I definitely agree with Alyssa Rosenberg over at ThinkProgress that the Hollywood's recent idea to reboot fairy tales with strong, conflicted, uber-bad female antiheroes that audiences can really get behind is a great one, just like TV has done with male good baddies like Don Draper or Walter White.
Early Disney Villianesses have always had better wardrobes and more complicated character arcs than their princess counterparts, and if "Snow White and the Huntsman" is any indication, these reboots will only amplify it. No one is featured more heavily than a thoroughly badass Charlize Theron as the evil, beauty-sucking queen. While it seems like Kristin Stewart will have some fun decked out in medieval armor or traipsing through a field of trippy dream creatures, the real center of the movie is clearly Theron and just how evil she can get (and how many birds she can morph into?). I can't wait!
It's the same way in "Once Upon a Time" with super Evil Queen Regina and all of her Evil Queen cronies - Maleficent, the blind child-eating witch, and, most recently, the mysterious Queen of Hearts. Sure, they've got chaos-creator extraordinaire in Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin, but he's more fueled by self-interest than hatred and revenge. Regina wants to destroy everyone she meets. That's pretty darn fun.
We'll see if the trend continues with the "Beauty and Beast" reboots (although there isn't a female antagonist in the original story, they could make something up!). The movie "Maleficent" sure suggests we'll be following (and rooting for?) Sleeping Beauty's EQ, though, so that's a good sign.
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