The original age would be even worse for this comic
The magic mirror always tells the queen that she is the fairest. The Queen is always pleased with that response because the magic mirror never lies. When Snow White is seven years old, her fairness surpasses that of her stepmother. When the Queen again asks her magic mirror the same question, it tells her that Snow White is the fairest.
The key word is fairest. Of course, since the original featured a child not a teenager the mirror would be factually a pedophile - that is, if fairest means something on the line of "hottest".
the original "schönste" could be either translated to most beautiful or nicest (looking nicest [most nice?!]). but in the context of the time the modern "hottest" wouldn't be to far fetched.
anyway, nowadays teens mature faster. so a 14 yo at that time could easily look like a 12 yo nowadays. but the sensitivities at the time were vastly different. good that we didn't life then.
Thats not exactly true. The mean pubertal age has always persisted around 12-13, the only time that age has increased is during the industrial revolution causing a delayed sexual maturity.
Also, people can look way younger or even way older than they really are - past sexual maturity, the persons looks change dramatically.
first period earlier on average than they did in the 1950s and '60s
That is a extremely narrow scope, quite possibly interfering with heavy industrialization as stated before. The historical data therein are not really discussed; but in such narrow scope it is true that the age of menarche has gone down - its just that there is more to it.
when i wrote that i was thinking about a particular study, which was finding a correlation between food supply/shortages and onset of voice break. but for the love of God, i can't find it now. so possible that i just hallucinated it ;)
I wouldn't confuse "fair" with "hot." Words like "pretty" don't have to imply sexual attraction. I can see a five year old girl wearing an adorable dress and complement her, calling her pretty. That doesn't mean I'm a pedophile. I call my cats beautiful, but that doesn't mean I'm into bestiality. The sunset can be beautiful or pretty, but I don't want to fuck the Sun.
I would see this as simply asking the mirror who the prettiest girl or woman in the kingdom is. Remember, the Queen isn't trying to get a date. She's trying to seek out and eliminate potential future romantic rivals. She's an aging woman jealous at the beauty of youth.
She's essentially asking, "who in the kingdom has the greatest natural beauty?" If they're a child, that beauty would be reflected as the simple innocent cuteness of an adorable young child. If they're an adult, that beauty would be reflected as actual sexual attractiveness. She's trying to take Snow White out while she's still a child, before she grows up and her natural beauty shifts from childhood prettiness to the sexual attractiveness of an adult.
The original question (in English anyway) is fairest of them all - as in pale of face. Snow White was so pale she was literally named Snow White.
Now.... can you think of a reason people in history would interpret being 'the whitest' as being 'the prettiest'...? Enough for the word 'fair' to be used to mean 'pretty' directly?
The evil queen was literally jealous she wasn't the whitest person to ever live
Or maybe, Since most people including children, worked outdoors on farms, a tan and rough skin was common from manual labor.
Pale or fair skin was a status symbol showing you were wealthy enough to stay inside, so 'fair' became synonymous with 'beautiful.'"
I choose to believe there's a missing panel, where the mirror tells the queen that it is simply finding the most attractive person by the person asking its own standards. If you ask a magic mirror who the most attractive person is, it will show you the most attractive person per your beliefs. If they're a minor, that's on you. Isn't that exactly what a magic mirror would do, reflect your beliefs and inner desires back upon you?
And for pointing that out, that's why the mirror was sent to prison.
The original language story uses an unambiguous word for "beautiful" so the defence works in English but not for the actual story where it does mean beautiful
Yes, it got translated differently because the original sentence ("Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, wer ist die Schönste im ganzen Land?") doesn't really rhyme when translated to english.
In the original (german) version she was asking who was the most beautiful in the kingdom(? not sure if that's the correct way to translate that).
38 Comments
bountygiver@lemmy.ml · 74 pts · 29d
You know it's a fairy tale because the mirror actually get imprisoned for that.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works · 20 pts · 29d
Modern day mirror mirror just starts creating nudes
iamthetot@piefed.ca · 13 pts · 28d
Lots of pedophiles get locked up. It's not like the mirror is rich.
Saapas@piefed.zip · 61 pts · 29d
The original age would be even worse for this comic
cosmos8188@leminal.space · 21 pts · 29d
The key word is fairest. Of course, since the original featured a child not a teenager the mirror would be factually a pedophile - that is, if fairest means something on the line of "hottest".
Saapas@piefed.zip · 37 pts · 29d
"Fair" is more "beautiful" than "hot"
Hazmatastic@lemmy.world · 35 pts · 29d
"Huge difference. A painting can be beautiful, but I don't want to bang a painting."
Venator@lemmy.nz · 1 pts · 28d
Not even Peter Paul Rubens' Venus at the Mirror?
justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 29d
the original "schönste" could be either translated to most beautiful or nicest (looking nicest [most nice?!]). but in the context of the time the modern "hottest" wouldn't be to far fetched.
anyway, nowadays teens mature faster. so a 14 yo at that time could easily look like a 12 yo nowadays. but the sensitivities at the time were vastly different. good that we didn't life then.
cosmos8188@leminal.space · 8 pts · 29d
Thats not exactly true. The mean pubertal age has always persisted around 12-13, the only time that age has increased is during the industrial revolution causing a delayed sexual maturity.
