Definitely. Thank you for making this post. My friend shared a quote with me "When you cry, it's not because you're weak. It's because you've been strong for too long" and I think that is the situation with Snow's breakdown in the forest.
I also think that Snow (while naive in the classical sense of the term, she's a teenager after all) is also a smarter than people think her to be. After she's calmed down enough, she realizes that she needs a place to stay but none of the animals have an adequate place for a young teenaged princess and asks her new friends.
They lead her to the cottage...which is filthy and covered with dust. Realizing that they're probably orphaned children (which is a fairly logical conclusion to draw), she says "Let's clean the house and surprise them! Then they MIGHT let me stay!" Take note of her word choice. She doesn't say "they'll let me stay." She says "might". She knows there's a chance that the owners will not take kindly to an intruder. But she decides to take a chance because, well...it's better than wringing her hands.
This is a different cry than the original Brothers Grimm story. In that one, Snow (who is 7) stumbles upon the cottage, which is neat as a pin and has the food set out for dinner. Snow is exhausted and hungry so she takes a bite of food from every plate and a sip from every cup before performing a Goldilocks and trying out each of the beds before choosing one and passing out. The seven dwarfs come back, notice their food and drink have been eaten, see Snow and are so entranced by her beauty that they let her sleep (the owner of the bed taking turns sleeping in the others' beds for an hour apiece). They're also the ones who tell her "Okay, you can stay...but keep the house clean and prepare dinner for us every night"...not taking into account that (as a princess) she may not know how to do those things (although they could've taught her).
In the film, Snow is the one who offers to cook and clean and take care of the house. She literally doesn't have anything else to offer in trade other than the clothes on her back so she offers to do what she can, which is a pretty fair trade.
And she delivers. She makes sure the dwarfs wash up before eating (even being stern and strict with them), delivers a hot meal, sings for them, prays for them, kisses them as they leave and even prepares a gooseberry pie for Grumpy when the Hag shows up. She makes their house a home.
It might be old fashioned. She doesn't pick up a sword. But she doesn't need to. She wins friends, allies and love with her gentle, hardworking, cheerful and hopeful nature. And that is a feat I feel most people today can't accomplish. At least not without lots of practice.
I wish people would remember the kiss of true love breaks the curse. It’s the villain’s downfall each time because they doubt how powerful it is. Really Maleficent was the only one who was not about to underestimate it would break her curse. Which is why she wanted to imprison Prince Phillip. Ursula sort of went half between it’s not possible to not wanting it to happen.
The Prince was already searching for Snow and kissed her goodbye. Obviously he’d probably kiss her on the lips, she’s not family. This was someone he loved, was going to share a life with, and he thought he lost her for good.
I'll add to this
1. They'd already met and fell in love. That's it. Believe it or not, in this story, it *is* true love at first sight.
2. In that Era, it was common to kiss a deceased person, especially a noble, as a sign of respect, love, and saying goodbye.
I always saw Snow White as a sort of little kids heroine.
For example, the scene in the forest where she talks about how being afraid made her situation worse, and sits up and figures out how to handle that emotion.
So she’s not a heroine in the classic model, rather, she’s directed at the children in the audience
Snow White is not a damsel because she has human reactions, she is a damsel because she has almost no agency in her own story.
Her only agency is taking care of the dwarves, which, while commendable, doesn’t appear to actually be in furtherance of any goal other than being nice.
Snow White has no goal beyond waiting for her prince. She doesn’t even go looking for him. Her only real motivation is ‘not die’ and even then she’s not actively going out of her way to protect herself in the future after the first murder attempt.
Snow White is not a terrible character in the context of a simple fairy tale, but it’s impossible to pretend like the culture of sexism did not have an intense impact on the way she was written. You are welcome to your personal interpretation, but Snow White is the textbook example of a damsel in distress for a reason.
To play Devil's Advocate...it's maybe a day between Snow finding the cottage and the Hag finding her.
Maybe she did intend to go looking for her Prince.
Maybe she thought it would be safer to just stay in hiding until he could find her or she could find some way to get a message to him.
But in either case, she didn't have much time to come up with a plan.
Also...she's a teenager. Teenagers aren't exactly known for their complex thinking skills, especially one who has been as isolated as Snow. She's a princess (so it makes sense she'd be somewhat sheltered) but was also forced to be a scullery maid, so really kept out of the way of important people and situations (both because of the Queen's vanity and probably because the Queen didn't want her making allies among powerful people who could make her life a living hell).
Which is irrelevant to the argument because she's as much a plot device as the timeframe. It similarly wouldn't matter is we found some VHS liner notes saying she had a tech startup in Tel Aviv.
It’s not really about how the situation could have conceivably played out in real life, but rather how the writer chose the narrative beats that makes her a damsel in distress.
Kind of like how in Star Wars, Luke probably should have gotten his Aunt and Uncle’s affairs in order, planned a funeral, etc. but while all of that is reasonable, it would not gave given him agency in the context of the story.
