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Disneyland's Snow White ride is being criticised for including a non-consensual kiss
4 May 2021, 16:57
The dark first trailer for Disney's ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’
"Teaching kids that kissing, when it hasn't been established if both parties are willing to engage, is not OK?"
Disneyland is being criticised for its Snow White ride, which features a non-consensual kiss.
As you know, Snow White is all about a princess who gets poisoned by an evil queen. After biting into a poisoned apple she falls into a deep sleep and is only awakened by a kiss from her true love, Prince Charming.
Last week, the legendary theme park reopened for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and, whilst closed, Disney upgraded Snow White's Enchanted Wish ride.
The ride, which was previously called Snow White's Scary Adventures, is one of Fantasyland's original attractions and its update includes new audio and visual technology. It also features a recreation of the kiss between Snow White and Prince Charming.
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Katie Dowd and Julie Tremaine reviewed the new ride for SFGate.com and concluded that the kiss should not have been included.
The article read: "Haven't we already agreed that consent in early Disney movies is a major issue? That teaching kids that kissing, when it hasn't been established if both parties are willing to engage, is not OK? It's hard to understand why the Disneyland of 2021 would choose to add a scene with such old fashioned ideas of what a man is allowed to do to a woman, especially given the company's current emphasis on removing problematic scenes from rides like Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain.
"Why not re-imagine an ending in keeping with the spirit of the movie and Snow White's place in the Disney canon, but that avoids this problem?"
The article has sparked a lengthy debate about whether Snow White and Prince Charming's kiss has a place in 2021.
ppl are saying snow white's kiss raises "issues of consent" and i'm this close to hitting the big red button
— sarah m. albers ☠️ (@sarahmalbers) May 3, 2021
OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED
— The Queer Deer🏳️🌈🦌 (@MaddieDoereyme) May 3, 2021
IF YOU THOUGHT THE PRINCE KISSING SNOW WHITE WITHOUT CONSENT WAS TOO FAR, YOU’LL NEVER HANDLE WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ORIGINAL SLEEPING BEAUTY STORY.
It's a creepy AF fairy tale, like so many were, but singling out that one bit is like pointing to one eel while not seeing the entire dark dank swamp.
— ara wilson (@arawilson) May 3, 2021
Now the Snow White ride at Disneyland is being slammed because Prince Charming kisses the sleeping princess without consent. The new dogma presumably also makes it illegal for parents to kiss sleeping children, a man to kiss his sleeping wife. https://t.co/OASDHxHtMJ pic.twitter.com/wLFkGpJxd4
— Mothers of sons (@Mothersofsons1) May 3, 2021
In defense of Snow White, the Prince did NOT think he was kissing a sleeping woman w/o her consent... he thought he was kissing the corpse of someone who’d been dead for a year.
— Matt Prigge (@mjpmke) May 3, 2021
Fine. Don't kiss her. Let her die. How embarrassing to be a leftie. The Prince kissed her without consent. https://t.co/ZsxgH5ibuM
— Nippy Krankie💎 (@NKrankie) May 3, 2021
Disney haven't commented on the backlash surrounding the Snow White ride, however, they are in the process of overhauling other problematic rides. Earlier this year, Disney announced it would redesign The Jungle Cruise because of its harmful depiction of indigenous people. Splash Mountain is also being overhauled to remove racist stereotypes. The new ride will instead be inspired by 2009 Disney movie The Princess and the Frog.