You’ve no doubt heard about the upcoming cartoon reboot of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, entitled “Red Shoes,” but have you heard about the enormous controversy surrounding the film? Immediately after the marketing poster was released at the Cannes Film Festival, plus-size model Tess Holliday started a tweet storm, aimed at the movie’s star Chloe Moretz, accusing her of body shaming:

“‘How did this get approved by an entire marketing team? Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly? @ChloeGMoretz.’” 1

All this without even knowing whether or not she was a part of the campaign. FYI, she wasn’t:

‘”I have now fully reviewed the mkting for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasn’t approved by me or my team.

Pls know I have let the producers of the film know. I lent my voice to a beautiful script that I hope you will all see in its entirety. 1

The actual story is powerful for young women and resonated with me. I am sorry for the offense that was beyond my creative control.’” 2

Sadly, her apology wasn’t well received…likely because no one has seen the movie yet and therefore doesn’t understand what the story hopes to accomplish. (I obviously have seen it but plan to when it’s released. I can tell you this if you watch any of the trailers that have been released you will see how they have seemingly sexualized Snow White. I’m not ok with that, although I suppose they would counter that it’s a parody.)

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For their part, Locus Creative Studios released the following statement after the controversy:

“‘As the producer of the theatrical animated film Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs, now in production, Locus Corporation wishes to apologize regarding the first elements of our marketing campaign (in the form of a Cannes billboard and a trailer) which we realize has had the opposite effect from that which was intended. That advertising campaign is being terminated. Our film, a family comedy, carries a message designed to challenge social prejudices related to standards of physical beauty in society by emphasizing the importance of inner beauty. We appreciate and are grateful for the constructive criticism of those who brought this to our attention. We sincerely regret any embarrassment or dissatisfaction this mistaken advertising has caused to any of the individual artists or companies involved with the production or future distribution of our film, none of whom had any involvement with creating or approving the now discontinued advertising campaign.’”

Given the issues surrounding the campaign, the studio terminated it.

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What are your thoughts?

Sources and References

  1. Metro UK, June 1, 2017.
  2. Huffington Post, June 1, 2017.