Politics Behind the New Snow White Movie

Variety

Snow White hit the box office on March 21, 2025. Since then it has only plummeted into bad ratings.

The new Snow White movie is not receiving the attention the Rachel Zegler, Snow White, and Gal Gaddot, the Evil Queen, had hoped for. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie has made $194.6 million. This may seem like a lot of money, but the movie cost $209 million to make, meaning the film has not even broke even yet, let alone make prfoit.

Instead the movie has been met with backlash, much of which has a political edge to it. In my final project, I chose to discuss the politics behind this new release film.

The first topic of discussion is the controversy surrounding the movie's star, Rachel Zegler. Zegler became famous back in 2021 for being cast as Maria in the 2021 West Side Story remake. Zegler is a phenomenal actress who has received accolades both on screen and on Broadway. So why has she received attacks over Snow White?

The biggest criticism has been about Ziegler's Colombian descent. In recent years, The Walt Disney Company has taken steps to become more diverse and inclusive of people of all backgrounds. Many of which believe this is a positive improvement for the company. However, people are quick to attack the casting of Zegler due to her Colombian roots. 

Beauty Crew

Zegler on the set of Snow White.

" 'The name of the movie is Snow White, okay?!' conservative pundit Ben Shapiro said in a YouTube video published six months ago that boasts about 700,000 views" (Time Magazine).

Ben Shapiro seems to speak for many conservatives with this statement. Thousands, maybe even millions, on the internet have had similar comments about the casting of the film.

Others disagree and believe that the movie's downfall has nothing to do with the casting of Zegler. 

Allison Willmore of Vulture, wrote an article entitled "I Don’t Know Why, But Snow White Is Totally About Lefty Infighting." 

Variety

Disney used CGI for the creation of the dwarfs.

The casting of Zegler is not the only problem people have had with the remake. Some believe the remake should not have been made at all due to the fact that a movie featuring "seven dwarfs" is politically incorrect.

Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones said on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast in 2022, " 'I was a little taken aback.' " 

He continued saying the movie was a, " 'f—ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together' " (Time).

It seems that a movie meant for Disney fans, many of which are children, has not only received bad rating but has sparked a political battle between the conservative and democratic parties.

A Change for Walt Disney

This is not the first time in recent years that conservatives have taken up issues with the Walt Disney Company. Disney has had made many progressive switches to the parks and their content. 

A newer Disney tv series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, features multiple LGBTQ+ characters. 

CNN

Stella McCartney designs new Minnie look.

In 2022, Disney released a new look for Minnie featuring a pantsuit. Disney said the reasoning behind this look was to promote Women's History Month.

However, this change sparked controversy for conservatives. Conservative commentator, Candace Owens, felt insulted by Disney's motives for this outfit.

Owens said on Jesse Watters Prime Time, "This is why people don't take these people seriously, they are taking all of these things, that nobody was offended by and feel they have to get rid of them and destroy them."

She continued saying, "Because they are bored, they are absolutely bored, they are trying to destroy fabrics of our society pretending that there's issues. This is so everybody looks over here, look at Minnie Mouse, don't look at inflation, Jesse. Look at Minnie Mouse, the world is going forward because we have got her in a pantsuit" (Forbes).

Does Politics Have a Place in Disney?

Personally, I don't like that Disney has become a political controversy on both sides of the political spectrum. I grew up in a time when Disney was about family fun and creating magic for children. I still remember meeting Minnie Mouse as a child at Walt Disney World.

Disney has moved so far away from Walt Disney's original plan for his park and company. Disney is a company that price gauges, hires college program "interns" that essentially pay to be there and now cannot stay out of politics. 

How have we gone from a company that was supposed to create magic for families to something that cannot stay out of politics and the news.

Alice By Heart

Sirens blared. "AH MY LEG MY LEG," a girl yelled. Screams filled the entire Blackbox theater. This abrupt and startling opening sent chills up my spine. 

