“Nothing You Can Take From Me Was Ever Worth Keeping,”: Why Rachel Zegler’s Hate is Undeserved

With the resurfacing of Evita’s popularity as the West End just closed the production and Rachel Zegler playing the leading lady Eva Peron, Rachel Zegler’s name has appeared in several conversations online. Zegler is famous for her bright, powerful, and clear voice: both literally and figuratively. Her rise to fame began at the ripe age of 17, where she booked the role of Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Preceding West Side Story, Zegler is well known for some of her credits as: Lucy Gray Baird (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Anthea (Shazam! Fury of The Gods), and the titular role of Snow White in Snow White. 

Image From: Slate

One of Zegler’s most attacked roles she has played is Snow White. Not only has the film as a whole faced backlash, Zegler herself has borne the brunt of the blow. In interviews leading up to the premiere of the show, Zegler commented, “I mean… you know, the original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so, there is a very big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird, weird. So we didn’t do that this time.”, “I was scared of the original cartoon. I think I watched it once and I never picked it up again.”, and, “If I’m going to stand there, eighteen hours, in a dress of an iconic Disney princess, I deserve to be paid for every hour that it is steamed online. [referencing the SAG-AFTRA strike].” 

Subsequently, Zegler faced an onslaught of innocuous backlash. Critics turned sparks into an inferno, claiming that Zegler was highfalutin and was not grateful for the opportunities she was given. Harsher comments even stated that she shouldn’t have been cast as Snow White because. “she was unattractive,” and that she was the reason why Snow White did poorly in the box office. The producer’s son, Jonah Platt, stated that his father had to fly out to speak with Zegler about expressing her political opinions during the promotional period for Snow White.

On the other hand, I disagree with the criticism of Rachel Zegler. The abhorrence Zegler faces reveals a deeper layer of misogyny and sexism. The condemnation given by people due to her speaking out on what she believes to be right is because of the antiquated belief that women have to be complaisant and agreeable to succeed. That staying neutral in order to not “rock the boat” is necessary for one to have a propitious career. The opprobrium people provide Zegler for her commenting that she wasn’t a fan of the 1937 version of Snow White is rooted in the misogynistic viewpoint that women must be thankful for every opportunity they receive and are not allowed to not provide criticism. Not only this, there is a severe double standard regarding the issue of actors disliking the roles they’ve played. Robert Pattinson expressed criticism about his role as Edward in Twilight, remarking, “He's [Edward Cullen] the most ridiculous person who's so amazing at everything. I think a lot of actors tried to play that aspect. I just couldn't do that. He's the most ridiculous person...the more I read the script, the more I hated this guy.” However, the distinction behind Pattinson and Zegler’s remarks is that Pattinson leftpredominantly unscathed, even having Twilight fans defend him. There is even a Tumblr page devoted to him bashing Twilight and Edward. The public has construed Pattinson’s remarks to be risible and Zegler’s to be rude. 

At the end of the day, Zegler has proven her adroitness in this industry and has overcome adversity.  Her response to her censure was this, “To everyone who hates when I win, the Winged Victory came to the Louvre in pieces and people still wait in line to see her. To everyone who hates when I win, I can only hope that despite my flaws, that at every premiere and everything I do, people will wait in line to see.” Like Taylor Swift said in her song "Nothing New”, “How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?” Zegler is merely 24, 23 when Snow White released. She is still learning while standing up for her values, a commendable brave skill not many influencers have.

Edited By: Marina Lemoni