‘Snow White’ gives new, shallow twist on an old tale

When men go into battle, they take their strength and wits. When women go into battle, they take… When men go into battle, they take their strength and wits. When women go into battle, they take their beauty.

Or so the new twist on an old tale, “Snow White and the Huntsman,” would have you believe. While the story centers on the question “Who’s the fairest of them all?” and appearances play an inevitable role, the filmmakers may have taken the dark queen’s lament too much to heart.

This movie will leave viewers wondering: Are either of these powerful female characters really empowered at all?

The plot, unraveled in striking visuals, follows the perverse relationship between Ravenna (Charlize Theron) and her stepdaughter, Snow White (Kristen Stewart). Ravenna is a gorgeous and magical power-seeker who worms her way into men’s hearts before stealing their kingdoms. Snow White is the beautiful and pure-hearted daughter of one of Ravenna’s victims who has been locked in a tower since her childhood.

When Ravenna discovers she needs Snow White’s heart to stay beautiful and powerful, it gives the princess a rare chance to escape and run into the dark woods. When a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) hired to find Snow White decides to save her instead, the story of the two great beauties’ feud unfolds — both need the other to die in order to succeed.

And therein lies the problem. This entire fight is not really based on who should rule the kingdom but on some adolescent quarrel over who’s the prettiest. Aside from comments on the dark or light nature of their powers, most of the film’s characters can only talk about Ravenna’s and Snow White’s physical appearances. (Though such an angle on female power won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s read about Hillary Clinton’s headbands and power suits or any female Fox News anchor’s legs.)

Ravenna’s power lies entirely in her appearance, as demonstrated by her constant, literal need to feed on the youth of other women. Her magic correlates with her beauty — the older (read: uglier) she is, the more her powers wane.

She explains this by very bluntly recounting how her beauty took her from rags to riches. Kingdom by kingdom, she made kings fall for and marry her before killing them and taking over their thrones. This doesn’t do the film’s men any favors, either, suggesting they’re made hopelessly stupid with lust and willing to let their kingdoms suffer their dethronement for a physical relationship.

Of course, the movie implies that Ravenna’s maneuver would take smarts and charm, but we can’t respect her for working the system because she’s supposed to be evil. She doesn’t have the wide-eyed niceties of Snow White, nor is she chosen by prophecy. Even Ravenna’s tempting looks are no more than the result of a spell cast by her mother.

Essentially, without natural beauty, fate or naive kindness, Ravenna deserves to be dethroned. She’s a terrible, mean-hearted character, but that comes from the inherent unfairness of living in a place where all she has as a woman are her good looks. Perhaps it’s Charlize Theron’s engaging performance that even brings this issue to light — the queen is mesmerizing to watch.

Snow White poses a threat because she is “fair” ­— a winning combination of beauty and purity. This manifests itself in her abilities to heal illnesses, charm animals and consistently appear doe-eyed. That “fairness” makes her the only person who can defeat the queen, independent of demonstrating any real characteristics of strength or leadership. Aside from going after the queen and a single rousing speech, there isn’t much beyond attractiveness to make her special.

Add to that Kristen Stewart’s uncharismatic and inexpressive performance (to be fair, she is characterizing a young woman locked in a tower during her formative years) and you have a pretty lame heroine.

Snow White barely saves herself. Yes, she’s brave, but she’s also pretty helpless. It’s the Huntsman getting her out of trouble, men beguiled by her rank and beauty and a pre-assembled military that really get her anywhere. Conversely, the queen has total power over the only man currently in her life, her brother.

Snow White is good because she’s kind, pretty and allows men to help her. The queen is evil because she’s ambitious, has to work for those good looks and controls men. What a tragic world where a woman’s only power is her appearance, but she is damned for exploiting it.

Much like our own society’s, this fairy tale world’s problems stem from and are solved by a preoccupation with youth and beauty. Ravenna’s grip on her throne weakens with age (again, read: loss of good looks) and Snow White comes into her power as she comes of age and, conveniently, into her looks.

Inevitably, both characters, no matter how much power they gain, are disempowered. They’re totally reliant on how attractive people gauge them to be. And the men simply hand power to the prettiest woman.

Worse still, the film doesn’t grapple with these issues, but rather embraces this idea and perpetuates it. There’s some talk of “spirit” and “strength,” but everyone’s pretty much content to live in this shallow society.

Maybe Ravenna’s bitterness wasn’t as unjust as the filmmakers made it out to be, after all.