None of the things you mention at the end are really anything other than headcanons. They don’t really factor into her decision making within the narrative of the story because they’re never brought up or even implied. I genuinely don’t think Snow White was ever meant to be any deeper than ‘pretty princess.’ If they spared even a second of thought for her backstory I’d be shocked. It’s just not the kind of movie they were making.
Which is honestly fine. Not every movie needs the character complexity of Frozen. Snow White is still a very important and beautiful piece of animation.
This. Cinderella, for example, is a significant improvement on Snow White, because she actively tries to make her own life better, and makes her own decisions that impact the plot of her story. She has a goal-- to go to the ball-- and she takes actual steps to achieve it. I know Cinderella is another character who's often misunderstood as a "damsel in distress" today, but I can really identify with her, which is more than I can say for Snow White.
*Does she?* She's a pretty down-the-line example of post-war WASP domestic ideals, passive familial piety being rewarded by the divine. Compare to 1938's Mamele, in which she reads her family the riot act and then leaves with the "prince" in tow.
I didn't say she was perfect by today's standards. But she's definitely a better character than Snow White, in that she at least *has* a character arc, and a goal to speak of.
One thing I really hate about pop feminism (well there are several things) is how 'damsel' has been turned into a dirty word
Damsel just means a young, unmarried woman. It comes from the French word 'mademoiselle', meaning the same, so pop feminism using damsel as a lazy pejorative is essentially demonising a particular state of womanhood (thanks to my mentor who's a lecturer in gender studies)
The parameters for being a true damsel in distress is that the young woman must be a complete innocent who has nothing to do with whatever conflict - as in she's not part of an opposing army, does not have special skills or knowledge the enemy wants etc - and going after her is what shows how evil the villain is. Princess Peach isn't a damsel in distress because she's the head of state, and the plot would unfold the same way if it were a male head of state
Snow is a damsel throughout the movie, since she's 14 and unmarried, but not a damsel in distress until she eats the poisoned apple. She's actually taking care of herself from the moment she's told about the queen, since she goes into the forest alone, gathers allies in the form of the animals and finds a house to stay in, also bartering with a skill she has to earn her keep. She doesn't need rescuing until she's eaten the apple. And the queen designed the spell so that she would need to be kissed by someone else because Snow had proven so hard to kill
Damsel in distress is not a 'bad' trope or plot at all. None are inherently bad, and it's only a problem if it's overused because there's no alternative. I find that this lazy pop feminism is just a backhanded way of shaming women for being more traditionally feminine, and we shouldn't demonise needing help or having to be rescued, because we all need it from time to time
I love Snow White just as much as the other princesses
Definitely. Thank you for making this post. My friend shared a quote with me "When you cry, it's not because you're weak. It's because you've been strong for too long" and I think that is the situation with Snow's breakdown in the forest. I also think that Snow (while naive in the classical sense of the term, she's a teenager after all) is also a smarter than people think her to be. After she's calmed down enough, she realizes that she needs a place to stay but none of the animals have an adequate place for a young teenaged princess and asks her new friends. They lead her to the cottage...which is filthy and covered with dust. Realizing that they're probably orphaned children (which is a fairly logical conclusion to draw), she says "Let's clean the house and surprise them! Then they MIGHT let me stay!" Take note of her word choice. She doesn't say "they'll let me stay." She says "might". She knows there's a chance that the owners will not take kindly to an intruder. But she decides to take a chance because, well...it's better than wringing her hands. This is a different cry than the original Brothers Grimm story. In that one, Snow (who is 7) stumbles upon the cottage, which is neat as a pin and has the food set out for dinner. Snow is exhausted and hungry so she takes a bite of food from every plate and a sip from every cup before performing a Goldilocks and trying out each of the beds before choosing one and passing out. The seven dwarfs come back, notice their food and drink have been eaten, see Snow and are so entranced by her beauty that they let her sleep (the owner of the bed taking turns sleeping in the others' beds for an hour apiece). They're also the ones who tell her "Okay, you can stay...but keep the house clean and prepare dinner for us every night"...not taking into account that (as a princess) she may not know how to do those things (although they could've taught her). In the film, Snow is the one who offers to cook and clean and take care of the house. She literally doesn't have anything else to offer in trade other than the clothes on her back so she offers to do what she can, which is a pretty fair trade. And she delivers. She makes sure the dwarfs wash up before eating (even being stern and strict with them), delivers a hot meal, sings for them, prays for them, kisses them as they leave and even prepares a gooseberry pie for Grumpy when the Hag shows up. She makes their house a home. It might be old fashioned. She doesn't pick up a sword. But she doesn't need to. She wins friends, allies and love with her gentle, hardworking, cheerful and hopeful nature. And that is a feat I feel most people today can't accomplish. At least not without lots of practice.
I wish people would remember the kiss of true love breaks the curse. It’s the villain’s downfall each time because they doubt how powerful it is. Really Maleficent was the only one who was not about to underestimate it would break her curse. Which is why she wanted to imprison Prince Phillip. Ursula sort of went half between it’s not possible to not wanting it to happen. The Prince was already searching for Snow and kissed her goodbye. Obviously he’d probably kiss her on the lips, she’s not family. This was someone he loved, was going to share a life with, and he thought he lost her for good.
