Snow White and
the seven Dwarfs portray women as needing to be saved and protected. We can see
this through the presence of men and their protecting Snow, in the case of the
Dwarfs and saving her, seen through the prince.
Although the main character is female the movie upholds the stereotype
of men being dominate, this is seen in the beginning when Snow is singing about
falling in love with a prince. Although Snow appears to be in control and living
happily the movie demonstrates her need for a man and soon after meeting a
prince she is convinced she is in love with him and he will save her and take
her to his kingdom, she is demonstrating that she feels she needs a man to
solve her problem and to live "happily ever after." Another instance
where we see male dominance is the scene with the dwarfs leaving for work, as
they say good bye they tell her to lock the doors and not let anyone in,
showing their dominate position and that they are wise, which we can deduce
form their older looking appearance and the way they speak as if to a child
telling her right from wrong, she promises to listen. Later it is affirmed that
the dwarfs were right to be concerned because naive Snow lets in the evil queen
and this is the reason she will need saving.
The final instance we can see that men dominate is the final scene where
the prince comes to Snow's rescue, this illustrates her need for a Man to save
her, because only true love's kiss, from the price she’s convinced she loves,
will save her. The presence of the Prince and the dwarfs shows that men are the
dominate force because women are naive and need protecting and saving.
Ariel,
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you analyzed Snow White. I like how you used the gender/feminist theory to show how she needs to be protected. This not only shows that she needs to be protected, but it also shows that she is almost a weak character. Since she needs protection all of the time, she has no control or power, therefore making her weak. You could also tie in some of the cinematic elements into this analysis of Snow White by using examples such as filming Snow White using high angle shots to show just how weak and naive she really is. I also really liked how you brought in specific scenes in order to show just how much she needs to be protected and I liked that you used examples all the way throughout the movie to show that this idea happened more than once. It just shows how much Snow White needs protection and this can be looked at as a universal idea, just like you said, such that this movie portrays women as needing to be saved and protected. Good job :)