Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Carla and I watched Snow White and the Huntsman last night. Not great, but fairly good. It had an interesting subtext about victimization: How dishonorable men victimize women and then those women may, in turn, victimize other women and perpetuate the cycle. The Evil Queen is warped and motivated by fear of losing her beauty (which is power). She hates men for using women, but destroys other women in order to maintain her own beauty. The Evil Queen's creepy brother--an older man who lusts after the teenage Snow White and likes to watch her as she sleeps--wears a ridiculous schoolboy haircut which symbolizes his gross immaturity. The heroes are men who honor Snow White for who she really is and accept her leadership. Sadly and predictably, the film relies on the tried-and-true myth of redemptive violence to solve problems. It would have been much more interesting (and imaginative) if, instead of stabbing the Evil Queen and killing her at the climactic confrontation, Snow White (who understood victimization and was supposed to personify life and goodness) had extended earnest understanding, compassion and forgiveness to the queen, thus breaking the Queen's power and redeeming her through the power of grace. Snow White and the Evil Queen were really two sides of the same coin--resourceful women who overcame captivity, injustice and victimization. It was disappointing (and incongruent with Snow White's character) that the storyteller could only see violence as the way to bring about resolution.