People Are Slamming This "Snow White" Movie For Body Shaming

"Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly?"

A "Snow White" parody movie is facing backlash from people accusing it of body shaming.

This Chloe Moretz cartoon also seems, uh, questionable

Red Shoes & the 7 Dwarves is a South Korean children's movie that recently made its way to the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it was looking for distribution. In May, it was announced that Chloe Grace Moretz would lend her voice to the film.

"What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 Dwarfs not so short?" asked a poster for the film, next to two animated princesses — one tall and thin, the other shorter and heavier.

Plus-size model and body positive activist Tess Holliday spoke out against the image on Twitter. "Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly?" she asked.

How did this get approved by an entire marketing team? Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly? 🤔😏… https://t.co/iweH5KAN5d

A trailer for the animated movie shows the thin princess magically turning into the heavier princess (and letting out a massive burp) when she removes her red shoes. A pair of dwarves secretly watch her undress and gasp in horror when she changes form.

View this video on YouTube

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According to Locus, the animation company behind the project, the movie intends to have a more empowering message than people have taken it for.

The plot will explore the princess trying to find her lost father and learning "not only to accept herself, but to celebrate who she is, inside and out," the Locus website says.

People are criticizing the movie for reinforcing the stereotype that only thin people can be beautiful.

the literal only qualification for beauty according to this cartoon: be thin https://t.co/NuOSCMiDir

@JennKaytin @kylebuchanan This is such a mess. Why haven't we moved beyond the idea of thin being beautiful & fat b… https://t.co/qvPZO2U7Mo

"no longer beautifull" = fat ? how am I not surprised = _= https://t.co/nTDnnPGsRe

The message could be extremely harmful to young girls, many have said.

This is how #fatphobia is normalized and yet another generation of young girls grow up hating their bodies or with… https://t.co/e9t8296ZxA

This is not a message that children (or adults!!) should be seeing. Being thin doesn't equal beauty. https://t.co/fJKp3hY9AO

Some are wondering how the poster got made in the first place.

This is such trash - that plus size Snow White is adorable. Who approved that slogan? Ugh. https://t.co/DfMER8DnLu

example of terrible marketing. sure does feel great to have all plus sized people classed as the "no longer beautif… https://t.co/Uoz0bsKWLX

What if actually both Snow Whites were equally beautiful but the souls of the people on this project were super ugl… https://t.co/hnI2Xf5NKK

Moretz addressed the backlash on Twitter, saying she was "appalled and angry" at the ad, which neither she nor her team approved. Still, she called it a "beautiful script" that is "powerful for young women."

I have now fully reviewed the mkting for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasn't approved by me or my team

Pls know I have let the producers of the film know. I lent my voice to a beautiful script that I hope you will all… https://t.co/OhIaOG8jfk

The actual story is powerful for young women and resonated with me. I am sorry for the offense that was beyond my c… https://t.co/FWqHZGUaiP

Sujin Hwang, one of the movie's producers at Locus, apologized for the ad and trailer and said the advertising campaign will be terminated.

"Our film, a family comedy, carries a message designed to challenge social prejudices related to standards of physical beauty in society by emphasizing the importance of inner beauty," said Hwang. "We appreciate and are grateful for the constructive criticism of those who brought this to our attention."

Hwang continued: "We sincerely regret any embarrassment or dissatisfaction this mistaken advertising has caused to any of the individual artists or companies involved with the production or future distribution of our film, none of whom had any involvement with creating or approving the now discontinued advertising campaign."

Finecut, the South Korean company trying to sell the movie, did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News.

During a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, Jessica Chastain called the portrayal of female characters in many of the movies she'd seen "quite disturbing."

Here's her full statement:

This is the first time I've watched 20 films in 10 days and I love movies, and the one thing I really took away from this experience is how the world views women from the female characters that were represented. It was quite disturbing to me, to be honest—with some exceptions.

For the most part I was surprised by the representation of female characters on screen in these films, and I do hope that when we include more female storytellers we will have more of the women I recognize in my day to day life, those who are proactive, have their own agency, don't just react to the men around them, they have their own point of view.

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