Oral narratives have a way of changing with the times. Like many timeless Indian epics, the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves has many versions. So the latest cinematic telling of the tale of a beautiful princess and an evil queen is par for the course, especially since the latest, supposedly ‘woke’, version reflects the current sentiment of the American film industry if not that country’s moviegoers. In short, this re-telling had to happen – and the adverse reaction to it too.

But as the new ‘live action’ Snow White minus any little people in the title although they are in the film, is heading apparently to a disastrous box office run in its home market and around the world, it would not be farfetched to speculate it could be because the ‘new’ version ignores the core viewership—children—and the fact that the enduring popularity of folk tales lies in their focus on timeless universal virtues rather than ever-changing political predilections and fads.

The film’s makers and supporters evidently also forgot that children are not inherently racist or woke and therefore do not decide what they like or do not like based on those two grounds. Millions of children across generations around the world who have watched the original movie and hummed the songs—including this writer—did not feel that “snow-white" Snow White was any different from themselves, unless a concerned parent, teacher or other adult pointed it out.

It is indeed grown-ups who transpose their own adult........

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