The 2025 live-action remake of Disney’s Snow White, a reinterpretation of the Brothers Grimm classic, sparked controversy long before its release. Announced as early as 2016, with casting revealed in 2021, the project quickly drew criticism – especially from conservative voices – who saw it as yet another attempt by Hollywood to reframe traditional values through a feminist lens.
This adaptation departs from both the 1937 Disney musical and the original Grimm fairy tale, yet, despite widespread backlash and underwhelming box office returns, it isn’t merely left-wing propaganda. Surprisingly, the film retains—and even highlights—timeless themes of truth, love, and beauty.
The Grimm origins
The tale of Snow White originated in 1812 with the publication of the Grimm Brothers’ Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It tells the story of a princess described as having "skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony." After her mother dies and her father remarries, Snow White's beauty stirs envy in her stepmother, setting off a chain of attempts on her life.
In the 2025 adaptation, the theme of beauty – both superficial and internal – is central. The queen is obsessed with external beauty, while Snow White is portrayed as virtuous and compassionate. In a climactic scene, the magic mirror tells the queen she will never match Snow White’s beauty because she lacks virtue.
While the Grimm tale ends with Snow White revived from a poisoned apple and marrying a prince, with the queen dying a gruesome death, the new film takes a slightly different approach. The queen sends soldiers and eventually disguises herself to deliver the fateful apple. Upon Snow White’s survival, the queen destroys the mirror in a rage, which leads to her own demise – less graphically but symbolically conveying that pride and vanity are her undoing.
The queen is also portrayed as a manipulative ruler who hides the truth: she had Snow White’s father killed and instilled fear in the kingdom to maintain control. In a key scene, Snow White calls her former friends—the queen’s soldiers—by name, urging them to choose hope and charity over fear and greed. This moment subtly echoes Isaiah 43:1, where God says, “I have called you by name; you are mine,” linking the scene to a deeper spiritual truth: that identity is rooted in being known and loved.
A look back: The 1937 Disney classic
Disney’s 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated feature film and a massive success, grossing $8 million at the box office. It told a simpler story, emphasizing true love and the romance between Snow White and her prince.
The 2025 film retains certain elements, including modified versions of the iconic songs “Whistle While You Work” and “Heigh-Ho,” and the symbolic poisoned apple. However, its focus shifts from romance to Snow White reclaiming her throne and fulfilling her late parents’ vision of just leadership. While Prince Charming is sidelined, the motif of "true love’s kiss" remains—a quiet homage to the original’s core message.
Is it woke?
Long before its debut, the remake was criticized for promoting progressive agendas. The casting of a Latina actress to play the famously pale-skinned princess, the omission of Prince Charming, and an economic subplot viewed by some as pro-communist fueled accusations of identity politics.
Lead actress Rachel Zegler added fuel to the fire in a 2022 interview when she dismissed the romance in the original film:
It’s no longer 1937... she’s not going to be saved by the prince... She’s dreaming about becoming a leader... fearless, fair, brave and true.
These comments cast a feminist shadow over the film, which appeared to be confirmed when Snow White abandoned domestic roles and faced her final battle alone—without a prince or a prayer, both of which featured in earlier versions.
Yet, critics may be overlooking some key contradictions within the film. Despite its modern framing, the story still features a love song, a romantic subplot, and a "true love’s kiss" that breaks Snow White’s enchanted sleep. Even as the filmmakers attempted to craft a heroine who doesn’t “need a man,” they couldn’t entirely strip away the fairy tale’s enduring message of love.
Final verdict
Was the new Snow White woke? In some ways, yes. The film contains elements of modern ideology and makes deliberate changes to character and story. But it stops short of fully abandoning the themes that have made this tale resonate for centuries.
Rather than purely leftist propaganda or a failed feminist fable, the 2025 Snow White is a mixed bag: a modernized retelling that tries to speak to current cultural values while still—perhaps unintentionally—holding fast to eternal truths. In the end, the magic of Snow White lies not in the politics but in the enduring power of truth, love, and beauty.