Also, people can look way younger or even way older than they really are - past sexual maturity, the persons looks change dramatically.
angband@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/02/nx-s1-4986075/girls-in-the-u-s-are-getting-their-period-earlier-heres-what-parents-should-know
Europe too, iirc.
cosmos8188@leminal.space · 4 pts · 28d
That is a extremely narrow scope, quite possibly interfering with heavy industrialization as stated before. The historical data therein are not really discussed; but in such narrow scope it is true that the age of menarche has gone down - its just that there is more to it.
justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 28d
when i wrote that i was thinking about a particular study, which was finding a correlation between food supply/shortages and onset of voice break. but for the love of God, i can't find it now. so possible that i just hallucinated it ;)
cosmos8188@leminal.space · 2 pts · 29d
Yep, just reflecting back on OPs meme. Not the most accurate.
Manticore@lemmy.nz · 6 pts · 28d
'Fair' used to mean 'pale'. Snow White is called Snow White because of how pale she is.
Of course under White supremacy, there's a reason being fair/pale came to mean 'pretty-faced'. But it's why a child can be 'fair'.
WoodScientist@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
I wouldn't confuse "fair" with "hot." Words like "pretty" don't have to imply sexual attraction. I can see a five year old girl wearing an adorable dress and complement her, calling her pretty. That doesn't mean I'm a pedophile. I call my cats beautiful, but that doesn't mean I'm into bestiality. The sunset can be beautiful or pretty, but I don't want to fuck the Sun.
I would see this as simply asking the mirror who the prettiest girl or woman in the kingdom is. Remember, the Queen isn't trying to get a date. She's trying to seek out and eliminate potential future romantic rivals. She's an aging woman jealous at the beauty of youth.
She's essentially asking, "who in the kingdom has the greatest natural beauty?" If they're a child, that beauty would be reflected as the simple innocent cuteness of an adorable young child. If they're an adult, that beauty would be reflected as actual sexual attractiveness. She's trying to take Snow White out while she's still a child, before she grows up and her natural beauty shifts from childhood prettiness to the sexual attractiveness of an adult.
misterztrite@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
Thanks for that I am having Sun fucking fantasies now.
Manticore@lemmy.nz · 25 pts · 28d
Trivia!
The original question (in English anyway) is fairest of them all - as in pale of face. Snow White was so pale she was literally named Snow White.
Now.... can you think of a reason people in history would interpret being 'the whitest' as being 'the prettiest'...? Enough for the word 'fair' to be used to mean 'pretty' directly?
The evil queen was literally jealous she wasn't the whitest person to ever live
KillerWhale@orcas.enjoying.yachts · 18 pts · 28d
Or maybe, Since most people including children, worked outdoors on farms, a tan and rough skin was common from manual labor. Pale or fair skin was a status symbol showing you were wealthy enough to stay inside, so 'fair' became synonymous with 'beautiful.'"
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works · 20 pts · 28d
It's a big, ornate, golden mirror. We all know who the original owner was.
WoodScientist@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 28d
I choose to believe there's a missing panel, where the mirror tells the queen that it is simply finding the most attractive person by the person asking its own standards. If you ask a magic mirror who the most attractive person is, it will show you the most attractive person per your beliefs. If they're a minor, that's on you. Isn't that exactly what a magic mirror would do, reflect your beliefs and inner desires back upon you?
And for pointing that out, that's why the mirror was sent to prison.
A_A@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
Your word reflects a beautiful mind.
Sxan@piefed.zip · 11 pts · 28d
"But wait a minute... aren't you a witch and murderess?"
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 28d
Now she's an antihero, and doesn't let herself manipulated by the mirror.
Snow White adaptation idea: It's centering on the queen being manipulated by the mirror into trying to kill Snow White.
Johnmannesca@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
So mirror picked up a side job as a palantir?
FoxtrotDeltaTango@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 28d
Perhaps
AsimovIV@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 28d
Similar to Fairest?
Sxan@piefed.zip · 0 pts · 28d
Þat's good! It'd also be interesting to make Snow White þe villain colluding wiþ þe mirror and dwarves, and have þe Queen be þe protagonist.
Seleni@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 28d
Doesn’t mean she doesn’t have standards.
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 29d
The actual line is "fairest", and Snow White was named for her exceptionally fair skin, so
Saapas@piefed.zip · 22 pts · 29d
The original language story uses an unambiguous word for "beautiful" so the defence works in English but not for the actual story where it does mean beautiful
But the mirror has a solid defence
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 29d
I mean, my cat is beautiful but that doesn't mean he's hot.
Saapas@piefed.zip · 15 pts · 29d
I disagree, your cat is hot as hell
mrsemi@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 29d
This guy fucks cats
dubyakay@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 28d
A cat is fine too.
Hazmatastic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 29d
Whoa, found Shane Dawson on Lemmy
programmerlexi@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 29d
Yes, it got translated differently because the original sentence ("Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, wer ist die Schönste im ganzen Land?") doesn't really rhyme when translated to english.
In the original (german) version she was asking who was the most beautiful in the kingdom(? not sure if that's the correct way to translate that).
Saapas@piefed.zip · 5 pts · 29d
"Most beautiful in the whole land"