Blog entry 5: Snow White

"Sonne" by Rammstein vs. "Snow White" fairy tales

https://www.deviantart.com/toolowbrow/art/snow-white-apple-bite

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/rammstein_super.jpg

In the music video for the song "Sonne" by Rammstein, Snow White is portrayed as the villain and the dwarfs are her servants, mining for gold to offer to their captor. If the gold piece was not large enough, she would punish them. This differs from all of the tales we read as a class because Snow White is usually an innocent, pure protagonist. The only tale that placed Snow White in a dark light was "Snow, Glass, Apples" by Neil Gaiman, but in that version the protagonist was the 'evil' queen rather than the dwarfs.

Another similarity is the roles of the active and reactive characters. In the video, since the characters had no dialogue, their roles were represented through color. The only color was Snow White's dress and the apple that broke her coffin. The miners were almost grayscale. In the Grimm tale, the dwarfs were almost anonymous as well.

http://collider.com/the-brothers-grimm-snow-white-tarsem-singh/

Most importantly, the ending of the music video was different than the tales we have read. In the music video, Snow White overdoses on drugs, rather than perishing from any encounters with an evil queen. As the dwarfs are mourning their loss, an apple falls from the tree, breaking her glass coffin and waking her up.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2kTkePAy-Hc/maxresdefault.jpg

While the song and the tales are very different, there exists a repetition of the same images and motifs:

• The men who are mining are the dwarfs, as Snow White towers over them.
• These dwarfs are nameless and black and white in both a visual and figurative sense.
• The apple falling/dislodging is the source of her revival. 
• Snow White's overall 'look': ebony hair, fair skin, red lips and cheeks

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/10/disney-snow-white-live-action-movie

My favorite version was Neil Gaiman's tale because it was a very creative reinterpretation of the original tale (if there even is an original). The queen as the narrator was unlike any other tale we have read and created an opportunity for Snow White to truly be seen as a villain. In general, this tale pushed the boundaries of its predecessors and created a dark, twisted version that was very entertaining to read.

http://www.alicemeichi.com/portfolio/025-snowglassapples.html