If you lined up every single Disney princess in a row, they would share one defining character trait—their long, voluminous hair. Okay, Mulan chopped her hair off to hide her identity and Rapunzel’s was cut to stop Mother Gothel from exploiting its magical powers, but these cuts were plot points, and when both princesses are shown in the media, they often have their iconic Disney hair. That is,every princess has this enviously perfect long hair except for Snow White. The reason for Snow White’s black bob is never addressed in the original movie, yet the look has become iconic and wasobviously replicated for the live-action remake.
Yet, this new version ofSnow Whitemade the decision to explore the princess’ backstory,which now includes an explanation of how she got her short hair. However, the decision to include this undermines the message of the story and gives out a false message that short hair is somehow synonymous with unattractiveness, which is shallow and, ultimately, incorrect.The movie would’ve been better off leaving the explanation ambiguousor giving the princess short hair throughout.
‘Snow White’ Finally Shows How The Princess Got Short Hair
Snow White’s iconic black bob certainlymakes her stand out from the other princessesand feels so vastly different. It is possible the choice was made for ease of animation, as Snow White’s hair is stagnant and fairly sparse in movement in the animated classic. However,any narrative reasons for her hair are not discussed,and it is merely a matter of fact that her hair is short. However, the live-action remake expands on Snow White’s (Rachel Zegler) backstory and explains how she got the iconic short hairstyle. The scenes with a young Snow White show her hair was long and often braided, making her more akin to other princesses. However, the death of her mother and the disappearance of her father meant thatthe Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) gained custody over Snow White.
The Queen reveals herself as an evil sorceress, only caring about vanity and being the “fairest of them all.“Snow White feels like a threat to this singular aim, so she uses scissors to cut the princess’ hair. Thishaircut acts as a symbol of control and is a visual representation of the way the Queen runs a totally authoritarian kingdom. She makes sharp and strong decisions that have devastating and long-lasting consequences. However, it is also implied that the haircut is a way to ensure the Queen is the fairest, which is where the explanation begins to run into major issues.
Explaining ‘Snow White’s Haircut Supports Old-Fashioned Beauty Standards
The movie doesn’t explain why Snow White keeps the hairstyle for the duration of the movie, but it can be inferred that the Queen continually cuts it to keep it short.This means, the core message of the movie becomes that Snow White’s fairness is found through her inner beauty.It is a beautiful sentiment that is floored by the comparison between the Queen and Snow, and this idea that this attempt at control over Snow’s appearance would prevent her from being beautiful. There is supposedly this notion that the Queen has no authority over Snow’s natural kindness, but thedialogue that her control over Snow’s appearancecould prevent her from being the fairest is extremely regressive.
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There are also issues with the portrayal of short hair being seen as a punishment as it leans into archaic beauty standards.Haircuts for punishments are a real-world issue, one that explores ideas of control over young people.This is seen in the way a young Snow White viscerally reacts to the initial cut, with her self-esteem seemingly damaged. However, this way of thinking within the movie feels like an extremely dangerous representation as it implies shorter hairstyles are unfeminine and less appealing. The remake would’ve been better off showing Snow having short hair from childhood into adulthood rather than attempting to offer an explanation for the bob. Using the haircut as a punishment in such an extreme wayundercuts the movie’s major theme of beauty from within. The live-actionSnow Whitemay have answered the question of why the princess has short hair,but it really didn’t need to.
Snow White
A live-action adaptation of the classic fairy tale. The film follows Snow White as she escapes into the forest and seeks refuge with seven dwarfs to elude her jealous stepmother, the wicked Queen, who is threatened by Snow White’s surpassing beauty.