This was just the start of High Point University's production of Alice By Heart. Alice and her wonderland friends truly took ME by heart throughout their 90 minute journey that spanned not only through wonderland but also through the bomb shelters of the World War II London Blitz. 

                                                                      Britannica and Drawn by John Tenniel
This is an illustration from the original novel.

One may wonder how the Blitz could ever relate to the iconic tale of Alice in Wonderland. However, the two go together remarkably well.

The story begins as we meet the characters who fill the bomb shelter. The title character, Alice Spencer played by Isabella Paolino, introduces us to these characters and hints at what these characters will be in the secondary world of wonderland. 

Alice Spencer, as you may have guessed, turns into the doe-eyed girl who falls down the rabbit hole in the classic novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. 

Alfred Hallam, Alice Spencer's close friend suffering from Tuberculosis, doubles as the White Rabbit. A Red Cross nurse later becomes the Queen of Hearts and Harold Pudding, a manic solider, turns into the Mad Hatter. These are just a few of the characters who grace the stage throughout this production.

Throughout the entire show, Isabella Paolino delivers a vocal performance that could rival any broadway star. She never misses a note and her smooth, angelic voice could not have been more perfect for the role. Her acting is held at the same caliber as she truly transports you making you feel immersed in her world.

Skylar U'Glay/HPU

Isabella Paolino and Jalan Royal spend time in rehearsal.

Her co-star who plays Alfred/The White Rabbit, Jalan Royal, equally matches Paolino's performance. He too has vocal control beyond his college years. Both Royal and Paolino perfectly portray the connection between their two characters, making me wish they had "more time," as they continuously mention throughout the play. I felt on the verge of tears as the two sang the second to last song, "Afternoon," in which Alfred leaves signifying his death from TB. 

The rest of the cast each delivered remarkable individual performance, but the cast's true power comes when they perform as a group. You can see the trust that had been built between the cast members, and it showed in the way that they worked off of each other. Some of the best moments of the show were when they all sang in unison. My personal favorite moment of the show was at the end of a musical number entitled "The Key Is" when the orchestra stops and the cast continues to sing the last few notes. It is a powerful moment in the show.

Skylar U'Glay/HPU

The cast rehearses the song "Brillig Braelig."

One thing that was really unique about this performance was that it was performed in the HPU Empty Space theater, which is a black box. This allowed the audience to feel immersed in the story by being just feet away from the actors. Director Jesse Galas' use of the space was incredible. The room felt large and filled with cast members when it needed to be but felt small and enclosed when the time was right. 

The talent of this performance spans from the creative team to the cast and crew. This performance is a must-see.

__________________________________

Want to go?

Performances run March 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. and March 30 with a matinee at 2 p.m.. 

Director: Jesse Galas

Music Director: Jaclyn Surso

Choreographer: Lindsey Howie

Obituary: Vincent Galante

Vincent Galante died away on December 19, 2024 at Ocean Medical Center in New Jersey. He was 91-years-old. He was a Catholic who was days away from celebrating Christmas with his family. 

Vincent Galante

Galante was born into an Italian family in Newark, NJ and had two brothers and two sisters. He attended St. Benedict's High School. 

He was a talented baseball pitcher who had hoped to play professionally one day. However, he suffered an injury that prevented him from doing so. He was always very active, taking up boxing for awhile and playing softball in his senior years. He lived in. 

Newark and Belleville until moving to Brick, NJ in 1987.

In 1951 he married his wife Margaret Jannicelli Galante. They spent over 70 years together and had four children together.  In addition to his jobs as husband and father, Galante also worked a few different jobs in his adulthood. He spent over 25 years as a cook in the national guard.

 In 1969 he opened Vinnie's Pizza in Nutley, NJ. From 1988 to 1999, 

he worked for Yogurt Plus, a shop owned by his daughter, Maria.

Galante had many different titles throughout his life including, son, husband, father, grandpa, great-grandpa and friend. His friends often called him Vinny. He was incredibly proud of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

His grandchild, Kenneth Beck Jr., was the first in his family to graduate from college. He was proud to watch his great-grandsons, Matt and Joe McGlynn, play baseball, his favorite sport. Galante also spent lots of time watching his favorite team, the New York Yankees.

