This was really well done. As a male, it made me truly think about the B&B story from the perspective of a male for the first time, especially from the perspective of an adolescent male. Belle, as the protagonist, was always who's perspective I viewed the story from. I can see how this version of B&B could be very helpful for young (and adult) males growing up to learn life lessons, including learning humility and empathy for others. On the other hand, while I love Disney's B&B overall, I also always felt that it propagated the female wishful-thinking/myth of 'taming the beast', that is..... being illogically attracted to the bad-ass, rebellious, douchebag male on a completely superficial level, and then deceiving themselves into thinking, "He's so sexy, and if I can change him, he'll be the perfect partner." Sadly however, this is very rarely, if ever, the case, leading to so many failed relationships and children with absent fathers, because they were never going to change... not for a woman or for children. It's really strange to think that the same story, seen from two viewpoints, can basically have the opposite affect on the importance and value of the lessons it might teach the audience.
I think the female lesson of this story is less valuable because Belle is less flawed as a character. We do not see her grow or change the same way as The Beast.
Great analysis. I love this movie. For me, that impactful childhood film was definitely The Iron Giant, the lesson behind it being, "you are who you choose to be." In other words, who you are is up to you, not your circumstances. As I got older, I was hit by the impact behind the line, "it's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die."
Thank you for your incredibly well thought out thoughts on this movie. It's my absolute favorite story of all time. I have a lot of books on this story. I'm so glad to see someone actually thinking about it and not taking the low road view of it.
I have to be completely honest with you.... Hearing your perspective of my all time FAVORITE childhood movie ... one that I passed down to my children ... It brought me to tears ... You really did. Thank you so much for bringing forth such a hidden gem .. :) I thoroughly enjoyed it.. as I do the rest of your content ! However, this hits home on a whole new level.. For me.. Belle was the feminine archetype that taught me relationships are work... and could possibly take my freedom ..and separate me from my loved ones ... through hidden agendas. She taught me that books are far more interesting than the insecure attempts of competing Bro-Dudes .. for "my hand in marriage". Belle taught me that self sacrifice can be done without sacrificing one's individual nature ... and self expression... That we are not as we appear and neither are others... The Person's ability to take responsibility of their actions .. and choose to compromise for the betterment of themselves ..as well as others .. is one that I lead with and so does The Beast I've come to love within The Man I chose ...
Holy hell, I was like Beast during puberty! Hair growing everywhere, the awkwardness, everything! I... you... damn son, thank you so much for this analysis. I've never liked Beauty & The Beast mostly because I've never liked the Disney classics in general and I never felt they aged well. When the live action version of this came out, my sister had to drag me to the cinema to watch it with her. But thanks to you, I will genuinely be watching the other classic animation films from Disney again amd try to see the forest for the trees. I should have gone through this playlist last year when it first came out...
Great take. I wasn’t expecting it considering I personally know you as The Britpop Guy. I also love Beauty and the Beast and anyone who can see it’s true value and not just “Herr herr Stockholm syndrome”
Saw this 13+ times in the cinema when it first came out [You had to wait 7 YEARS for them to be re-ran in the days before Video started taking off] a lot of people view the movie as Stockholm syndrome, I'm similar to you in view [You know he was turned into the Beast as a Teen right, hence how he is] I was more impressed that they flipped the Good looking/Popular person IS Evil trope [Another movies I really like does that too, the 1988 original version of Hairspray] I don't like the way Belle actually see's Prince Adam/Beast as a Human at the end, I'd rather they showed him from behind so it was only Belle got to see him. [Pretty sure his Human look was based on his voice Actor Robbie Benson, who is like Zoolander "Really, really, ridiculously good looking"] Also the Wolf attack scene was heavily cut/censored [Notice how choppy it is + how does Belle get to lift him on Philippe the horse, she a POWERLIFTER now ??]