It is hypocritical but it shows promise of changing. The queen is also invested in the princess's well-being, so hopefully, she'll take interest in her intelligence as well.
I think she means cute in the sense that shes adorable not that shes pretty. At least in asian cultures, when we say pretty or cute, its less about looks and more about the way they act, in chinese cute 可爱 literally mean to be able to be loved. Moreover i don't think the story is trying to push such a bland moral of "looks don't matter" rather more just a complex struggle on the realities of being without "pretty priviledge."
Yeah, maybe it's a cultural difference. Though it's still suspicious that the Queen was obsessed just by looking at Blanche, without knowing her, so it does have me thinking that it's an appearance thing. However, it can just be the difference in language and culture.
Hope so too.
It's weird that they're trying to push to message that looks don't matter, and that focusing solely on appearance is damaging, when that's the only thing the queen talks about. She literally only ever complements the princess on her looks, and only took interest in her because she was cute. She even tells the mirror, how can he hate his daughter when she's so cute.
And the story isn't being all self-aware either. It's seen as a good thing that the Queen calls her cute and pretty all the time. No one is going,'hey, is that all you care about her? that she's cute?"