He spent the last years of his life living with his wife in Greenbriar 2, a retirement community in Brick, NJ close to his three of his children and many members of his extended family. 

He is survived by his wife; his children Maria Beck, JoAnn Thomas, Robert Galante and Vincent Donald Galante; his 13 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and extended family members.

Ben Brantley: The New York Times Theater Critic

 "Yes, it is really that good." or  “Loved the shoes. Loathed the show. O.K., I exaggerate. I didn’t like the shoes all that much.” 

These are the words of Ben Brantley, the former chief theater critic for the New York Times.

Ben Brantley of the NYT

Ben Brantley was born in Durham, NC on October 26, 1954 and grew up in Winston-Salem. In my book, that basically makes him a local NC celebrity! 

He attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania where he received his B.A. in English. Brantley went on to have many different writing related jobs before going to work for the New York Times. 

He worked for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Elle magazines. For Elle, he reviewed films. He was also a freelance writer and the European editor, publisher and Paris bureau chief for Women's Wear Daily. 

He also interned at the Winston-Salem Sentinel and was an editorial assistant at The Village Voice. He did all of this before his biggest career move to join the New York Times in 1993.

As someone who is a journalist but also an actress, I have a great admiration for Brantley. It is not easy to be a critic, never the less one for an art as subjective as theater. For the 27 years he worked at the Times, he had the power to give a show public praise sending ticket sales soaring or criticize it so badly that it was doomed before previews were even over. 

Being in a position where your job is to criticize people is no easy task, and I hope that I can learn from his style and incorporate it into my pieces in opinion writing class.

Ben Brantley shares with the world his opinions on  
theater.

Above all, I admire Brantley's honesty within his work. In each piece he writes, he is authentic and shares his true feelings about the show he is reviewing. 

The two quotes I used earlier are from reviews Brantley did on two extremely popular broadway shows. The first quote, which included a praise, was from a review of Hamilton. The second quote saying he "loathed" the show was about The Little Mermaid. Both shows were beloved and have had strong broadway runs. 

Brantley, however, does not care. He shares how he genuinely feels about the show regardless of what the public thinks. I hope that as a journalist I can practice tuning out the public and sharing my own genuine opinion.

Trisha Paytas

 "I don't like to be the center of attention, except for when I want to be the center of attention," said internet star Trisha Paytas.

This quote is confusing considering Paytas seems to enjoy the spotlight after consistently posting YouTube videos for approximately 18 years.

Business Insider

Trisha Paytas drives a pink G-Wagon. Check out this car tour video she posted in 2017.

According to Business Insider, Trisha Paytas first created her YouTube account, blndsundoll4mj, in 2007. Today, Paytas' account has amassed 5.15 million followers, earning her global recognition for her videos that rang from mukbangs to broadway sing alongs. 

(For those of you who don't know, a mukbang is a video where a person eats a large amount of food while talking to their video viewers.)

I will start off by saying that I do greatly admire one thing about Trisha: her confidence. No matter the amount of hate that Trisha receives online, she posts whatever she wants and pushes past whatever the haters have to say about her. That is an admirable quality in anyone, no matter their profession or trade.

Although I am not a hater of hers, as I don't hold hate in my heart for anyone, I cannot say that I am a fan of her's either.

For starters, I am not a fan of mukbang videos. They have gained major popularity on the internet, but I do not enjoy watching them. I have no desire to sit there and watch someone, whether it is Trisha or anyone else, sit there and eat food. I love a good food review video, but I do not want to watch someone sit there for 10+ minutes eating every bite of their food. 

Some people who dislike mukbang videos are judgmental of the amount of food the video creators are eating. For me, I am a firm believer that people can eat whatever they want, whenever they want, and I hold no judgement. However, I just don't want to watch them eat, no matter how much food it is.

