Kevin Donnelly: Woke re-write of Snow White is a Dopey move

The controversy surrounding Disney’s latest rendition of the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs highlights how cultural-left woke ideology is still all pervasive., writes Kevin Donnelly.

The controversy surrounding Disney’s latest rendition of the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs highlights how cultural-left woke ideology is still all pervasive.

The actor playing Snow White, Rachel Zegler, describes the original 1937 version as “weird” and in a 2022 interview said the new version would give women a more assertive role.

Unlike the original film, Zegler states: “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 becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.”

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is not alone in being rewritten by woke activists.

Classic myths, fairy tales and childhood stories have long been targeted by the cultural-left. Sleeping Beauty is condemned as the sleeping princess fails to give consent when kissed by the prince.

Woke activists argue Thomas the Tank Engine reinforces capitalism as there is a hierarchy starting with the Fat Controller.

Rachel Zegler attends the World Premiere of Disney's Snow White at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Picture: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney

According to one American academic the children’s story unfairly prioritises hard work.

Even Shakespeare is not immune. The trust responsible for overseeing the Bard’s manuscripts and memorabilia is working to “ensure that stories of trans people are recorded, celebrated and preserved as contributions to achieving gender equality”.

On the basis visitors “may encounter language or depictions that are racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful”, the trust is also committed to “explore the process of decolonising our collections and our organisational practice, helping to create a more inclusive museum experience”.

Underlying the concept of decolonisation is the belief the reason why Shakespeare’s works are held in such high esteem, instead of being inherently significant and worthwhile, is because they are the products of British imperialism and white supremacy.

So much for acknowledging and celebrating Shakespeare as a universally admired playwright and poet whose works are considered the most insightful, profound, superbly crafted and enduring among the greats of the English language.

Andrew Burnap, left, and Rachel Zegler in a scene from "Snow White." (Disney via AP)

Also, so much for valuing plays like King Lear and The Tempest that reveal so much about the dangers of hubris, the trauma associated with loss and suffering, the importance of forgiveness and redemption and what constitutes truth, fulfilment and human flourishing.

Decolonising Shakespeare to rid his works of white privilege and Eurocentrism is not the only example of how Western culture’s literary heritage is being redefined in terms of woke mind control and group think.

In America classics like Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn are cancelled and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird because it promotes a white saviour narrative.

One American academic goes as far as justifying a “queer gender reading” of Jane Austen’s novels by arguing the author “promotes the progressive notion of homosexuality as a universal state through her subtle depictions of same-sex intimacies in her famously heteronormative novels”.

Judging children’s stories and classic novels and plays written and performed countless years ago by today’s misplaced woke standards might make activists feel morally superior but it is wrong to judge the past in light of today’s beliefs. It’s also wrong to criticise films and literature in terms of power relationships involving gender, sexuality, race and class. To reduce everything to such a nihilistic and bleak interpretation ignores what is most vital about literature that has stood the test of time.

As argued by English poet William Blake, literature at its best, as well as being aesthetically pleasing, transcends the mundane everyday world to reveal a wondrous, inspiring and spiritual reality that gives pleasure and understanding.

Appreciating and valuing literature is also critical to the health and wellbeing of society. Stories, plays, novels, poems and narratives are an ongoing gift that passes from one generation to the next and that gives culture its richness and meaning.

There’s no doubt, as a result of US president Donald Trump signing executive orders stopping Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, stating that there are two sexes, male and female, and banning transwomen from female sports, that woke ideology in America is on the retreat.

Unfortunately, judged by how the West’s literary classics and films are being destroyed woke ideology is still all powerful and it’s too early to say common sense, sanity and reason will prevail. Those hoping the tide has turned against cultural-left mind control need to think again.

Dr Kevin Donnelly is a conservative author and commentator, his latest book is Wake Up To Woke: It’s Time, Australia