Beauty and the Beast

What a beautiful movie. Not just in the story line, but the art is incredibly gorgeous. I remember it being even more beautiful in the theatre, but still, incredible. The theatre was packed. There were 130ish people there. Usually, a decent movie gets 40 to 50 people, so this was insane. But enough about that. Onto the critique.

I don't think that I can begin by saying any better than Oskar did when I read this on June 2 of this year

I've said it before, and I'll say it again until my face turns blue: Beauty and the Beast is an underrated feminist masterpiece, and easily the best Disney movie ever made. The movie is all about turning gender stereotypes on their head (Prince Charming is the antagonist, and it's the girl who saves the boys, not the other way around).
And not for nothing, but Belle is as bad-ass as they come, and she ain't no princess or damsel in distress. She's a total social outsider, and her entire town thinks she's a "peculiar madmoiselle" just because she'd rather read a book than chase after boys. She never lets anyone tell her what to do (whether it be her father, Gaston, or the Beast), she always follows her own path and chooses her own destiny.

Belle is a strong willed, incredible and amazing woman. She is disinterested in Gaston, no matter his advances. This is a man that Ariel would have gone gaga over. Someone that would have swept Snow White and Cinderella off their feet. But not Belle, she "wants much more than this provincial life" and we jump to our feet to applaud her for it. The stupid trio (red, yellow and green) wants so badly to be with him that it makes the rest of us sick. I'm not really sure who they are meant to represent, but thank heavens they aren't important.

If you'll notice, Belle wears the color blue, and she is the only one in the town to do so. It helps visually to show her as the outcast. (Coincidentally, the Beast wears a lot of blue as well, to help in assuming that they should be together.)

Belle loves to read. She loves to to learn and isn't afraid to tell people how she feels about it. When Gaston admonishes her for reading ("its not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas and thinking...."), she retorts back with "Gaston, you are positively prime-evil." I think it's amazing. She doesn't lose her calm, collected nature and still shows him how much she can't stand him.

Belle believes in her father, so much so that when he has been imprisoned, she offers herself in place of him. Why, we'll never know. But the fact remains that she does. The love she has for her father can only show what an amazing woman she is.

After she stands up to the Beast (she won't join him for dinner) very defiantly, we see her venture out. After the wonderful "Be Our Guest" number, her curiosity gets the best of her and she seeks out the West Wing, which she has been told is forbidden. She is confronted by the Beast who loses his temper. She runs out and, like a gallant young man, he goes after her (but you don't know this til later). He gets hurt and falls to the ground. She sees her opportunity to escape but realizes she owes him her life. We then see her nursing him back to health. He yells at her and she yells back. Its really nice to see as so many women are afraid to talk back to scary men. It shows that she can have just as bad of an attitude as he does, but she chooses not to have it.

And the funniest part to me is the fact that him saving her life is sort of an after thought. She says "oh, by the way. Thank you. For saving my life." He realizes what this means, that she needed help and she was very grateful he was there to help her, and tells her she is welcome.

I won't touch too much on Gaston now as I'll save it for the end, but I really loved this website that compared him a bit to Frank-n-furtur.

We see the Beast starting to change. As Belle walks Phillippe around, the Beast realizes he wants to do something for her, as she mended his arm from the wolf attack. Cogsworth comes up with the ingenious ideas of "flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep" when Lumiere comes up with the idea of the library, which from the first part of the movie we know she'll love.

The Beast's attitude towards Belle is changing and he is changing. Belle's attitude toward the Beast is changing and she is changing as well. She's seeing what amazing things she could have if she stayed there, true to her promise, forever. After a wonderful night of dinner and dancing ("Beauty and the Beast"), she sees it all dashed away when her father is ill. The Beast tells her that she is no longer is prisoner (which we all know that she hasn't been for quite some time) and tells her to go to her father. He has truly changed. He has be come an amazingly charming, sweet man who has learned the value of love and has figured out how to work with it instead of against it.

She takes him up on his offer and she goes to Maurice. The whole town has it in for Maurice though, believing him to be crazy. When Belle shows them the Beast in the magic mirror, they become the precursor to "Savages II" in a few movies.

"We don't like
What we don't understand
In fact it scares us
And this monster is mysterious at least
...
Raise the flag!
Sing the song!
Here we come, we're fifty strong
And fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong"

Xenophobia is truly rampant in the days. And it seems as though nothing has changed.

Heartbroken, the Beast waits for death at the hands of Gaston in his castle. His servants try to prevent it, but Gaston slips by. Just as Gaston is about to kill the Beast, Belle arrives to stop Gaston. The Beast is reinvigorated and fights with Gaston, ultimately ending in Gaston's death, but not by the Beast's hands.

Not only is the "Prince Charming" character the antagonist in this movie, but the good and bad guy seem to switch roles throughout the movie. In the beginning, Gaston is basically harmless. He wants to marry Belle, but hasn't really done anything to incur anything but her pity. The Beast is a terror who locks her father away for no reason at all. In the end, the Beast has become someone that Belle can love. He is kind and he fights to save his life, not to control hers.

As Gaston and the Beast are fighting, Gaston throws in a few one liners that really stuck with me.

• "Are you in love with her Beast? Did you honestly think she'd want you when she could have someone like me?" Gaston, if you had been paying attention, you'd know that she didn't want someone like you, as is evident by the fact that she turned down your marriage proposal.
• "It's over Beast. Belle is mine!" Proving his arrogance and dispicableness (yes, I created a word), Gaston has shown that he does not care for her, her choices or her thoughts. While the Beast may not know that Belle loves him, he does know that she does not love Gaston and thus fights for her choice in the matter.

When the Beast tells Gaston to get out, he turns around and Belle is there, waiting for him. He climbs up to her, amazed that she returned to him. It is at this point that Gaston stabs him in the back - a true stab int he back too. Not just figuratively or literally, but both. Belle hangs onto her choice and the one she does not choose falls to his death.

It is on his deathbed that Belle is finally able to admit her true feelings for the Beast. At that admission, he is changed back into the prince that he always was underneath. At first, Belle is frightened and does not believe that this could be her Beast. But the eyes, they tell all.

Everyone is then changed back into their human form and they live happily ever after.

Such a wonderful movie and story.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the special edition, there is an addition of a song that got cut. It is fully animated and incredibly enjoyable. It is called "Human Again."

Happily Ever After. :)