dev_chieftain (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dev_chieftain) wrote2012-06-04 10:28 am
dev_chieftain) wrote2012-06-04 10:28 am
When a princess is just a princess
Gonna make another post to talk about religion and Brave in a moment. But first!
I've seen a variety of reviews for Snow White and the Huntsman. A common joke is to make fun of Kristen Stewart for having 'just one expression', etc. etc. A common complaint is [insert any sarcastic complaint about symbolism here].
For the first point: the fact that Kristen Stewart is not just wearing one expression in the scenes people are willing to credit her for proves that she is perfectly capable of acting just fine. Why are we blaming the actress here? Is the director not also responsible for telling her how he wanted her to act? (A first-time director, too.) Are the writers not also responsible for giving her ZERO SPEAKING LINES for about half of the movie? I guess we should sit back and let the men talk.
The second point is my main beef here. I've seen this before many, many times. People immediately leap into critique of a movie, book, or music album for this or that element, which they identify as being predictable symbolism and bullshit.
This is a case where my complaint isn't that people are looking at symbolism-- by all means, go for it-- but that they're only looking at symbolism. Was there tons of symbolism in the movie? Sure there was. But when you watch a film the first time, or read a book, aren't you also supposed to be analyzing the actual sequence of events, and character motivations? Are we looking at the story and saying "this doesn't make sense for this character to have done, why did she do it?" or are we looking at the story and saying "ugh, of course the branch she was holding at the end signifies her purity and power over life".
Take a look at the damn thing on its own merit as a story. Did it have problems? Yeah, it totally did. Snow White didn't get to talk enough, for someone who was the title character. (I would point to the Disney film here; I've made a case in the past for the fact that Snow White of the Disney film is actually pretty strong, and deals with hardship by seeking assistance and bartering a solution. That's nothing to dismiss.) And even though it was a clever way to explain why Snow White would take a bite of an apple that turned out to be poison, why else was the William character in the movie? Also, what was the nature of the poison apple? Why did the kiss work? Yes we know it HAD to but why did it? These are things that needed to be addressed somewhere, but fell by the wayside.
However, let's look at what the movie DID bother to explain:
-Why is the evil Queen here
-Why does she care about being beautiful
-Why does she want to kill Snow White
-Why does she want Snow White's heart to prove it
-Why did she send the Huntsman after Snow White
-Why did she ultimately disguise herself to get Snow White personally
-Why does Snow White pose a threat to the Queen
-Why is Snow White liked by everyone around her
The movie also added a bunch of depth to the Huntsman, who is literally unimportant in the original, and gave Snow White a reason to wake from the sleeping death, on top of it all. (Like a destiny, I Have To Do this Before I May Die type reason.)
All of this is true, but I'm seeing complaints that Kristen Stewart has only one expression, and lol the symbolism was about coming of age?
Do you know how awesome it is that there is a logical, definable REASON why people just instantly like Snow White? It's not "lol everyone loves you I guess", it's actually "Wow, um, you have a healing aura. Are you a god? Because the forest god just bowed to you and I don't have gout anymore."
She's basically Jesus, but better because it's fantasy so she doesn't get crucified for standing up for what's right. I mean, wouldn't you describe Jesus as a miraculously born child destined to help a lot of people? Mary got bipped by 'God' in her sleep, but Snow White's mom actually wished for a child that was awesome.
The complaints stink because a lot of them seem to just be catty leftover hatred for Twilight (why is Twilight Kristen Stewart's fault? How about the millions of people who like the books and movies, or Meyer for writing it, or the male actors for being attractive enough that the fans liked them? Why does she have to shoulder the burden for the whole franchise?). I sincerely doubt they'd be of the same nature if the movie had been about a boy in the same role as Snow White. I also doubt they'd even be happening if it was a different actress.
Here's a thought for you: I didn't like Twilight, but I don't hate it more than, say, Harry Potter. I think the books for Harry Potter are okay. I think the movies are kinda meh, but fun enough to watch. I also think the fandom was intolerable, and made it pretty hard for me to want to have anything to do with the books. Before that, it was Pirates of the Carribbean and Lord of the Rings. I'm sure there was something else before that but I wasn't really connected with the mainstream enough to know what it was. Titanic I guess? That's comparable.
