Week 6 Snow White

“Sonne” by the band Rammstein is a music video that tells an interesting verion of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”   Rammstein puts a unique spin on the tale however.  Instead of a wicked stepmother that repeatedly tries to kill Snow White, they use gold to symbolize a number of things found in the traditional Brothers Grimm version.
Both stories start off the same.  Snow White lives with the seven dwarves in the woods and the dwarves are gold miners.  This is where the Rammstein version drastically changes course from the Grimms’ tale.  In the music video, Snow White is a ruthless dictator who uses the dwarves to obtain gold.  Snow White then uses the gold to get high.  The gold is what ties the stories together.  It simultaneously represents drugs, greed, and the wicked stepmother.  In the video, Snow White is seen snorting gold dust through a straw, an obvious reference to cocaine.  A little later, Snow White overdoses from injecting gold into her veins.  The gold helps to play the role of the wicked stepmother.  In the Grimms’ version, the stepmother is the one who kills Snow White.  The gold is the physical item in the Rammstein version that kills her.  However, I think that Snow White herself also helps encompass the stepmother role.  Snow White is greedy for the gold while the stepmother is greedy for beauty and the admiration of the people.  In both tales, this is what ultimately leads to Snow Whites death.
I like the Rammstein version better because it is more modern and thus I can connect with it more.  I also thought that it was a very unique and clever take on the story and that the music video itself was well done.