Actually Leave Rachel Zegler Alone Already

Rachel Zegler became popular online before any of us really saw her in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story as Maria. She’s funny, charismatic, and is always open with fans on social media. So why is everyone suddenly turning on her on TikTok? The answer is simply that they don’t like her and are finding ways of mocking her for their own enjoyment, as Zegler recently went viral for talking about getting paid for her work.

In a video from the SAG-AFTRA picket lines, Zegler, who’s starring in an upcoming live-action adaptation of Snow White, said that she wanted to be paid for her work: “If I’m gonna stand there 18 hours in a dress of an iconic Disney princess, I deserve to be paid for every hour that it’s streamed online.” For whatever reason, people online are ignoring the fact that she should get paid when the studios do for streaming to, instead, just mock her and call her greedy.

All the annoying “fan blogs” have called her “entitled” for … wanting her pay. This is a common refrain when it comes to writers’ and actors’ strikes. People who don’t want to be bothered to think about fair working conditions try to write the strikes off as a bunch of rich, successful Hollywood superstars being greedy, when not only is that not the case, but fair contract terms need to be extended to everyone. And would these detractors rather see wealthy stars selfishly stand on the sidelines than join the fight with their less fortunate peers?

These bad faith critics have also done what many actors have asked people not to do and looked up what Google says her net worth is and used it to mock her. For one thing, actors asked people to not do that because the net worth information floating around online is usually wrong. It’s mostly just what people online think someone has made, not to mention that a “net worth” includes any homes, cars, or things they own. It’s not just money they can freely use.

Still, that is beside the point. Those online are angry at her because she dared ask to get paid for the money she’s generating for studios, and it has turned into people to mocking her for her past comments on her new role as Snow White. Videos of Zegler talking about how different her movie is are going viral because everyone is suddenly a Snow White super fan who is deeply wounded by the idea of a new movie that does something different with the story.

Literally no one cared about Snow White before

Look, I actually hate Snow White. When I was younger, I had a short bob, and my natural hair color is very dark. When we’d play Disney Princesses, the kids in school would call me Snow White, and I would throw a fit until I got to be Belle because I didn’t want to be her. Snow White, as a character, is boring, willing to take care of a bunch of men, and sits and waits for a man to come and kiss her and save her. That’s not really something I wanted to be as a kid, and most of my friends also made fun of her.

I truly and honestly hadn’t heard anyone say that Snow White is their favorite princess—until now, when you’d think that this was the only princess we’ve ever known and that Rachel Zegler’s simple comments on updating her story were saying that she was the worst thing on this planet. Zegler’s comments about how her upcoming Snow White differs from the animated film from 1937 have gone viral in a way where people are using it to mock Zegler and acting as if Snow White raised them.

Actually relax. Quite frankly, I would pay good money to meet anyone who loves Snow White and her alone. The way everyone is acting towards Zegler is less about her rightfully calling out the 1937 film and more about a weird hatred they all have for her. She’s a theatre kid who loves to be online and talk to people and isn’t wrong about Snow White.

Sorry that Snow White sucks!

If you don’t want to listen to her say it, I will. Snow White’s was not a message I wanted to learn as a kid. I hated that she let men rule her life, and I hated that she was literally just known and hated for being beautiful. It was annoying. If anything, I made fun of her, because in what world would I run away and go and live with a bunch of dudes and clean up after them in the woods? After surviving someone trying to murder me because he thought I was pretty?

I hope that the movie changes Snow’s story and makes it one that I can relate to more, or even just one that I’m not outright against. What I truly don’t understand is how everyone has been so quiet about their love of Snow White until now. Rachel Zegler commented on the weird facts about the movie, like Prince Charming quite literally following Snow around and just kissing her awake when they don’t know each other.

It is weird! I did not take her comments as her saying that wanting to fall in love is “anti-feminist,” but rather that she is just saying that’s not the only thing about her Snow. What we’re all missing in this outrage against Zegler is any sort of nuance.

Literally, Andrew Burnap is supposed to be her prince (reportedly). Zegler’s comments about cutting him out? Jokes! They’re not serious. But everyone wants to hate on her, so they’re taking them at face value. The reality of the situation is just a bunch of people don’t like her and are using Snow White as their defense.

What should you actually do? Leave Rachel Zegler alone. She’s not done anything to hurt you, and she does not deserve this.

(featured image: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)