Beauty and the beast Paper

This paper analyzes the animated film Beauty and the Beast. It discusses
several
points of stereotyped characters or problematic incidents that caught my
attention while watching the popular Disney film. It also briefly explains the
problem/advantage I saw in these particular incidents. This paper brings
awareness to the misconception of Disney movies as being appropriate for
very
young children.
Conceptions of Beauty and other stereotypes in Beauty and
the Beast
Growing up, Disney films are a favorite source of entertainment. In fact,
watching
Disney films has almost become custom to many. Films such as Aladdin, the
Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast are among the many movies a
person
could watch several times without getting bored. However, if a person were to
actually consider how appropriate they really are he or she would be surprised
at
the amount of subliminal messages integrated into some of these films; some
implicit while others explicit. Other than subliminal messages that may have
sexual connotations, I have come to realize the very obvious stereotypes
portrayed in some of these films. In this essay, I will discuss some
stereotyped
characters or problematic incidents that caught my attention while watching
my
one of my personal favorite Disney films: Beauty and the Beast.
The animated film begins with Belle singing with a rather beautiful voice. This
is
reminiscent of other typical qualities of Disney women. A girl’s voice is always
feminine and beautiful. Of course she as well is beautiful. She has a slim body
and
wears a “feminine” dress-no pants or “manly” attire. She has long hair and a
symmetrical and beautiful face. How could the star of the film be anything but
beautiful? Indeed this is very typical of the portrayal of leading female
characters
in most movies.
Belle goes to the bookstore and grabs a book indicating that she is smart and
likes
to read; a positive idol for other young girls, something we have not been
used to
while watching Disney movies. However, in her book she tells the sheep
about
the character meeting her “prince charming” which shows that a woman is
always
dependant on her “prince charming”. Indeed, the happy ending of her
“educative”
book is based on a love story and this gives a drawback for the aspect of
Belle
loving to read. She is not reading to be informed of something other than a
love
story where the “prince charming” is a central part of the book. This draws us
to
conclude yet another stereotype which is that women’s’ attention is focused
on
men, and their “happy endings” must involve his presence.
Looks and beauty are given such a high significance in Beauty and the Beast.
Gaston says he wants to marry Belle because: “she’s the most beautiful girl in
town and that makes her the best”. Furthermore, Gaston himself has several
girls
in the town drooling over him because he’s “cute” and “handsome”. Nothing is
mentioned about his personality as being attractive.
Belle’s father is an inventor however, he is also portrayed as odd and Gaston
makes fun of him. This reminds me of “nerds” in school and “bullies” where
Gaston is the bully and Belle’s father is the “smart nerd”. Instead of being
portrayed positively for his inventions and creativity, short after Gaston is
making fun of him there is an explosion coming from Belle’s house. This only
encourages the behavior of the “bullies”. Furthermore, this inventor and his
daughter are poor. Their house is humble and Belle’s father speaks of
hopefully
making things better for them when his invention works. It is as if Disney is
telling us that creativity and being inventive will make you poor and unpopular
in
a society whereas being handsome will make you strong and favorable.
Again, the idea of women being dependant on men for their happiness is seen
when Gaston tries to propose to Belle. His idea of what makes a woman
happy is
very typical to some people who believe that getting married is the best thing
that
could happen to them. Gaston tells Belle: “this is the day your dreams come
true..Picture this: my latest kill roasting on the fire ..My little wife massaging
my
feet and the little ones play with the dogs..We’ll have 6 or 7.. They will all be
boys”. His comment about his children being all boys is particularly funny
since
indeed this is what men stereotypically want the sex of their kids to be.
Another important issue to address in Beauty and the Beast is the idea of
gender
stereotypes. When Gaston wants Belle to be his wife and rub his feet we see
the
stereotype we are used to depicting women as “housewives”. Furthermore,
Belle
takes care of her father and the beast. Even when the Beast locks her up in
her
room and deprives of food if she doesn’t want to eat with him, she still tries to
be
nice to him. The beast says: “If she doesn’t eat with me then she doesn’t eat
at
all!”This could be translated into abuse in the real world and a woman or wife
succumbing to a man’s violence. If children see such a movie they will
unconsciously think of women as submissive to men and too tolerant of their
unfair behavior.
Another important gender stereotype is the idea of male masculinity. The
reason
the women of the town want Gaston so badly and even weep desperately
when
they hear he will supposedly get married to Belle is because of his
“manliness”.
He is large muscular and tall. At the beginning of the film we see him carrying
a
sort of gun as he shoots ducks with it. He is fearless and strong. He doesn’t
seem
to really take care of his hygiene because imagine a “manly man” getting a
manicure! This is highlighted indirectly during Gaston and the villagers’ attack
on
the beast’s castle. In the scene, one of the male villagers is thrown out of the
closet while wearing female clothing. When he sees his reflections he
screams and
runs. Although the idea behind the scene is to show how the castle members
are
defending the castle and there is humor intended, the mere fact that a man
dressed in women clothing provides so much humor sets a certain bar for
men
regarding their masculinity and what it means to be a “man”. If a man is
dressed
up like a woman people would “laugh” at him and this promotes the typical
stereotype about man and more importantly their sexuality.
Another interesting stereotype in the movie is the characters living in the
castle. I
think it is a positive thing that there is so much diversity in the characters, their
shapes, sizes and accents; however, there is a certain depiction that is racial.
For
example, Lumieer is French and we see him flirting with a duster behind the
curtains implying he loves women as it is stereotypical of French men. The
mere
fact that he is a candle is also a typically “French” stereotype as candles
represent