I wanted to examine some of the similarities and differences between the mirror representations. As we've discussed all week in glass, Gilbert's and Gubar's argument is that the mirror is a "tool patriarchy suggests that women use to kill themselves with art" (Tatar 77). Disney uses a deep, monotone male voice and a forboding mask to represent its mirror. There is only darkness and fire. The queen, representative of women, is caught in an "imprisonment of the looking-glass" (Tatar 77). What once began with vanity is now an obsession, and she must keep returning to hear what the voice will say to her. There becomes a constant need for this affirmation, to which Disney gives an unmistakable male authority.
I'd like to compare this to the movie we saw on Monday. This 1961ish version has many, many differences, but I found the difference in the mirror to be most striking. The mirror is in a well-lit room, and it has jewels around the side that light up with a cute jingle every time the queen asks it a question. The voice is a lovely woman, who sounds more like Glinda the Good Witch than anything evil. The mirror is overall pleasant. The worst part about it is the reflection betrays the horrible acting skills of the woman who plays the queen. The facial expression changes are pretty terrible.
What the mirror actually reminded me was of the toy Snow White mirror I had growing up. Here's a link to a modern version. When you pressed the button, pleasant, happy chimes would sound and images from the movie (I think) would flash around the screen. I can't remember if it answered questions or what the phrases were. But I also found this beauty. A real talking mirror that tells you that you are the fairest in the land! The voice is Snow White, so it's not a demeaning patronizing one, but still.
Like Kate mentioned today in class, although the mirror in the stories is genderless, I found myself always thinking it had a male voice. In the romance languages, "mirror" is a masculine word, but I doubt that was what the casting people at Disney had in mind when choosing the way to play the mirror. Looking online, I found an audition for a new Snow White movie, and it is also casting a "male voice" for that of the mirror. It would be interesting to talk to casting directors who do representations of Snow White today and see what their logic is behind making the mirror a man. Is it a conscious choice, or has Disney so shaped America that we all assume it should be male because that's the way we first saw it?
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I feel like the fact that the mirror is typically portrayed as a male is not that important or significant, at least not as much as the experts seem to think. Realistically, there are only two options - male and female - so if nothing else it's a matter of chance. Would people rather the source of utter vanity and corruption be portrayed as a woman? Because I feel like people would inevitably find problems with that portrayal, as well. Obviously, I'm not an expert, i just feel like the gender portrayal of the mirror's voice is not really important, at least as far as the grand scheme of the story is concerned.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think you're right about the romance languages not being the reason for making the male mirror. I took Latin and after a while, you realize word gender does not make as much sense as it should.
I would assume that Disney has shaped what we think, though it's hard to say. Obviously, I'm sure you saw Disney's version before reading any of these stories, so that is probably the reason you think of the genderless mirror as male.
I'd be interested to know what reactions would be if the mirror had typically been portrayed as female.
I definitely think that Disney has shaped us to automatically assume that the mirror will be male. Like you both said, most of us saw the movie before we ever read any version of Snow White. If the mirror were female, it seems like that would create even greater problems than if it were male. Because the mirror is male, we talked in class about how the male is given the power to determine the standard of beauty. However, if the mirror were female, would she still be able to decide who is the most beautiful? I have to wonder what her image would look like: would she be more attractive than the Queen? I don't think the Queen would like her mirror as much if this were the case. I think this idea of the mirror's gender is just interesting to think about, but I do believe we will always think of Disney's male mirror first simply because it was the first version we were exposed to.
ReplyDeleteI think the mirror being portrayed as a male figure is very important as the issue at hand is beauty according to who's standards? Males. In the Disney version, the queen is driven to murder another because of her jealousy in competing for male attention. Of course the final say of "who is fairest of them all" would reside in the hands of a male figure.
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