Here's Seven Twists Disney Could Put On The 'Snow White' Movie To Fix This Issue Peter Dinklage Pointed Out
The Walt Disney Company has recently come under fire for the way they're handling their upcoming live-action remake of their very first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The company has been making effort to be more inclusive with their casting choices of late, to make up for the pantheon of predominantly white characters they developed over the better part of the 20th century: they've made several more diverse animated stories with people of color on their development teams (like the popular new film Encanto, spearheaded by Puerto Rican Broadway composer Lin-Manuel Miranda); they've cast a Black woman as Ariel, and now a Latina woman as Snow White as well.
However, there's at least one area of representation that actor Peter Dinklage sees them turning a blind eye to - or perhaps not looking at closely enough. On Marc Maron's WTF Podcast - where he was promoting his new film Cyrano - Dinklage said this about the new remake:
"You're progressive in one way, but then you're still making that f---ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f--- are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soap box?"
Dinklage takes issue, specifically, with the presence and purpose of the dwarves in the original Snow White story - because, after all, people with dwarfism exist, and have in fact been mistreated even in our own recent history. (Stories from the set of The Wizard Of Oz alone are enough to get the picture of exactly how human they were treated in the past.) To continue to put forward a story in which Dwarfs are described as mythical, unreal creatures is irresponsible, to say the least.
Dinklage isn't calling for us to stop telling the story entirely, of course - just to be a little more clever with the way we tell it - and according to a statement just issued to the Hollywood Reporter by Disney, they are actively trying to do just that:
"To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period."
There are basically two ways to do this: Reimagine the story entirely and sidestep the issue of "this story kinda treats dwarves - i.e., people with dwarfism - as non-human creatures, clearly unthreatening to the prince and therefore unable to Get With Snow White" entirely; or...just talk about the fact that people used to think that. Neither option is wrong - they just create films that comment on different parts of the original story.
Here's a few ideas for creative ways to switch this idea up, just to show you what we're talking about. (Admittedly, some of these would be entirely different movies. Or just straight up sitcoms or something. But they'd still be interesting!)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...
But we actually talk about what dwarfism is. In this version of the story, the dwarves could be mistreated by the Evil Queen and the kingdom for being different - and therefore the seven Dwarfs in our story are hiding out living in the woods. That would make for some political intrigue when Snow White befriends them.
Much like with the elves in Ella Enchanted, Snow White can make a stand for her new friends and help them fight back. She could also promise that when she is Queen she will right all the wrongs done to them in this land.
This would be the straightforward reimagining of a classic fairy tale that we're used to: It adds layers of modern detail over the original story, while putting a character that was originally a passive damsel in the drivers' seat.
(This is honestly kind of where it sounds like Disney is going with this, based on their statement today.)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...
But the Seven Dwarves are actually children. That's what that's what they were likely referring to in the original version of the Snow White fairy tale - poor children who worked in the mines and had their growth stunted by heavy labor.
It would be a real fun twist in the story if, on top of running from her evil stepmother and trying to figure out why she's being ousted as princess, Snow White had to worry about babysitting a bunch of precocious children who probably have more attitude and fouler mouths than the Newsies.
It'd also be great if, in the end, the Queen had her ass handed to her by a bunch of children she REALLY shouldn't have underestimated - because it's her fault they've spent their entire childhood getting buff as hell for next to no money.
Snow White and the Seven
This is so edgy and mysterious. The Seven could be anyone. They could still be badasses who happen to have dwarfism who are just known as The Seven because they're Robin Hood-style outlaws - or even just regular outlaws who are charmed by Snow White. Or they could be a random collection of people or fairy tale creatures. It could be an elite group of deposed rulers who band together to take their kingdoms back from pretenders.
Snow White and the Seven would definitely be an action/fantasy flick with a lot of modern elements, with one of those classic and well-loved "sometimes the bad guys are actually the good guys" themes running throughout.
Snow White and the Seven Roommates
This is a comedy, maybe even a whole sitcom. Just imagine a modernized (or semi-modernized: Think Enchanted) version of the Snow White fairy tale where it's just one chick crammed into a house with seven male roommates as she tries to find footing in whatever new town she just moved to. Like New Girl meets Disney.
In episode one, Snow's toxic mom sends her ex boyfriend Hunter to try to bring her back home, and her new roommates earn her trust by doxxing him so hard with so many embarrassing memories that he leaves town entirely.
Snow White and the Seven Dorks
Same concept, but it's all nerds and tech bros. Less New Girl, more Silicon Valley and The Big Bang Theory.
Snow White could be the one Social Media Influencer brought onto an all-male, all socially-awkward startup office. They don't all trust her because they have preconceived notions about who she is and what she does, but she's super nice and eventually wins them all over and makes them better at marketing their product. Also, they teach her job skills so that she can put something besides "influencer" on her resume, and so that she sounds more convincing in interviews. My Fair Lady situations all around.
Look, there are even corresponding Dork-Stereotype traits for each Classic Dwarf:
- Sleepy - Nocturnal and a lil crazy
- Grumpy - Anti-social
- Sneezy - Allergic To Everything
- Dopey - A Huge Himbo (great at math and science AND a total beefcake, but also a major ditz.)
- Happy - Gay. He'd be the stereotypical Queer Tech Guy with brightly dyed hair and a thousand piercings.
- Bashful - Sweet Little Cinnamon Roll, Innocent Dork Boy
- Doc - Know-it-all Nerd Classic
Snow White and the Seven Doors
Let's try a psychological thriller. What if everything we knew about Snow White was based on some random mistranslation of an old fairy tale text? What if, instead of finding a house in the woods with seven Dwarves inside, Snow White found a magical-slash-haunted house with seven mysterious DOORS inside?
Picture this: Snow White grew up a sheltered princess. Though she had everything she wanted, she was horribly unhappy, and couldn't understand why - then one day, she sneaks out of the castle, against her controlling mother's wishes, and finds an abandoned cottage that seems to pull her in.
Once inside, the door behind her disappears, and she is faced with six doors in front of her. Behind each door, she discovers one of her own memories, but tampered with, as though it were a dream. In order to find the door to escape, she has to find some detail in the memory that she has forgotten - and when she puts them all together, she finally sees that it's her mother, the Evil Queen, who is making her, and her kingdom unhappy.
The seventh door is the door back to the outside, when she decides to take everything she learned and return to lead her people as the rightful ruler (after a big dramatic fight scene, of course.)
Snow White and the Seven Platonic Friends
Last but not least: This would be a classic rom-com, and it'd be less about Snow White and more about her "Prince" and his insecurities about the number of male friends she has. There will be several convoluted misunderstandings that lead him to think that she's cheating with one of them, or has feelings, but it always turns out to be something totally innocuous.
There's only one guy who has a thing for her, and he would literally never say or do anything in a million years because he respects her and wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable.
In the end, either her boyfriend learns to get over himself, or he continues to be lame and jealous and Snow White ends up with her...BASHFUL friend.
