I'm a 22-year-old man complaining about a near 30-year-old Disney movie. I get how sad that is, but this has been on my chest for years. I have hated this popular idea that "Beauty in the Beast" is a good movie that teaches a young girls a positive message. I spit upon that narrative. The lesson "Beauty and the Beast" teaches is quite poisonous and dangerous. This is important because Disney: The great and powerful, has shaped almost 90% of childhoods and to have this movie be as popular and loved as it is, is a cause for concern.
What in the hell is this madman rambling about? I'm rambling that Belle choosing to be with the beast is the single worst decision in Disney history. Had she ended up with Gaston, Disney would have nailed that message they were going for. The message of looking past ones exterior for the value in the interior. Allow me to explain.
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Let's look at the two possible suitors for Belle's affection. Gaston is a handsome, arrogant hunter who really digs Belle for seemingly shallow reasons. I'll get back to this. The Beast on the other hand is a whiny self entitled asshole. Both characters are very similar on the surface. Both are very flawed. The difference being Gaston isn't abusive and The Beast is. Gaston undermines Belle with the whole book reading thing but that was more innocent ignorance than anything bathed in malice. The Beast physically intimidates her, he forces her to go without food if she doesn't comply with his orders and he often flies off the handle about the littlest things. Did I mention he makes her stay in his castle in trade for her fathers life? Cause he did that too. He is unstable and abusive.
The reason for both men's affection are also big factors. The only reason Beast wants to be with her is reverse the curse that made him a Beast. His own selfish desires are why he wants her. He isn't in love with her, he is in love with himself. Gaston is in love with himself but his reasons for wanting Belle seem a bit more genuine than The Beast's. It is made blatantly clear that Gaston could get any fine female he wanted in that village, but he wants Belle. We all want what we can't have. That is true. However, I believe there is something deeper there. I think under the hood of Gaston he likes the fact Belle reads and has big dreams and aspirations for herself. He just wasn't mature enough yet to understand that. Give him 3 years and he probably would have lightened up. The Beast was born an asshole and probably would have stayed an asshole if Disney did the right thing.
Disney is known for making fantasy stories. We all know about Snow White and those dwarfs and the ice queen Elsa and that darn Fairy Godmother. However, Disney never spun a bigger fantasy than the idea that if you are in a relationship with an abusive person with serious mental problems, you can change them into a good person if you get passed that rough exterior. No. That is a dangerous message to send girls. If a dude treats you like The Beast treats Belle in this movie. Run, go get help. Don't let any man treat you like that or let them keep you captive. I can't believe the recklessness of Disney to have that in one of their movies.
To break it down in universal terms, Gaston is Han Solo. The Beast is Anakin Skywalker. A love story works with Han Solo because he is a very arrogant and douchebag. He undermines Leia at almost every turn but it works cause he has a heart of gold at the end of the day. He just needed to grow up a bit. A love story doesn't work with Anakin Skywalker because he is a murderous sociopath with rage issues. Yet, in Dinsey's backwards morals women should chose the murderous sociopath over a lovable scoundrel with a heart of gold. What kind of logic is that?
Look, Belle shouldn't chose Gaston for his looks even though he has an entire song about how good looking and awesome he is. The Beast could look like Josh Gad, but if he wasn't a horrible person on the inside than that's okay. Beast turned into a Beast to match his personality. That's why he is the way he is. He is horrible. This has bothered me since the first time I saw it and will always bothered me. Gaston got the shaft for a sociopath. I guess the old saying is true, nice guys finish last. Let's be real would you rather hang with a guy who will do push-ups with you at Disneyland or a guy who will throw you in a dungeon without dinner?
