By: Morgan Kacalek
Fans of Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and Suzane Collins’ “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” have been arguing over the casting of Rachel Zegler in the upcoming movies. After Disney announced that Zegler would be starring as Snow White in the new live action film, Zegler found herself with more attention from fans who were upset with the casting choice.
The actress started getting backlash after she was seen in an interview mocking the original cartoon, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Zegler made comments about how she disliked the original movie and said, “I think I watched it once and never picked it up again. I’m being so serious.” I think this alone is enough of a reason not to cast someone for this part. If she hasn’t even seen the movie more than once, and has openly expressed hate for it, why should she get to play the part, over other girls who love the movie and actually want the role?
Zegler explained, in a different interview, how the new live action film will seek to update the plot of the movie in order to better fit with societal norms today. She says, “I just mean that it’s no longer 1937,” and, “We absolutely wrote a ‘Snow White’ that – she’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love, she’s dreaming about the leader she knows she can be.” This upset many fans who see the value in a princess that can be strong in her femininity. I think that society has become so focused on making female characters strong and warrior-like, that they are taking away from the importance of a feminine princess.
The new adaptation of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” is not the only upcoming movie that Rachel Zegler is going to star in. Lionsgate Entertainment is currently filming the book-to-screen adaptation of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” and Zegler will be playing one of the main characters, Lucy Grey Baird. Many “Hunger Games” fans are looking forward to the release of this movie, and I was excited for Zegler to play the role, but after listening to an interview she did with Josh Horowitz, I was disappointed. She explained, “I didn’t audition, it was just I got a call from my agent that was like, ‘Francis Lawrence wants you to do this.” After being informed that filming would take place in Germany and Poland, she said, “I was so far away from home for the first time ever and I was away from everyone I knew and loved, so I said ‘no.” Zegler later explains that after another project she had lined up got pushed back, she put her name back on the list for “The Hunger Games” and got the role immediately.
This is another example of a role that Rachel Zegler got that she didn’t even want in the first place. I would have been much happier if the role went to someone who was already a fan of either, the original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” movie, or the book “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” and really wanted to play the part and knows what an honor it is to play those characters.
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