Sonne

Snow White is a story that has been adapted in many different ways by many different people, often in outright contradictory ways. One of the more out-there interpretations is the music video of the song Sonne by Rammstein.

It combines a number of details from the more common interpretations we read with some rather unique ideas. The most notable is the interpretation of dwarves as modern miners, making use of hydraulic picks and drills to mine their gold. But there are parts it keeps consistent, like the traditional description of her appearance in clothes that near perfectly mimic those of Disney's version of Snow White. The apples appear as a motif, but the gold is given more prevalence as the cause for her "death."

The characters are the most distinguishable. In most tales the dwarves are secondary characters, but in Sonne they are the focus. They are presented in a much grimier, down-to-earth manner than miners typically would be in this story, living in a rather utilitarian place and covered in the dust of the mine. Snow White is only a secondary character, and actually seems more like an antagonist. She forces herself into their home and makes them serve her, punishing them on a whim. Despite this, the traditional dynamic of the relationship between Snow White and the dwarves seems to remain, as they don't seem antagonistic towards her and genuinely seem to mourn her death. Instead, she serves more like a cruel tyrant or mother who they obey even as they fear her.

Of our readings, the story this version most resembled was Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman. In both Snow White is a monstrous figure, a vampire in SGA and a cruel sort of dominatrix in Sonne. Rather than being her friends or allies the dwarves are her subjects and serve her out of fear or deference to her power. However, Sonne is a much more self contained version. Done away with are the stepmother and the hunter, leaving Snow White's temporary death in her own hands. In SGA these things are actually given even more focus, with the stepmother serving as the viewpoint character, protagonist, and hero. Also in both Snow White still gets her "happy ending" even as it's not-so-happy for the other characters.

Of all the versions we read, my favorite was the Brother's Grimm's Snow White. Due to its use or interesting structure like the sevenfold repetition with the mirror and the rule of three with the stepmothers attempts on Snow White's life, it was quite good in form. As for function, the characters were rather well done and I enjoyed the manner in which the story progressed in an understandable way.