Semiotic Adaptation Thesis: Snow White Vs. Mirror Mirror

 Thesis

Snow White is a fairy-tale princess whose story is told in two different adaptations. While one focuses on a naive damsel in distress, the other version focuses on a damsel in distress becoming a fighter. While both films have similar aspects such as origin and characters, the plot and overall time frame are based off how society view women as a whole. These two films establish the evolution of the ever growing feminist movement which defies the 1930s perception of how women were supposed to live and act during that time. 

Differences:

• 1937 film: Snow White's father is dead which leaves her with no moral support and allows the Evil Queen to abuse and mistreat her. 

• 2012 film: Snow White's father is assumed to be dead but is actually a creature that she comes face to face with that was caused by the Evil Queen.

• 1937: Snow White stays in the dwarfs home and makes sure that the house is always cleaned and that the dwarfs have a nice meal to come home to.

• 2012 film: The dwarfs and the prince teach Snow White how to fight to prepare herself to face off against the Queen in order to get back her birth right. 

• 1937 film: Snow White is manipulated by the Evil Queen who is disguised as a poor old woman to eat the poisoned apple. 

• 2012 film: The Evil Queen who is now old due to the curse she failed at maintaining, offers Snow White the apple who almost eats it. Once she realizes its the Evil Queen she grabs a knife and cuts a piece for the Queen to eat for herself. 

Although these are small scenes from the films, we can see how these big differences add on to the point that the evolution of Snow White has evolved into a symbol of pro-feminism and equality of genders.