Snow White, Disney, Rachel Zegler and a toxic debate that will not disappear

Whether you like the new Snow White movie or that you hate it, it is difficult to escape the debate about its main actress, Rachel Zegler.

The 23 -year -old has dominated the conversation about the film, since people blame her for her bad criticisms or jumps to her defense, saying that she is being unfairly defamed.

And this debate is not new to Zegler.

Very before the snowy white came out, She has been in the center of the stormAnd many criticized their opinion about the original film and their political views, including those of the president of the United States, Donald Trump and his voters.

Others defended and expressed discomfort when they saw such a young actress suffer a battery.

Kelechi Ehenulo film critic calls Zegler a victim of “cultural wars”, and warns the actors of underrepresented environments (Zegler is Latin) are often becoming “objectives for reaction.”

So how do we get to this point where Zegler is going from here?

Let’s start with the movie itself.

Disney’s live action version of the classic white fairy tale as white was launched earlier this month, and has faced a series of disappointing criticisms (Wendy Ide from The Observer described it like “with terrible feet and lands”.) US reviewers have been somewhat more positive, but although the North American box office table has been heading, it has not earned so much money as expected.

In social networks, some people have rushed to point to Zegler, arguing that he hindered the launch.

They include Jonah Platt, son of Snow White producer Marc Platt. Earlier this week, he pointed to Zegler in a publication of burning social networks. Since then it has been eliminated, but was captured by multiple points of sale, including The New York Post.

He said that Zegler had “dragged) his personal policy” in the promotional campaign of the film, and added: “His actions clearly hurt the movie the movie.”

Platt did not respond to a request for comments from BBC News.

Controversies began much earlier.

Before the film was released, Zegler faced online abuses by people who did not agree with their cast in the role of a character that is considered having “as white as snow” skin.

Zegler arrived at the headlines after his comments, in 2022, about the original film. “There is a great approach (in the original) in its love story with a boy who literally stalks her. Strange! So we didn’t do that this time.”

Zegler also said The original film was “extremely outdated when it comes to the ideas that women are in roles of power,” and added: “People are making these jokes that ours is the Snow White of the PC, where it is like, yes, it is, because it needed it.”

Many saw those words as a rebuke against Disney’s tradition.

The Daily Mail described him as a “teratriba of awakening” and an article This week in Variety He said “the beloved White destroyed as the original snow.”

The City Editor of City Am, Victoria Luxford, says that criticism of the original film “would never work well. These films are marketed in Nostalgia, in making you feel how you did when you saw the original, so to speak, it seemed negatively disconcerting.”

Zegler refused to comment on this piece.

But Anna Smith, film critic and presenter of The Girls On Film Podcast, told BBC News that some of the headlines may have been misleading.

“Zegler said that times and attitudes have changed, and that the new Snow White has adapted for current age. This is the case with many remakes and reset, many of whom do not reach the headlines with comments on the ‘Wake’ culture.”

Zegler’s political opinions have also caused a violent reaction.

Last summer, he thanked fans for his response to the film’s trailer. In an X postadding: “And always remember, free Palestine.”

According to Variety’s article, Marc Platt, mentioned above, flew to New York to speak directly with Zegler after the publication.

Neither Zegler nor Platt responded to a request for a comment about it.

Zegler also fueled the controversy with his views after the presidential elections of the United States of 2024. Writing on Instagram, he said he hoped that “Trump’s voters and Trump himself never know peace.”

She then apologized For what she had said.

Some congratulate her for saying what they think. Ehenulo says that she “is not the first and is certainly not the last actor to talk about politics.”

And Luxford told me that he was “very hurried” to imagine the main audience of the film, children under 10 years, being influenced by their policy.

But film critic Conor Riley said his comments about Trump not “helped the stability of the movie launch.”

He points out that Gal Gadot, who plays the stepmother of Snow White, the evil queen, has also faced a violent reaction of some people. Gadot, who is Israeli, has expressed his support for the country.

The moment of the movie did not help, he added.

“Ultimately, (Zegler) became a lightning rod for the controversy, not only due to his own actions, but because Snow White landed at the intersection of Hollywood’s creative stagnation, racial politics, international conflict and the deep ideological division of the United States,” he said.

Some, such as Luxford, argue that part of the pile comes from “a place of prejudice.”

“She is a young Latin woman with political opinions that do not align with certain groups, who rush to express her anger,” he said.

Zegler is far from being the first young female actress to find himself facing a toxic reaction. Recently, Stranger Things Actor Millie Bobby Brown criticized press articles On his appearance, saying “this is not journalism, this is harassment.”

Smith points out that women in prominence positions are more likely to be attacked in this way.

“When women in the public eye are criticized, there are often bias at work. Regardless of the subject, the way it is treated, is often spoken and informed will differ compared to the way men are treated,” he said.

Ehenulo, on the other hand, asks the industry to make more to protect their stars.

“What bothers me is how easy actors (people of color) become goals for reaction to social networks and, nevertheless, the culture of silence of studies, media and social media platforms say everything,” he said.

“That lack of public protection … means that toxicity continues to stir and increase. It is the Wild West and I cannot see what improves when this has normalized to such an extent.”

We put those statements to Disney, but they refused to comment.

The big roles continue to arrive for Zegler. He now enrolled to star in Evita at the West End this summer, and on Friday, he made a splash in a different way: read a history of bedtime of Cbeebies.

At the end of the storyZegler tells viewers to young people: “To be a powerful princess, you just need to be wonderful, brilliant you!” For some, this is a message that encapsulates Zegler herself.

“I don’t know if another Disney movie is going to make in the short term,” says Luxford, “but he is 23 years old, she is a Golden Globe and is a very talented actor.”