 Trisha Paytas makes a Pizza Hut mukbang on YouTube

I also dislike Trisha's broadway singing videos. I try not to judge anyone for their singing abilities. However, when someone constantly puts out videos of themself singing off key, wearing extravagant costumes and doing off moves, all while in their kitchen, it is hard not to critique in your mind. 

Check out one of her infamous videos singing "Burn" from Hamilton and you'll see what I'm talking about.

As a performer myself who does not have natural ability and has had to work hard to develop my singing voice, I somewhat take offense to the popularity Trisha has gained. There are so many talented singers in the world who will never be famous or known. Yet someone who cannot even sing on key has millions of followers from her singing videos and has made millions of dollars from her content creation.

Although I do not like her videos, I do have to applaud her confidence and ability to make millions off of weird videos eating lots of food and singing with no talent. Kudos to you Trisha Paytas.

Me in 500 Words

My First Dance Recital

I've been a performer for more than half of my life.

At the age of 6, my mom bought me a pink tutu, matching leotard and ballet shoes. During my first week of kindergarten, my mom sent me off to lessons at the dance school around the corner from my childhood home. 

I then went on to spend 10 years in dance lessons. I showed up week after week for lessons in tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, modern and most importantly to me, musical theater.

My first competition dance I ever performed in was a musical theater piece choreographed by a famous choreographer who worked on So You Think You Can Dance. He also happened to be our studio owner's son. This was my first encounter with musical theater, and my love only grew from there.

My passion for it grew to be so big that I wondered, “Why am I not involved in anything theater related?” It was then that I decided to audition for my 6th grade play. 

Fortunately for me, I was cast as Brave Pine, an Indian girl, in Peter Pan Jr. This role had approximately three lines and 15 minutes of stage time, but I was happy to be a part of my first theater production.

Peter Pan Jr. 2016

One thing about our middle school theater department was that it was about as far away from broadway as you could get. We had two teachers who ran the production, one whom I loved but had little background in directing shows and another who supposedly had a background in theater but you couldn't tell that by the horrible way she directed. 

However, my eight grade everything changed. The beloved, well-known and respected theater director from the high school right next door had stepped in to become our new director for our production of The Lion King Jr. I had heard so many wonderful things about Mrs. Krenek, or Mama K as the high school students called her.

Mrs. Krenek cast me as a lead dancer in the production. During our first rehearsal, I remember she made me feel so special, loved and valued, even though we had just met. 

She told me that she saw something special in me and wanted to give me more responsibility and allow me to choreograph some of our dance numbers in the show. I was ecstatic that I could use my years of dance lessons and competitions to make our production amazing. I also knew that first day that Mrs. Krenek was someone special.

The Lion King Jr. went by in a flash. During our few months of rehearsal, I became incredibly close with Mama K. She mentored me, taught me and showed love and respect to myself and my fellow cast and crew members. 

I had never been a part of a more positive and loving performance than the one Mama K created. Even after the show was over, Mama K and I remained close. I was filled with excitement knowing that in a few months I would get to work with her at the high school level when I joined my new school.

Mama K and I at The Lion King Jr.

However, that excitement soon ended.

May 18, 2018, Mrs. Krenek held a special workshop for all of the eight grade students. We all gathered together in a lecture hall to learn about the broadway musical "Hello Dolly," which all of the eight grade students were going to see. Shortly after the workshop began, Mrs. Krenek stepped into the next room for a second.

Moments later my principal was running down the hall with a defibrillator. Mrs. Krenek lay unconscious on the floor. What we didn't know at the time was that she was not just unconscious, but that she had passed away in that very moment.

The next 24 hours were some of the hardest of my life. The days, weeks and months that followed were not easy either. My life today is not the same because I suffer from post traumatic stress. 

There is also a deep, unfillable hole in my heart knowing that my mentor and someone who had a profound impact on my life will never walk earth side again. Today, I look back on the time I had with Mama K with awe. She taught me so much as both a performer and a person.

I often wonder how a woman I knew for less than a year could have had the biggest impact on my life.