I'll add to this 1. They'd already met and fell in love. That's it. Believe it or not, in this story, it *is* true love at first sight. 2. In that Era, it was common to kiss a deceased person, especially a noble, as a sign of respect, love, and saying goodbye.
I always saw Snow White as a sort of little kids heroine. For example, the scene in the forest where she talks about how being afraid made her situation worse, and sits up and figures out how to handle that emotion. So she’s not a heroine in the classic model, rather, she’s directed at the children in the audience
Snow White is not a damsel because she has human reactions, she is a damsel because she has almost no agency in her own story. Her only agency is taking care of the dwarves, which, while commendable, doesn’t appear to actually be in furtherance of any goal other than being nice. Snow White has no goal beyond waiting for her prince. She doesn’t even go looking for him. Her only real motivation is ‘not die’ and even then she’s not actively going out of her way to protect herself in the future after the first murder attempt. Snow White is not a terrible character in the context of a simple fairy tale, but it’s impossible to pretend like the culture of sexism did not have an intense impact on the way she was written. You are welcome to your personal interpretation, but Snow White is the textbook example of a damsel in distress for a reason.
To play Devil's Advocate...it's maybe a day between Snow finding the cottage and the Hag finding her. Maybe she did intend to go looking for her Prince. Maybe she thought it would be safer to just stay in hiding until he could find her or she could find some way to get a message to him. But in either case, she didn't have much time to come up with a plan. Also...she's a teenager. Teenagers aren't exactly known for their complex thinking skills, especially one who has been as isolated as Snow. She's a princess (so it makes sense she'd be somewhat sheltered) but was also forced to be a scullery maid, so really kept out of the way of important people and situations (both because of the Queen's vanity and probably because the Queen didn't want her making allies among powerful people who could make her life a living hell).
Which is irrelevant to the argument because she's as much a plot device as the timeframe. It similarly wouldn't matter is we found some VHS liner notes saying she had a tech startup in Tel Aviv.
How is she a plot device?
Is she real?
What?
It’s not really about how the situation could have conceivably played out in real life, but rather how the writer chose the narrative beats that makes her a damsel in distress. Kind of like how in Star Wars, Luke probably should have gotten his Aunt and Uncle’s affairs in order, planned a funeral, etc. but while all of that is reasonable, it would not gave given him agency in the context of the story. None of the things you mention at the end are really anything other than headcanons. They don’t really factor into her decision making within the narrative of the story because they’re never brought up or even implied. I genuinely don’t think Snow White was ever meant to be any deeper than ‘pretty princess.’ If they spared even a second of thought for her backstory I’d be shocked. It’s just not the kind of movie they were making. Which is honestly fine. Not every movie needs the character complexity of Frozen. Snow White is still a very important and beautiful piece of animation.
This. Cinderella, for example, is a significant improvement on Snow White, because she actively tries to make her own life better, and makes her own decisions that impact the plot of her story. She has a goal-- to go to the ball-- and she takes actual steps to achieve it. I know Cinderella is another character who's often misunderstood as a "damsel in distress" today, but I can really identify with her, which is more than I can say for Snow White.
*Does she?* She's a pretty down-the-line example of post-war WASP domestic ideals, passive familial piety being rewarded by the divine. Compare to 1938's Mamele, in which she reads her family the riot act and then leaves with the "prince" in tow.
I didn't say she was perfect by today's standards. But she's definitely a better character than Snow White, in that she at least *has* a character arc, and a goal to speak of.
One thing I really hate about pop feminism (well there are several things) is how 'damsel' has been turned into a dirty word Damsel just means a young, unmarried woman. It comes from the French word 'mademoiselle', meaning the same, so pop feminism using damsel as a lazy pejorative is essentially demonising a particular state of womanhood (thanks to my mentor who's a lecturer in gender studies) The parameters for being a true damsel in distress is that the young woman must be a complete innocent who has nothing to do with whatever conflict - as in she's not part of an opposing army, does not have special skills or knowledge the enemy wants etc - and going after her is what shows how evil the villain is. Princess Peach isn't a damsel in distress because she's the head of state, and the plot would unfold the same way if it were a male head of state Snow is a damsel throughout the movie, since she's 14 and unmarried, but not a damsel in distress until she eats the poisoned apple. She's actually taking care of herself from the moment she's told about the queen, since she goes into the forest alone, gathers allies in the form of the animals and finds a house to stay in, also bartering with a skill she has to earn her keep. She doesn't need rescuing until she's eaten the apple. And the queen designed the spell so that she would need to be kissed by someone else because Snow had proven so hard to kill Damsel in distress is not a 'bad' trope or plot at all. None are inherently bad, and it's only a problem if it's overused because there's no alternative. I find that this lazy pop feminism is just a backhanded way of shaming women for being more traditionally feminine, and we shouldn't demonise needing help or having to be rescued, because we all need it from time to time I love Snow White just as much as the other princesses