The Snow White Story in Film and Novel

Boy, Snow, Bird, and Blancanieves

The endings of both Boy, Snow, Bird and Blancanieves share a similar sense of ambiguity and equivocation that ties back to the themes and motifs of the Snow White story.

In the Snow White story, the ending is usually portrayed as a clear victory of good over evil, with Snow White being saved by the prince\'s kiss and the wicked queen getting her comeuppance. However, both Boy, Snow, Bird and Blancanieves subvert this traditional ending by introducing complexities and ambiguities that leave the reader/viewer with unanswered questions.

In Boy, Snow, Bird, the titular character must come to terms with her own complicity in perpetuating systems of racism and prejudice, and the ending suggests that there may be no clear solution or redemption for her (Oyeyemi, 2014). Similarly, in Blancanieves, the ending is left open to interpretation, with the fate of the main character unclear and the themes of sacrifice and redemption complicated by the darker elements of the story (Latorre, 2014). Blancanieves sheds a tear after being kissed by a dwarf—but is she alive? Is she dead? Is the tear merely symbolic? The film fades to black without answering a single question.

Nonetheless, these ambiguous endings serve to highlight the complex and often contradictory nature of human behavior and morality, as well as the limitations of traditional fairy tale endings that offer neat resolutions and clear moral messages. Through the blending of fairy tale elements with social realism, both Boy, Snow, Bird and Blancanieves challenge the reader and viewer to question their own assumptions and biases, and to grapple with the messy realities of human experience.

Both Boy, Snow, Bird and Blancanieves likely found the Snow White story to be suitable for updating because it contains timeless and universal themes that are still relevant today. The Snow White story is a classic fairy tale that deals with issues of beauty, jealousy, power, and identity, and it has been adapted and reimagined many times over the years. The Snow White story is also well known and beloved by many, which makes it an attractive starting point for contemporary retellings.

Regarding the choice to contradict Snow White\'s original ending, both Boy, Snow, Bird and Blancanieves seem to have been interested in exploring the darker, more complex elements of the Snow White story. By subverting the traditional happy ending, both adaptations aimed to delve deeper into the unique themes of their own stories and present a more nuanced and realistic portrayal of the characters they set forth and their motivations (Deveny, 2016).

Plus, both adaptations were interested in challenging the traditional gender roles and power dynamics present in the Snow White story—particularly with the girl named Boy and Blancanieves becoming a bullfighter. By presenting alternative endings, the adaptations pursued a possible line of critique of the patriarchal society that the original story possibly represents, and thus it could be said they offer new possibilities for gender and power dynamics.