Mirror, Mirror is Adorable
I hope you noted my sarcasm there.
We went to see Mirror, Mirror yesterday, and overall the film really was enjoyable. I am not kidding when I say that Julia Roberts’ funny yet mean-spirited queen was fun to see, or that Lily Collins’ Snow White was, though perhaps rather two-dimensional, also enjoyable. Even though she kicks booty, she still gets to clean for the dwarves (way to revolutionize the story there, Hollywood!) not to mention get her own booty literally spanked by the prince while fighting, which bothered me in several ways—particularly the way it made him seem like the older, wiser man teaching a lesson to the child-girl that he was nonetheless ready to make out with.
Again, it’s not as different from the original as you might think.
But perhaps the most disturbing development in this new incarnation of the Snow White story is that a servant was turned into a bug—which is funny enough on its own, as well as something that children enjoy—and once he was restored to his human form, he told a story about how he was “violated” by another bug (it was either a cricket or a grasshopper; I can’t remember). This was meant to be a funny scene. I am not sure about you, but a violation of this sort sure sounds like rape to me—how else would one bug violate another, aside from perhaps biting off one’s head, which obviously was not the case?—and rape is never funny, particularly in a family film.
Which, of course, leaves me to wonder why the supposed joke was included in this film anyway. It’s definitely marketed as a children’s film; unlike the darker, scarier Snow White and the Huntsman coming this summer, Mirror, Mirror is full of the same slapstick humor you expect in children’s films, features no swearing and fairly limited violence (there was no blood or death—refreshing!—though there are creepy puppets and a monster) and it featured children’s cartoon films (such as Madagascar 3) during its previews. This movie’s audience was most assuredly supposed to be children (why else would they change the title, other than to follow Disney’s Rapunzel example in order to supposedly attract more little boys to see it?), so why make the joke?
Indeed, why make it at all, no matter the audience?
It’s really too bad, because aside from the spanking and the joke, I would have given the movie a solid B for fun and friendly family entertainment, as well as decent lead female characters. (The film also passes the Bechdel test.)