My point is, it's stupid to hate someone for a movie series over which they had no control. Is the complaint that Kristen Stewart took the part? Because I'm sure there would have been other actresses who'd have taken it, given the shot, even if she said "I quit, and I don't like this." Is it because she made money doing it? It's hardly fair to begrudge someone for earning wages. I'd sooner begrudge her probably being far wealthier than I am than I would her choice of roles as an actor.
Anyway. The movie itself has a story, with characters and motivations. Symbolism be damned; sure it's there, but it's not the only thing present and I'm sick of seeing it touted as the only way to interpret a movie. The whole point of symbolism is supposed to be that it provides additional or alternative information. It's NOT the secret point of the movie. Can't we all be satisfied that there was no consummated romance in this movie? Or that it was heavily implied that Snow White had no earthly lover of any sort? Or that the Huntsman's love for her, with the kiss that brought her back, was implied to have brought back his wife along WITH her, when she vaguely stated that 'we have waited long enough' prior to her subsequent battle speech?
She was wearing pants under her dress! She was a diplomat but also a fighter! What more could you possibly want? But no-- instead a lot of people are smugly, sarcastically putting Stewart down and reminding us, snidely that she was being buried in a white dress, and funereal marches are played at weddings, so one could almost surmise that the Huntsman's kiss and her coming to life is equivalent to a wedding ceremony that brought her new purpose in life. See, I can bitterly re-imagine the movie as something totally different than what it was to intentionally look for reasons to dislike Kristen Stewart, but it's a pretty big stretch. There is no good reason to hold her as such an awful actor when people who are much, much worse (Christian Bale and Keanu Reeves immediately come to mind) are in many more movies than she is, and paid more, too.
Is this the best movie to come out all year? I couldn't say, there's more to come. But is it a good movie? Yeah, it is! So give it a goddamned chance. What more could you want?
Well, I wanted one thing, actually. I wanted her to say, 'but you have my sympathy', at the end.
I've seen a variety of reviews for Snow White and the Huntsman. A common joke is to make fun of Kristen Stewart for having 'just one expression', etc. etc. A common complaint is [insert any sarcastic complaint about symbolism here].
For the first point: the fact that Kristen Stewart is not just wearing one expression in the scenes people are willing to credit her for proves that she is perfectly capable of acting just fine. Why are we blaming the actress here? Is the director not also responsible for telling her how he wanted her to act? (A first-time director, too.) Are the writers not also responsible for giving her ZERO SPEAKING LINES for about half of the movie? I guess we should sit back and let the men talk.
The second point is my main beef here. I've seen this before many, many times. People immediately leap into critique of a movie, book, or music album for this or that element, which they identify as being predictable symbolism and bullshit.
This is a case where my complaint isn't that people are looking at symbolism-- by all means, go for it-- but that they're only looking at symbolism. Was there tons of symbolism in the movie? Sure there was. But when you watch a film the first time, or read a book, aren't you also supposed to be analyzing the actual sequence of events, and character motivations? Are we looking at the story and saying "this doesn't make sense for this character to have done, why did she do it?" or are we looking at the story and saying "ugh, of course the branch she was holding at the end signifies her purity and power over life".
Take a look at the damn thing on its own merit as a story. Did it have problems? Yeah, it totally did. Snow White didn't get to talk enough, for someone who was the title character. (I would point to the Disney film here; I've made a case in the past for the fact that Snow White of the Disney film is actually pretty strong, and deals with hardship by seeking assistance and bartering a solution. That's nothing to dismiss.) And even though it was a clever way to explain why Snow White would take a bite of an apple that turned out to be poison, why else was the William character in the movie? Also, what was the nature of the poison apple? Why did the kiss work? Yes we know it HAD to but why did it? These are things that needed to be addressed somewhere, but fell by the wayside.
