Snow White and the Hunstman, a Review

We are in a year full of hero stories; the same classic stories of a hero leaving home to encounter his destiny. But there is a twist to these new hero stories: our heroes are actually heroines. Joseph Campbell would be very proud to see how the formula adapts years later, and would even be surprised to see it works just fine. “Snow White and the Huntsman” fits right in this category and I must say I was very surprised with the way they approached the movie. The damsel in distress is becoming the savior and I’m having a great time watching this change.

“Snow White and the Huntsman” tells the classic tale of the Grimm Brothers’ “Snow White” (played in this iteration by Kristen Stewart). It all starts when Ravenna (Charliza Theron) comes to the kingdom, seduces, marries the King and later kills him. She ends up taking the throne and banning Snow White into a bleak dungeon, afraid of what she could become. After many years, Snow White is able to escape and as the classic fairy tale tells us, a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) is sent to kill her. With the help of many unexpected creatures, Snow White will have to show who she truly is and claim what is rightfully hers.

This year we got to see three Snow Whites: One on TV in “Once Upon a Time”, one who tried to be funny in “Mirror, Mirror” and Stewart’s own version of her. As it was to be expected, comparisons and expectations were thrown into all three of them. To be honest, I think the one that truly captures the essence of what a modern hero is truly about is the one we see in “Snow White and the Huntsman”. Rooky director Rupert Sanders established a tone, not being afraid of going over the top. He created a world and respected its rules and that is why it works.

The technical aspects of the movie immensely aid the suspension of disbelief necessary to enjoy the film. For one, the cinematography is beautiful and achieves some breathtaking shots that elevate the canvas they are painting for us, giving reality within a fantastical world. The stark color contrast between brightness and dark make for a rich visual experience that had me wowing more than once.

This goes hand in hand with the art, sets, and places used to shoot the movie. They really created a world were you can feel the difference between “what should have been” and how the Queen has changed the world. They use nature to connect Snow White and this eccentric, filled-with-life environment. Through the colors and ambience we know our characters: Snow White’s is filled with life, hope and courage, whereas Ravenna’s is proud, fearful and full of despair. It is a pretty obvious metaphor, but it works and it enhances the narrative if on a subtextual level.

The three main characters are well casted. Kristen Stewart finally gets a big role in which she can show her acting skills. Having said this, her character doesn’t let her enough room to get to the level she has shown in movies like “Adventureland” and “Speak”, and her semi-british accent kinds sucks. Charlize Theron shines as the evil queen; she is scary, beautiful and over the top. Chris Hemsworth was made for the role as the morally confused huntsman with the dreamy face and heart of gold. Between the three, they carry the movie well.

Having said all the positive stuff, there are a couple of things that don’t let the movie be what it could’ve been. The script, even for a very simple tale of bravery and sacrifice, makes the narrative feel choppy. The story doesn’t flow in its entirety and it seems slow at times. This I attribute, mostly, to amount of unnecessary characters. The most notable example is Prince Charming or William (Sam Claflin), the love triangle can’t even be called that and it makes this character seem annoying and out of place. He feels like a pawn used by the writers to fill the empty spaces they had in their story. It’s hard to connect with him, and he takes room from other stuff that could have been explored deeper, like Snow White’s relationship with Ravenna, the dwarves or even the huntsman.

All in all, “Snow White and the Huntsman” makes for great entertainment with some impressive achievements. It has some pretty big faults, but at the end the positive parts of the film outweigh them. It is not deep and soulful, but still presents a new type of protagonist that represents a cool new twist.  

Snow White and Prince Charming Visit México: Kristen Stewart and Sam Claflin Press Conference

Foto: Cristina Vales 

Snow White is back –and for the second time this year no less. First we had the “funny” version of the princess with “Mirror, Mirror” and now we are presented with the dark and overpowering version in “Snow White and the Huntsman”. Apparently, Hollywood is trying to change the essence of who we think Snow White is. In fact, movies, books and TV are starting a trend were we can see a bunch of complex female heroines with the will and mind to be strong and independent—like Katniss from “The Hunger Games” or Carrie from “Homeland”- which is awesome.

