The magic mirror of Snow White has been obscured by a box-office denting series of missteps, plunging the children’s favourite into bumpy terrain with controversies over feminism, racism, dwarfism and unbelievably the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Much appears due to lead actress Rachel Zegler, Golden Globe winner for West Side Story. Admittedly she had to fend off offensive criticism about Snow White being played by a Latina actress, but she did not help herself by launching out onto comments about the story of Snow White and her Prince needing to be brought up to date and made more feminist. And being outspoken in her comments against Trump and pro-Palestine, with Gal Gadot who played the Evil Queen being an Israeli.
The seven dwarfs were also reimagined for the movie, with one actor with dwarfism along with six other non-dwarf actors. That strategy was criticised as being overly politically correct, as well as potentially taking away acting opportunities from the dwarfism community.
And all this fuss over a children’s fairy tale. See previous post Grimms fairytales. 1st January 2025.
Principal Photography for the movie started on 7 March 2022 having been delayed by the pandemic, with a fire damaging the set soon after. Not surprisingly the start chart has an accident-prone, hostile and argumentative Pluto conjunct Mars Venus – so it was always going to be an aggravated production. There is also a Taurus Moon and Uranus square Saturn in Aquarius which also hints at tensions and rifts.
Rachel Zegler, 3 May 2001 9.30 am Hackensack, New Jersey (rectified), is a Sun Taurus sextile a Cancer Ascendant inconjunct Pluto on the focal point of the yod – so not a slouch when it comes to throwing her influence around, with a tendency to go to extremes and be overly forceful (coercive) in putting her views across. Her Mars in outspoken Sagittarius is inconjunct Saturn and square her Moon so she will be inflammatory.
Tr Neptune and Saturn squaring her Mars through this May and on and off into early 2026 will dent her confidence and bring a few failed plans. Tr Pluto heading for her 8th and tr Jupiter moving through her 12th will hint that taking a backseat for a while might be sensible.
Her relationship with Disney films, 16 October 1923, who will not be mightily pleased at having their entertainment investment dragged into screeching arguments, is fraught and will be so for a while.
Gal Gadot, 30 April 1985, is another determined Sun Taurus, even more so with her Sun opposition Pluto and square Jupiter; and her Mars in Gemini on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune. Her overly-assertive Mars is conjunct Zegler’s Saturn for an undertone of dislike and a definite clash. Their relationship chart has an unbudgeable composite Pluto square Saturn which is being jangled by tr Uranus in hard aspect across the launch publicity and through the year.
It’s not that the issues are not important. But loading down what should be escapist entertainment from global and political horrors with luvvies demanding a platform is a bit much. Never mind Zegler biting the hand that feeds.
I think why Disney are remaking some of the films is to get “extension” on their IP, ie dresses of those Disney princesses, those hair styles etc. Or to get more returns on their existing IPs.
Another movie, Alice in Wonderland with Mia Wasikowska, was heavily criticised by nay-sayers. Flaming torches like “it’s a gamer’s movie” were inappropriate. Well, it was a make-believe dream, yes or no? And transforming the cats into the queens, well, quite the story line. Imagination!
Please excuse cynicism but these are cash ins. Take something well loved and popular from the past and remould it in the hope of a big pay day. Also, London theatre for example has been full for years of very popular old TV shows, old movies, musicals etc remoulded to trade on their popularity. There seems very little creativity involved just hack businessmen cashing in.
For me the problem is Hollywood executives have become increasingly risk-averse. They see continuously reimagining old films or extending established series (e.g. Indiana Jones, Star Wars) as an easy way to make money.
Often they are relying on the nostalgia/emotional connection of those who loved the originals and then wonder why those same fans are up in arms when changes are made. Witness the recent complaints about Shrek 5 where the changes aren’t even woke or PC.
It all feels creatively stale and I wonder (hope) if Neptune into Aries might see a fresh start creatively with some risks being taken.
Could be, because Neptune is film, movies, glamour, right?
Perhaps it’s worth looking at an original Hollywood chart to understand the current dearth of creativity, GD. But in general I just don’t watch Hollywood studio made films, since they don’t satisfy me, but at the risk of sounding a bit ‘la-di-da’, much more interested in Independent cinema or what is coming out of South Korea. China’s film industry is booming too. Hollywood is dying. There’s going to be a wealth of British cinema coming, my niece works in film and special effects and tells me that there’s huge investment in the UK industry, a significant resurgence with production spending a 31% increase from the previous year, solidifying its position as a world-leading destination for filmmaking. Neptune in Aries will be good for the UK industry that respect.