However, let's look at what the movie DID bother to explain:
-Why is the evil Queen here
-Why does she care about being beautiful
-Why does she want to kill Snow White
-Why does she want Snow White's heart to prove it
-Why did she send the Huntsman after Snow White
-Why did she ultimately disguise herself to get Snow White personally
-Why does Snow White pose a threat to the Queen
-Why is Snow White liked by everyone around her
The movie also added a bunch of depth to the Huntsman, who is literally unimportant in the original, and gave Snow White a reason to wake from the sleeping death, on top of it all. (Like a destiny, I Have To Do this Before I May Die type reason.)
All of this is true, but I'm seeing complaints that Kristen Stewart has only one expression, and lol the symbolism was about coming of age?
Do you know how awesome it is that there is a logical, definable REASON why people just instantly like Snow White? It's not "lol everyone loves you I guess", it's actually "Wow, um, you have a healing aura. Are you a god? Because the forest god just bowed to you and I don't have gout anymore."
She's basically Jesus, but better because it's fantasy so she doesn't get crucified for standing up for what's right. I mean, wouldn't you describe Jesus as a miraculously born child destined to help a lot of people? Mary got bipped by 'God' in her sleep, but Snow White's mom actually wished for a child that was awesome.
The complaints stink because a lot of them seem to just be catty leftover hatred for Twilight (why is Twilight Kristen Stewart's fault? How about the millions of people who like the books and movies, or Meyer for writing it, or the male actors for being attractive enough that the fans liked them? Why does she have to shoulder the burden for the whole franchise?). I sincerely doubt they'd be of the same nature if the movie had been about a boy in the same role as Snow White. I also doubt they'd even be happening if it was a different actress.
Here's a thought for you: I didn't like Twilight, but I don't hate it more than, say, Harry Potter. I think the books for Harry Potter are okay. I think the movies are kinda meh, but fun enough to watch. I also think the fandom was intolerable, and made it pretty hard for me to want to have anything to do with the books. Before that, it was Pirates of the Carribbean and Lord of the Rings. I'm sure there was something else before that but I wasn't really connected with the mainstream enough to know what it was. Titanic I guess? That's comparable.
My point is, it's stupid to hate someone for a movie series over which they had no control. Is the complaint that Kristen Stewart took the part? Because I'm sure there would have been other actresses who'd have taken it, given the shot, even if she said "I quit, and I don't like this." Is it because she made money doing it? It's hardly fair to begrudge someone for earning wages. I'd sooner begrudge her probably being far wealthier than I am than I would her choice of roles as an actor.
Anyway. The movie itself has a story, with characters and motivations. Symbolism be damned; sure it's there, but it's not the only thing present and I'm sick of seeing it touted as the only way to interpret a movie. The whole point of symbolism is supposed to be that it provides additional or alternative information. It's NOT the secret point of the movie. Can't we all be satisfied that there was no consummated romance in this movie? Or that it was heavily implied that Snow White had no earthly lover of any sort? Or that the Huntsman's love for her, with the kiss that brought her back, was implied to have brought back his wife along WITH her, when she vaguely stated that 'we have waited long enough' prior to her subsequent battle speech?
She was wearing pants under her dress! She was a diplomat but also a fighter! What more could you possibly want? But no-- instead a lot of people are smugly, sarcastically putting Stewart down and reminding us, snidely that she was being buried in a white dress, and funereal marches are played at weddings, so one could almost surmise that the Huntsman's kiss and her coming to life is equivalent to a wedding ceremony that brought her new purpose in life. See, I can bitterly re-imagine the movie as something totally different than what it was to intentionally look for reasons to dislike Kristen Stewart, but it's a pretty big stretch. There is no good reason to hold her as such an awful actor when people who are much, much worse (Christian Bale and Keanu Reeves immediately come to mind) are in many more movies than she is, and paid more, too.
Is this the best movie to come out all year? I couldn't say, there's more to come. But is it a good movie? Yeah, it is! So give it a goddamned chance. What more could you want?
Well, I wanted one thing, actually. I wanted her to say, 'but you have my sympathy', at the end.