In the DEFA film the magic mirror does not have a face but instead glows and speaks to the queen whereas in Disney's Snow White the magic mirror is a dramatic face that as we discussed in class speaks to the heterosexual desires of the wicked queen. Of course it is a male · characterized with a deep voice and portrays something or some force almost demonic or evil. Literally surrounded by smoke and mirrors the mirror makes the audience question who the force is behind his decisions/ proclamations. Similarly in the DEFA film, there is no face or voice but the outer edges glow - this difference in personifying an object versus imbuing it with a voice and light change the tone of the messages but also keep alive the mystical and magical elements that are completely absent in the 1916 Marguerite Clark film. In both the DEFA film and Disney's we get the sense that there is a special force but only in Disney do we really feel that the mask is deceptive and wise but in service to something evil. In our Gilbert & Guber reading the mirror is the voice of patriarchy that judges women and creates self doubt/ self worth or lack thereof in woman – here its as though Disney wanted to dramatize their theory whereas in DEFA that component is absent besides the voice. The fact that this character is a mirror of course begs the question, are these the delusions of a crazy queen? Well yes partially but they also reflect the socialization of our society. You could arguet that the mirror is herself and what she has been hearing is herself saying these narcissistic things until day she looks in mirror and realizes her adolescant daughter is fairer and she can’t lie to herself anymore – her own voice no longer tells her she is beautiful. The self that is returned to her by the mirror is the person she gets back is what she hears with relation to male voice without something behind it – its not one person and its not behind her. In the DEFA film this is the same concept but the vivid personification that literally gives a face to our socialization is absent and actually further provokes the question- is it us?
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I think that you make an interesting point. There is nothing that I can think of that would show that the mirror is not her or our society in general. It is interesting that the mirror is male, and therefore the queen bases her entire life on the opinion of a male as if men are superior. Then, if you look at it in a different light - is the mirror our society, that would suggest that our society is either predominately male, or the male opinion is the only opinion that shines through. I like how you mention that in the DEFA film, there is no mask to suggest that it is a person of some sort giving the opinion - it is instead some supernatural force. That does make me question if the mirror represents society even more. I like this theory. Maybe that is why the Disney version shows a mask in the first place. We mentioned in class that the mask is meant to cover something up, so what is behind the mask? Maybe our entire socialization is behind the mask. So, why are we hiding behind a male mask?
ReplyDeleteI think it might be interesting to think that there might be nothing behind the mask. All the cultural constructs of beauty are largely arbitrary. If a mask, a symbol of disguise, represents the critic of beauty, than is the film suggesting that in fact beauty is in a sense a lie. Let me scale this back just a little bit. I think it's more likely that if the important factor is the mask itself rather than the possibility for something behind it, it may suggest that beauty is truly only an external force. The queen's external beauty disguises an internal ugliness, which actually gets revealed in her transformation. In the terms of literature, the transformation then seems more like a return to true form than a transformation. It is the queen who sees the mask in the mirror, and it is her beauty that works as a disguise to hide her true nature.
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