"You cannot have my heart."

[cupiscent]

Went to see Snow White and the Huntsman. Good lord, that was rubbish.

Charlize was splendid; she did magnificently well with the scenery-chewing given to her, and basically 95% of everything good about the movie was related to her and her character. (Oh Ravenna. You made my heart beat frantic origin-of-the-dark-queen inspiration, and your magic

Comments

[girlofavalon]

I seem to have liked everything people hated about it. In cluding her being Catholic - and no, I'm not religious. That's weird.

[cupiscent]

Yeah, I dunno. I would've loved her Catholicism if it had actually been a thing. But given the rampant pagan imagery of most of the rest of the story, and the fact that no one else in the kingdom seems to be Catholic (no mentions of Ravenna being unholy, or of the devil) it comes across as a sort of fumbling "er, we need some way to show her purity of spirit!" element. For which they could have had her just in a generic prayer posture, silent (or muttering indistinguishably). It didn't have to be a prayer innately attached to one religion, and in fact capable of identifying a sect of that religion.

Mostly, I'm just bothered by the switcheroo - she's a chained martyr! she's an innate virgin connection to the land! she's a messiah!

[girlofavalon]

I actually liked her Catholicism because of the pagan imagery of most of the rest of the story. I think the "interfaith" thing worked well, and was refreshing. You never a fantasy movie in which Christianity exists, just as you never see a movie where Christianity exists and Pagan elements are seen in a good light. This one was different.

[cupiscent]

I see your point, but I don't think the movie did that. I don't feel like there was any Christianity in it at all after that moment of prayer. Snow never calls upon or references her faith in the rest of the story, and no one else evinces any Christian faith. Even when she's lying in burial state in what's ostensibly a church, the trappings of Christianity are absent. I don't think it followed through with the Christianity, and I wish it had, because you're right, that would be a powerful and beautiful thing to see.

(Though, at the same time, it might have given the story a poisonous overtone of "in a woman, experience is evil and must be cast out by the pure Christian virgin, who brings light to the benighted heathens". That's rather why the Christianity needs to be demonstrated by more than just Snow.)

[girlofavalon]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree about that. I think the movie did a fabulous job by adding just that one bit of Christian faith, and I fail to see a poisonous message in the fact that we only see it through Snow. Snow White is in essence a rather personal tale, more than it is a story the way tend to see stories. This movie retrieves that tone.