“She warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within,”—Beauty and the Beast.
This is one of the many prominent and powerful lines spoken in the classic Disney movie “Beauty and the Beast." The cherished movie that first came out in 1991 was recently brought back to life in 2017 into a live-action remake. Those of us who grew up watching “Beauty and the Beast” couldn't wait for the movie to come out and to those little boys and girls growing up in this day in age, they were able to see an old tale revamped and modernized that they would soon fall in love with.
The tale of “Beauty and the Beast” is—as the movie states—“a tale as old as time." The initial story is hundreds of years old. Disney took the story and ran with it, creating a story and a message that every single person should take to heart. For those who are unaware, the basic underlying message the movie portrays is not to judge a book by its cover, a very old yet forgotten message especially in our society today.
The cast of the movie was absolutely fabulous and could not have fit better with the original. Emma Watson is the real life version of Belle. She embodied all of the qualities of the original animated Belle and even added more depth to the character. There was no one more suited to play Belle than Watson, and when I found out she would be playing her, I literally jumped with joy. She added so much strength, femininity, and intelligence to the Belle we all knew and loved. Every single character was thought out perfectly and meshed well with the original. The actor who played the Beast, Dan Stevens, actually looked identical to the animated version, so much so it was kind of scary. All the actors in the movie portrayed their characters beautifully and I wouldn't change a thing.
One of my absolute favorite additions to this movie was the integration of a gay character that Disney openly came out with. LaFou, Gaston’s sidekick, was portrayed as being in love with Gaston and in the end of the movie might potentially find love? In all honesty, I always pictured LaFou being in love with Gaston even in the original animated version of the movie. I think Disney is doing a beautiful job of becoming all-inclusive of every walk of life and I cannot wait to see where they go next.
The other thing I absolutely loved was the in-depth back story added to Belle and Beast’s childhoods. It added so much extra dimension to the two characters that we knew and loved. It gave the Beast more humanity and understanding while answering our questions of what happened to Belle’s mom. I loved the added magic and wonder to the story as well as a new-found twist to Belle’s endless array of talents.
The last thing I wanted to address was all the hate surrounding the movie. The first was that of Disney openly admitting to having a gay character. They were hit with massive controversy that outright astounded me and angered me to no end. The direction Disney is headed warms my heart and makes me even prouder to be a ride or die Disney fan. The second thing I wanted to address was the allegations that the movie promotes Beastiality. First and foremost, if that is what you think then you are so far off the main point of the movie that there is no help for you. Also, the Beast is first and foremost a MAN who had his ugly personality turned outwards for the whole world to see—which materialized as him becoming a monster and/or beast. He, no matter his appearance, remains a MAN. What this teaches young girls is not to fall in love with animals and have relations with them, but to look deeper than outer appearances because there is so much more to a person than how they look. If that isn't plastered all over the movie than I do not know what is. I mean the most physically attractive male character is Gaston who is a horrible human being... (end rant).
If you haven't seen the movie then I implore you to go see it. It follows the original story perfectly and made me fall in love all over again. Not to mention the soundtrack is absolutely astounding and I recommend everyone to go listen to. This movie is truly inspiring and like I always say, Disney’s done it again.
