Snow White Was Not an Idiot: In Defense of the Apple

It kills me that Snow White gets so much hatred for her ONE mistake (one made with very good intentions I might add) than any of the other princesses or heroines do. I would say Belle made the biggest two- letting her stalker Gaston into her home while she was alone, and then the infamous "Well, he told me not to go into the West Wing... so I better go do it, YOLO!" scene. Why is Belle seen as so intelligent despite also letting in a possibly dangerous person AND going into a dangerous place alone, but poor Snow is branded a moron for just trying to help what she believed was "a poor old lady"? Or how Jasmine had no hesitation about going into the house of a strange man by herself? Or Rapunzel trusting a thief who broke into her home and deciding to go on a road trip with him? I could go on. Notice how even the "smart princess", as she's universally and unfairly called and stereotyped as, does possibly does the least intelligent things of them all. Why single Snow White out when they all made mistakes and trusted strangers?

credit: waltdisneyconfessions.tumblr.com

Let's look at the movie:

1. Snow White doesn't immediately let her in. The hag takes her by such surprise that, like Aurora, she forgets she isn't supposed to speak to strangers.
2. Snow only lets her in because she thinks the old lady is having a heart attack. What a terrible person, trying to help someone! She isn't the type of person to just let an old person collapse on the ground.
3. Snow is obviously nervous when she starts to offer the apple. She clearly starts trying to stall having to accept it (talking a lot about her wish, and she sounds a little apprehensive). She doesn't immediately gobble it up.

That sounds like how a lot of people normally react when they are surprised, alone, and suddenly have a strange person in their midst, much less when they are a sheltered 14-year-old girl. Was it wrong to do? Of course. When has anyone ever advocated going along with a stranger (except for Sandor lovers/Sansa haters in the A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fandoms, of course)? But stupid? No, unless you count the other girls doing the same thing stupid too, which most people don't. I think given that she didn't seem to ever be taught not to trust strangers, yet was still hesitating to trust this one, shows she isn't stupid for this.

If you're going to blame one person for a weakness, you need to be fair and blame the others for theirs too, especially if they know better. Don't single one out just because everyone else is!