Marjorie wrote a little about Hollywood in the wildfires post although that may have been referring to the area rather than the film studios as it’s dated for 1887 … https://star4cast.com/los-angeles-wildfire-out-of-control/
I used to love film but these days the past decade has been endless reimaginings and super-hero films – with just a few standout films. If I’m looking through the TV guide, I don’t bother with films from the 2010s unless they have excellent reviews (just enjoyed 2017s The Death of Stalin this past week which is hilarious)
Thinking back to the 80s when I was growing up – British films were rare and revered. There was always a sense that British films were made for quality of storytelling over making money although they obviously wanted to do the latter. Hollywood has increasingly become about the profit over the story.
One of the turning points was Spielberg’s Jaws which I believe is considered the first blockbuster movie and began pushing “high concept” – can you explain the movie in a sentence. It was released on June 20th 1975 which is just a few months before Saturn’s ingress into Leo in the September. Saturn in Leo would fit a loss of creativity with a focus on profit while Uranus also moved into Scorpio the same month so that may also be relevant.
I feel for Disney to be fair. It was the same with The Little Mermaid that was also marred by racism over the casting of the lead but Disney went for the best singers for the roles. Sadly we live in an online world where everything is treated as being ‘woke’ when the reality was the two best singers won the part.
I dislike remakes at the best of times and really, there was no need for a Snow White remake – the original animation is unsurpassable in my humble opinion – nor was there any reason to update the story, the narrative of the original film didn’t depart much from the Grimm version.
I drew up a chart for the first movie (premiered 8pm, 21 December 1937, LA) and there are a number of inconjucts and 2 Yods, as well as planet placements either at the end of signs or at 0 degrees of signs there are. This may be unsurprising, seeing as the film was a trailblazer since it was the first ever feature length animated film in full technicolor. Nor was it expected to become the massive success that it did. It’s reckoned that the film has made $2,297,000,000 in total since its premiere back in ‘37. So it achieved many firsts, winning awards for best musical score, an honorary Oscar as well as launching a golden age of animation.
So there’s a Yod on 12th house Pluto at 29 Cancer, with Sun 29 Sagittarius and Mars 0 Pisces. A Yod on the 1st house Moon at 0 Virgo (Snow White is a young, innocent maiden), with Jupiter 0 Aquarius and Saturn 28 Pisces (currently Neptune is transit that Saturn), the NN at 4 Sagittarius, along with the Part of Fortune 11, an exact conjunction of Venus and BML (most appropriate for a film with a female protagonist as well as a female antagonist) and the 29 degree Sag Sun, all in the 5th, perhaps because the film was aimed at children. Uranus in Taurus 10 degrees in the 10th, since the film was seen as highly innovative at the time. All these degrees have been triggered with the recent ingresses and final degrees of the outer planets.
I must say, though I understand why people react badly to clumsily inserted ‘issues’ in movies and entertainment in general, I’m so weary of the word, ‘woke’ which has now cast it’s insidious net so widely and is used so lazily, it’s become a way of demeaning those who want to understand or show empathy or support towards any and all marginalised groups, even women as a whole.
@VF, I’m totally with you on “woke,” a favored right-wing meme.
What’s wrong with demonstrating a little sensitivity, kindness and compassion?
We’re seeing the reverse right now coming out of the Trump administration, which is showing intentional cruelty, meanness, viciousness and greed.
Is that what we want in life? I don’t think so.
Is there an astrological marker for deliberate cruelty? In this case it’s all allegedly in the name of fairness for one privileged group.
Nicole, Elon Musk recently said in an interview that he believes “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” That to me is chilling, nihilistic and horrifying, for without empathy we would have no civilisation at all.
I don’t know exactly how astrology would reflect that, but it seems very Uranian to me. The cruel, pitiless face of the planet. Of course it’s relevant that both men grew up with tyrannical, cruel fathers.
These remake people and film stars think their world view is so much more important than the classic old films
that weren’t caught up in the politics of the moment . Cold hearted narcissists , Are they influenced by the worst of Aquarius?
I dread to think what Disney will do with James Bond.
@Val, James Bond franchise was bought by Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, not Disney. Disney is a publically owned corporation, and does have subsidies that make serious movies with adult themes. They also own ABC. Portfolio built over decades. Bezos in comparison is a “newbie”.
Ah. Thank you for the clarification. It will be interesting to see how it morphs:)
But in its original form, this is not a simple children’s story – it is a much darker fare?
My thoughts are that I have a strong dislike for these remakes, although I did just see the trailer, and I must say it doesn’t look half bad. The only criticism I would aim at it is the horrendous production design and visual feel of the film, the kind of which has been around for decades. It is this smudged, creamy, nasty look and feel to the imagery, only made worse by hyperrealistic super-HD cameras. The look is everything: from sets, costumes, to lighting and all the rest, as well as the same kind and visuality of CGI in every film ever.
And this like Snow White no. what in terms of live-action remakes? There were not that long ago those other two high-profile versions, one with Julia Roberts and the other one with Charlize Theron.