Hearts & Minds: Does snow White’s success illustrate a growing cultural disconnect between mainstream media and society?

The BBC News online headline is arresting: ‘Disney’s Snow White film tops box office despite bad reviews.’

The movie took $87.3m globally during its opening weekend, with almost half of that total coming from North America. This, regardless of a slew of negative press about its casting and wokeness that saw CGI rather than real actors play Happy, Doc and co. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 44% rating from the critics but on the site’s ‘Popcornmeter’ the audience score is a much more approving 73%. One reviewer called the Disney remake ‘toe-curlingly terrible’, another ‘a mind-boggling mash-up’.

This phenomenon of the people defying the ‘experts’ is increasingly familiar. It’s been most evident in recent elections around the world, where the newspapers point one way and the voting public choose another. It is more evidence of a declining mainstream media, that journalists no longer have the power they once had. What it points to also is a disconnect, that the people writing those reviews and making election endorsements are not on the same wavelength as most of the population. That ‘Popcornmeter’ figure is especially indicative: that’s what folks think after they have seen Snow White. The film buffs say don’t bother, it is rubbish, but they go anyway and what is more, they love it.

Now, it may be that having ignored the critics and made the effort and spent their money, the rebellious Snow White watchers feel the need to justify their behaviour. Some possibly, but not all. No, the majority have either not seen what the papers are saying, but have been attracted by Disney advertising, or they have and decide to buy a ticket anyway. It is safe, wholesome entertainment, which okay, may not be to the taste of those who write about such things, but so what, we don’t care.

Probably as well, they are getting their information from elsewhere, that while the mainstream media is giving the film the thumbs down, word of mouth and social media are reporting that people are enjoying it. They trust those comments more, many of them are from family and friends.

In time, of course, Snow White may turn out to be the predicted flop, that those audiences will wane and this will have been a temporary blast. But the early success is unexpected. Newspapers are struggling. A modern reprise of a classic fairy tale provides a clue as to why.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.