Over time, the term hero is no longer associated with god-like figures, instead heroes are known as exceptional men or woman who faced great trials and obstacles. Heroes can be found in myths, operas, fairy tales, and most stories. In fact, almost every film or piece of literature we encounter follows the heroes journey. If audiences already know how a story will unfold, excluding minor differences, why bother watching or reading them?
One of my favorite Disney stories is 'Beauty and the Beast' (next to 'Mulan' and 'Pocahontas', which as also pro-feminism and about women making their own choices. This movie is also much like Shrek as well.), it is different from many other films where the female lead is but a damsel in distress, waiting for her 'prince' to save her or to find love. The lead in this film is Belle, she is beautiful and smart, she goes her own way and rather than being absorbed in her societies popularity contests. Belle would much rather read a book than anything else; this sets a positive example for young viewers.
The first part of Belle's journey starts when her father fails to return from his inventors convention. Belle enters the mysterious woods alone to find him. The dark eerie colors, the clouds, the shadows and the forest all suggest evil and death, nonetheless, she pushes forward for his sake. She finds a huge castle where her father is being held. Belle saves him by fearlessly negotiating with the castle's owner, a beast, for a trade, her capture in exchange for his. She is her father's hero. Even in capture, Belle is stubborn and refuses to do much that is asked of her. When the beast barks, she barks back. A sign of a strong female or just a disobedient brat?
Belle attempts to flee the castle to go home and see her family, but not long after escaping, she is attacked by wolves. There doesn't seem to be much hope for her until the Beast shows up and chases away the wolves. He gets injured badly and becomes unconscious. Belle decides to save his life by taking him back to the castle. She could have left him there and went home, but she didn't. He saved her and now she is saving him. After this scene, Belle and Beast's relationship is much softer, feelings begin to form.
The character of the beast is very interesting, in the movie, he lives in a giant castle by himself, he has no family, and all his servants are afraid of him. He is a throughly unappreciated and unloved creature that is forced to live in his own self-loathing. In one scene, he is seen tearing up his own pictures from his past. After showing the audience the deep psychological pain he is in, we are able to empathize. The contrast between Beast and the typical hero in films or literature is astronomical; everything from appearance to behavior and even the colors used to portray him set him up for the audience to dislike him. Yet, in the end, we are on his side rooting for him when he fights Gaston.
In this film, Gaston is a lady's man, he is handsome, brave and popular, but because of his gigantic ego, he is made out to be the villain. Gaston pursues Belle to be his wife, BUT she wants nothing to do with him. The idea of having choices and opinions further supports the feminism in this movie.
Gaston finds out about the beast and how he had held Belle against her will for a time, he quickly forms a mob to storm the castle and kill the beast. Throughout this part of the movie, the audience has gotten to know the beast and understand his situation, therefore, when Gaston is doing this, we are on the beasts side. We want Gaston to fail. If the story was told differently, from Gaston's point of view, we would see a story of equal ups and downs, a story of a love unreturned. There is no doubt that we would see the roles of hero and villain completely reversed and be rooting for Gaston during this scene.
Traditionally, in stories, when the girl meets her 'Prince Charming', she immediately falls for him, and why wouldn't she? He's good-looking, brave and rich. This is most definitely not the case in 'Beauty and the Beast'. The Beast has to work hard to prove to Belle that he's worth her time. He needs to earn Belle's love in this story, it is not just given to him. In the end, she is able to heal him in a psychological way, and thus, in a physical way too. He is then transformed back into a man. In the end, she's the one that saves him, and not the other way around.
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