, the pop queen. She performed well in the pop music group Chloe Halle. She has had a lot of musical performance experience before, and her strength in music is beyond doubt.

Not to mention that "face value is justice" and "whether it is an aesthetic hegemony to think that wide eye distance is ugliness" are open to question. To take a step back, even if Yan Yan can't convince the public, we should pay attention to Haley Bailey's performance in other aspects, such as whether she can conquer the audience with acting skills and make everyone feel "really fragrant".

Haley Bailey is good at music. She is a member of the pop music group Chloe x Halle.

In fact, Disney's previous remakes of several real-life princess movies have more or less faced the controversy of Yan value:

For example, the starring role of Cinderella in the real-life version is considered to be a big mouth, which does not conform to the gentle and lovely image in the animation; Aladdin, the real-life version, was once considered as "not outstanding enough" and did not have enough distinctive oriental characteristics.

However, after the film was released, many viewers reversed their views on the starring Yan value, thinking that they can still have a full sense of substitution for the story when watching the movie.

In contrast, the face value of the protagonist of the Little Mermaid is "not outstanding" in mainstream aesthetics, but many people have expectations for the strength of Haley Bailey. Judy Benson, who voiced Ariel in the animated version of The Little Mermaid, also actively expressed her support for the new film:

"When it comes to looks, when I voiced the little mermaid, it was not small. When I am singing the theme song, if you judge me according to my appearance, you will be disappointed with this song, but if you close your eyes and listen attentively, you will feel Ariel's soul.

No matter what we look like, race, color, height, fat or thin, our common goal is to tell a fairy tale well and establish contact with the audience, which is enough. "

Whether Snow White and the Little Mermaid, which has gathered great controversies such as "magic change", skin color and face value, can "turn over against the wind" will be seen after the film is released.

If the movie is good, who cares?