The traditional female role is changing and even blockbusters are embracing the change. I personally enjoy seeing a woman fight with her own skills and smarts opposed to seeing the damsel in distress waiting for the strong and handsome man to come and save her by kicking 40 guys in the ass. It is interesting to see a woman fight with her means and if we think about it, it also gives a whole new meaning to the man’s presence in the story. It gives new ways to create characters and new ways of telling stories.

As we see these new characters it is also important to note what kind of girls and women are being chosen to play these heroines. In this case we have Kristen Stewart, who ironically has been typecasted for playing the ultimate damsel in distress—which frankly, comes from people who doesn’t know the rest of Stewarts career-. When I heard that Kristen Stewart and Sam Claflin were giving a press conference for the movie, I jumped at the chance to go and understand where this character and story were coming from.

To begin, I must say I have immense respect for Kristen Stewart. I really believe she is a normal girl who is living an extraordinary situation and handling it to the best of her social abilities. And I say this because I had the chance to go into the photo call with bunches of photographers and reporters and they were all saying how mean she was and how conceited she was. She wasn’t.

Then, she came out and I had 30 tall and bulky dudes trampling me to take a picture and screaming at her in Spanish for her to pose and look over to their cameras. They were basically chastising her for being “rude” when she probably didn’t even understand the language they were speaking. And that’s when I realized how unforgiving the media can be and how subjective things like these can become. We expect these people to be chatty and smiley and sometimes their personality isn’t set that way, that doesn’t mean they are rude or mean.

Foto: Cristina Vales

That is why I was glad she was able to defend herself as they asked her why she wouldn’t stop to say hi to her fans at the airport. “I would love to walk through an airport alone,” she said with a big smile on her face. She apologized if someone felt brushed off and added, “México is the most welcoming and passionate. They are unabashedly happy to see you.” She expressed her sadness for not being able to go out in México City, because her security team won’t let her.  

After the photo call, we all went to the press conference that was set up pretty cool, with a fake forest and low color lights. Kristen and Sam were brought on stage and immediately were asked what lured them into the project. Sam said that it was interesting to reinvent a classic fairy tale by reinventing their classic characters.

Kristen said that they wanted, “to stay really true to who Snow White was classically.” Meaning: she is a girl who is not pretending to have the abilities of a boy, but a woman that can fight in more ways than physically. She also told the press that this particular story appealed to her because they were able to show a very dark part of a fairy tale that, in the end, made the light in the same movie even more gorgeous.

Stewart stated that princess stories weren’t her favorite when growing up. But for her this princess was different, “the cool thing about our movie is that it humanizes the characters.” Sam agreed by saying his character was “a more realistic man who is able to defend himself and has backbone.”

At this point, the conference was accompanied by the chants of dozens of teen girls who were waiting outside and screaming “Kristen! Kristen! Kristen!” over an over. 

Foto: Cristina Vales

Stewart was very clear when she said she is not inclined to become an action movie star. “There has to be a reason for the stories you tell,” then she added. “All of my action is motivated by fear and she is not crippled by it. She moves towards it and is ultimately compassionate.” Sam then added, that although his main roles in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and in “Snow White and the Huntsman” have been action driven, he is eager to get other type of roles that would challenge his acting.

Both actors praised their co-star Charlize Theron, saying she was very professional, beautiful. Stewart claimed that Theron was an inspiration as she was growing up. “Charlize blows your hair back when she gets in the room,” she said.

During the whole conference both actors had a smile on their face and were gracious, even if some of the questions asked were somewhat aggressive. They both expressed their happiness with the result and after a couple of pictures they left the stage.

           

Foto: Cristina Vales

Later, as I was leaving the hotel, checking the photos I had just taken, I noticed the bunch of teen girls who we could hear when we were in the conference. So I decided to cross the street, just to realize they had guessed I was just inside and mobbed me.  They began interrogating me about how cool she was, if she looked pretty, if she was truly mean. I told them she was actually awesome and they seemed happy. Then, Sam Claflin decided to say hi to the fans from a balcony and I’m sure I lost 20% of my ability to hear. After that, I left, but not without wishing the fans good luck and hoping for Kristen Stewart to go out and say hi to them, I later heard she actually did.

So, now you can all go see “Snow White and the Huntsmen” which opens June 1^st and see for yourselves if the reinvention of the modern heroine is a reality or just the hopeful thinking of people who produce these movies. And for those interested, my review will be up soon for you to enjoy my awesome criteria on movies. 

