Snow White was never one of my favorites as it scared me as a little girl. But, when I heard Rachel Zegler, the Colombian-American actress, would be starring as Snow White, I knew I had to watch it. As a 24-year-old who has barely gotten any representation in Disney princesses, her star turn made the 4-year-old in me scream. For once, a Latina is going to wear the crown!
Soon all the backlash washed away my joy. The trolls were mad she’s not as white as snow and that she called the original film “outdated.” But, let’s be honest, the 1937 movie is outdated in the year 2025. The whole point in creating a remake is reimagining Disney’s classics into something people will enjoy today.
Okay, Zegler’s skin isn’t white as snow, and in the new adaptation she gets her name from surviving a snowstorm as a baby, so what? The King and Queen choose her name to showcase resilience. This movie is based off of a fairytale by the Brothers Grimm’s 1812 story, and like all fairytales, it’s been retold countless times across cultures.
In fact, Zegler is perfect for the role because this version of Snow White isn’t just about beauty, it’s about survival, strength, and starting over. In the new adaption, she survives a snowstorm as a baby, is forced to flee her home, and rebuilds her life surrounded by strangers. The storyline mirrors the immigrant experience – something many Latinas, including Zegler’s own Columbian-American family can relate to. The idea of being exiled, misunderstood, and yet finding resilience and community in unfamiliar places isn’t just a fantasy – it’s a lived reality for many. Snow White, in this version, becomes a symbol of what it means to endure, to adapt, and to rise. Casting Zegler in the role does not just check a diversity box – it brings emotional authenticity to a reimagined fairy tale about identity, loss, and empowerment. For once, a Disney princess does not just reflect a fantasy ideal. She embodies the strength of real girls like me.
Also, Snow White is more independent in this film – she doesn’t need a prince to kiss / save her – is that what’s really upsetting people? In the 1937 Snow White, Prince Florian has about two minutes of screen time. So why is his absence suddenly such a problem now? If anything, it sends a better message to children: you shouldn’t fall in love with someone you just met! That’s not romance, it’s love bombing.
It’s not like Zegler isn’t talented – she won a Golden Globe in 2022 for Best Actress Comedy or Musical for the film West Side Story (2021). To me, the backlash explains people’s attachment to whiteness and traditional gender roles. This movie is a reimagination with real people playing fantasy characters, not everything has to be like the original film.
The original Snow White is not iconic because of its storyline, but because it was the first full-length animated feature in the U.S. It revolutionized animation and filmmaking at the time, but the plot itself? Fairly simple and outdated by today’s standards. And let’s be clear: Disney didn’t create this story – the Brothers Grimm did. There have been plenty of other Snow White adaptations over the years that didn’t spark this level of outrage: Mirror Mirror (2012), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), and Once Upon a Time (TV series, 2011–2018) being some of them. This one only garnered an uproar because it’s Disney – and because they cast a Latina who speaks her mind as the lead.
I didn’t see this much hate when a British actress, Emma Watson was cast to play a French princess, Belle in Beauty and the Beast. No one asked if Belle should’ve been French with a specific accent. No one accused Disney of “ruining” the tale by casting a well-known white actress with no prior musical theater background. I’m not trying to take away from Watson’s talent because she did do an amazing job, but there seems to be a double standard when it comes to WOC playing traditional white roles.
For the past week, I’ve seen a flood of hate comments, TikToks, and articles blaming Zegler for Snow White’s performance. Many of these critiques have come from major outlets like Variety, which even published a piece amplifying comments from the producer’s son, Jonah Platt, who accused Zegler of narcissism and blamed her public image for the film’s flop. So let me get this straight: a 23-year-old actress is being scapegoated for box office numbers, creative decisions she didn’t control, and her support for human rights, while the actual producers and studio heads face no such scrutiny.
And yes, I know a lot of people don’t like Zegler because of her comments about not loving the original movie, or because they think she comes off as performatively “woke.” But has anyone considered that maybe she said those things because that’s what the film was about? She was promoting a modern take on the story and doing so as a 23-year-old woman trying to market a movie under intense public scrutiny. It’s not like she had control over the script, the tone, or the creative direction – that’s the job of the writers, directors, and producers. So where are the angry messages and think-pieces about them? Why is all the criticism landing on the actress instead of the people actually responsible for shaping the film?
The film didn’t perform well at the box office largely because of the creative decisions Disney made. This includes replacing the original dwarfs with CGI characters – erasing rare opportunities for actors with dwarfism – replacing the prince with a thief, and delivering underwhelming costume design. Honestly, with a production budget estimated between $240 million and $270 million, you’d expect more than the subpar costumes we saw on screen.
And Gal Gadot was stiff and unconvincing as the Evil Queen – she didn’t have the presence the role deserved. Her singing didn’t help either as her musical number, “All Is Fair,” fell flat with weak vocals that didn’t match the dramatic tone needed.
In the end, Snow White flopped not because of Rachel Zegler, but because of a mix of creative missteps, poor communication, and an audience caught between wanting something new and clinging to what they remember. Disney tried to modernize a classic, but instead of celebrating that evolution, critics zeroed in on Zegler, blaming her for changes she didn’t control. The truth is remakes are supposed to reimagine stories for a new generation. And yet, when that reimagining includes a Latina lead with strength and voice, the backlash reveals more about our cultural discomfort with change than the film itself.
Ironically, Disney has also been criticized for the opposite – when they released The Lion King in 2019 as a nearly shot-for-shot remake, audiences said it lacked soul and originality. So which is it? Do we want something new, or do we just want to feel nostalgic? Snow White may not have been perfect, but Zegler’s casting was not the problem.
