JUST KEEP QUIET

“Each of the sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, took his fire-pan and placed in it fire, and placed incense upon the fire, and they offered before the Lord strange fire that he had not commanded them. Fire emerged from before the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord. Moshe said to Aharon: “This is that which the Lord spoke, saying: Through those who are near to me I shall be sanctified and before all the people I will be glorified; and Aharon was silent.” (Vayikrah 10:1-3)

One of the great debacles currently airing on social media is the plight of the recent Disney live-action remake of Snow White. The original animated film was released in 1937 and was a critical and commercial success. It was the first feature-length animated film to be produced in the United States. The film is based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It is not unusual for Disney to produce live-action remakes of their animated films. They did so with Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, to name a few. But Snow White is different. In a way, it is the ‘crown’ of all Disney animated films. It has been beloved for decades and one would have assumed that Disney Studios would take great care to preserve its original magic.

But this was not the case. In keeping with its “woke” agenda of the last few years, Disney decided to change certain elements of the film. They cast in the title role, a young 23 year-old actress, Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian origin and certainly does not have a ‘snow white’ complexion. Naturally, this decision was made in keeping with Disney’s policy of inclusivity. But they were now left with a major plot hole because, in the original, Snow White receives her nickname as a result of her “skin being as white as snow.” To remedy this, Disney concocted a new backstory in which the young princess acquires her name by virtue of the fact that she was born during a snow storm! The other major role, that of the wicked queen/stepmother, was given to the Israeli actress, Gal Gadot. Many questioned the logic of the choice. In the original, the wicked queen was envious of Snow White’s beauty. However, Gadot, according to many, is far more attractive than Zegler making it rather implausible that she would be jealous of the young lady’s beauty. Perhaps, sensing this problem, Disney redefined the queen’s question to the magic mirror, “who is the fairest of them all?” to mean fair in the sense of honesty and justice. Another controversial casting decision was to use CGI characters to portray the dwarves. In fact, they are never called dwarves in the film or in any marketing material. Disney claimed that they wanted “to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, [so] we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.” Actual dwarf actors criticised Disney for not casting real dwarves in the role. Many believe that this decision was overly politically correct.

Besides these casting and plot issues, the film’s young star has also contributed to the controversy. Zegler attracted criticism over statements expressing disapproval of aspects of the original film, including the Prince and Snow White’s characterisation. In 2022, Zegler criticised “jokes” about the new Snow White character being “PC“, saying that the cartoon was old and needed a refresh to give the character “a function beyond ‘Someday My Prince Will Come‘”. She also spoke about story changes at the 2022 D23 Expo: “The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird. So we didn’t do that this time. We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. […] But it’s really not about her love story at all, which is really, really wonderful. […] All of Andrew’s scenes could get cut, who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby!” Zegler also came out publicly as a pro-Palestinian supporter in the wake of 7 October, notwithstanding the fact that her co-star, Gadot, served in the IDF and is a loyal supporter of Israel. Zegler also attacked those who voted to re-elect Trump on social media, saying, “May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.” Zegler later issued a public apology, saying she did not intend any harm with her message.

Thus, before the film even opened in cinemas, it was beset by controversy. Initial box-office results were extremely disappointing, with the movie opening to empty theatres across the USA. Disney attempted damage control but it was too late. The film cost some $270 million to produce and it is unlikely that it will break even. Critics were divided on whether the film was worth watching, although many praised Zegler’s performance and trashed Gadot’s acting. For the anti-woke, conservative community, the failure of Snow White is a vindication of what they had been stating all along: leave classics alone; don’t give people jobs based on their skin colour or minority status but rather on merit; don’t use Disney films as political sermons for liberal ideas and, last but not least, don’t give into ‘cancel culture’. The latter is “the phenomenon or practice of publicly rejecting, boycotting, or ending support for particular people or groups because of their socially or morally unacceptable views or actions.” Zegler effectively ‘cancelled’ the original Snow White film because it did not reflect the liberal and egalitarian values of the 21st century. Conservatives believe strongly that people should not be cancelled because of their political views or public statements, especially if such statements were made in a different era or time when such outlooks were not frowned upon.

In a strange twist of irony, the anti-woke community have perpetrated the very crime they accused their liberal opponents of engaging in: cancelling. I challenge you to read any negative comments on social media about the film.  There you will see conservatives taking immense pleasure in the film’s failure and gloating about Zegler’s foolish pronouncements. They make her out to be one of the greatest villains of contemporary society. They analyse her words and pick apart every interview she has given, looking for some crumbs of stupidity. I don’t have much time for Zegler but she is just an actor and she did the job she was paid to do. She may be immature and misguided but so are numerous Hollywood stars many years her senior. There is no reason to demonise her and blame her for the demise of a once-respected film studio. The triumphalism of the conservatives is actually nauseating.  

Sometimes the best way to respond to something is silence. There are times when words are meaningless and superfluous, either because the situation is so petty (like the Snow White film) or because the matter is so immense.  In the case of the sudden and tragic death of Aharon’s sons on the day the Tabernacle was inaugurated, words were inadequate. What can a bereaved father say that will assuage his pain? Should he cry out to God or rail against Him?  Should he try to console his wife and surviving children? Should he offer philosophical reasons for why his sons perished? Should he mumble platitudes like “it was for the best” or “they are now with God”? Aharon said nothing.  He kept quiet. And he was rewarded for his silence: soon after the tragedy, God gave him prophecy, the highest level of closeness to God that a mortal can achieve. In that moment, his soul was invigorated and he knew that he was not abandoned by his Creator. So to the anti-Disney crowd, I say: Stop your gloating. Be the better person. Savour your victory but do so with dignity and not like some spoiled children who revel in their enemy’s downfall.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom. Rabbi Liebenberg

Rabbi’s YouTube message:  https://youtu.be/mAEIcYn-z64?si=-qIZfaTpLPNEltBu

* Rosh Chodesh Iyar is Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 April. The month of Iyar includes the following events: Yom Hazikaron (4 Iyar, observed this year on 2 Iyar, 30 April); Yom Haatzmaut (5 Iyar, observed this year on 3 Iyar, 1 May); Pesach Sheini (14 Iyar/ 12 May); Lag B’Omer (18 Iyar/16 May) and Yom Yerushalayim (28 Iyar/26 May). The Molad (appearance of the new moon) will be Sunday 27 April at 20h30 and 2 chalakim (a chelek, literally a “portion”, is a Talmudic measure of time equal to one-eighteenth of a minute, or 3 and 1/3 seconds).