Brandi Carlile and Bear Creek

Having heard bits and pieces and some full songs of Brandi Carlile's new CD I must say I'm excited to hear the whole thing. But, here goes one of the songs of the new CD sang live and it blew me away. As always. Enjoy.

Lupus World Day: Let the Awareness Commence

 My fellow readers, as you have the opportunity of noticing, I seldom take my blog to write about personal issues or feelings, simply because what I have to say here doesn’t mesh with my personal life. Having said this, it was impossible for me to ignore the necessity I felt to address lupus, which, ironically, breaches into the deepest part of me.

As some of you may know, the Lupus Organization of America has marked May as the Lupus Awareness Month and May the 10^th as the World Lupus Day. During the whole month, and with a combined effort from the organization, supporters and specialists, content is created with the specific purpose of making the disease known. It is a month dedicated to create awareness for people who don’t know about lupus and for family and friends who struggle understanding the whole meaning of the disease. This, I think, is pretty rad.

And you may ask yourselves, why does she care so much about this? There are a million other diseases that plague the world, why this? Well, the answer is simple: I was diagnosed with Systemic lupus erythematosus in October 29 of 2007 when I was 18 years old. I remember the date perfectly well, because it is a day that changed my life forever and opened my eyes to a whole new world. I didn’t even know what Lupus was before I was diagnosed and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, this new world had fallen on me. From one day to another I had to completely change my lifestyle and create new habits.

To be honest, it is hard for me to talk about this and I usually prefer not to. It is sad for me and people get uncomfortable or think you are throwing a pity party for yourself. “You seem fine, you are fine,” they seem to think.

So as a result, for many years I tried to block what was happening until I realized one thing: this illness does not define me as a person. Yes it is part of who I am, but just a part of me, not the whole package. I realized how liberating it was to tell someone what I was feeling and above all, I realized it became very important to me to create awareness. Damn people if they became uncomfortable or condescending, I was done with the silence.

That feeling brings me to write to you today. I finally got that if people don’t grasp what this means they never will be able to understand me. So for my sanity and the sanity of my friends, family and people I love I wanted to do this.

One of the first things I noticed when I was diagnosed is how little information I had of my own disease. I had to learn quickly, but as I ventured into the world, I also noticed that people were even more clueless than I was. I got all kinds of reactions that went from pitying pats in the back, to people being afraid they might catch the disease if they got close to me, to the truly supportive, to the wanna be doctors who disagreed with my rheumatologist and told you me to do things “right”.

But, facts are facts and they are important to understand lupus. Systemic lupus erythematosus is and systemic autoimmune chronic disease. This basically means that your body creates antibodies that it does not need and they attack your healthy organs: lungs, kidneys, thyroid or even the heart. This type of lupus is characterized by having periods of remission interrupted by flares that can happen randomly or by neglecting treatment. SLE is treatable using immunosuppression, mainly with cyclophosphamide, corticosteroids and other immunosuppressants, but as of today, there is no known cure for it.

Symptoms can vary and it is very difficult to diagnose, because many of them mimic symptoms of other conditions. For example, it presented in me with a drastic weight loss, vasculitis on my fingers, -which my dodgy dermatologist thought was an allergy- and fatigue, which is the symptom that I most struggle with today. Other common symptoms are joint pain, a butterfly shaped rash on the cheeks and fever. The disease is more common in women, but I can also affect some men.

Lupus is a very strange and mysterious animal. Not enough research or understanding has come to know why it happens and how we stop it. Sometimes it is genetic and sometimes it appears in a person with no genetic disposition for it. It is confusing and many times, misdiagnosed.

Even though I’ve been in remission for the last 4 years, it is scary to feel so out of control of your own body. Even following the treatment and the protocols to perfection a flare could occur. That is why awareness is so important, this needs to be known for it to be studied more and finally comprehended totally. Each year more people are diagnosed with lupus and a cure hasn’t been discovered. I believe any person who has this disease feels the same fear I do and this is why I’m putting this out there to try and help, even in a small way, to stop that fear.

So, I invite all of you to go and try to learn more about this disease. Today, May 10^th, we can open a new page and hope that more researchers will be interested in this and help by investigating in order to create better lifestyles for people with lupus.

Visit: http://www.lupus.org/ for more information and let the awareness commence.