Beauty and the Beast is Messed Up

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This morning, I was listening to Annie and Danny's FastPass podcast. As a guest they had on Celeste from the PsySocDisney blog. Celeste talked about some of her various articles. One of them was a game of Kill/Refurb/Marry with regards to Disney princesses. Celeste's choice for a "kill" was Belle which was shocking to me because she's probably my favorite Disney princess.

I ended up tweeting about the show with Annie, Danny and my own co-host Daffy Stardust. Our conversation got me to thinking about what a messed up movie Beauty and the Beast is.

According to the prologue, the prince was living in a castle apparently all by himself. That's a little weird, but okay. It gets weirder when you take into account the prince's age. He has until he is 21 to break the curse. And the lyrics to Be Our Guest clearly state that the curse has been in effect for ten years. That means Prince Adam was 11 when he turned the old beggar lady away and got everyone in the castle cursed. That's harsh!

I came up with an in depth analysis of this and a lot of other weirdness in the movie here. Don't get me wrong. I still love Beauty and the Beast. It will always be one of my favorites Disney movies. But it is seriously messed up!
 

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
This morning, I was listening to Annie and Danny's FastPass podcast. As a guest they had on Celeste from the PsySocDisney blog. Celeste talked about some of her various articles. One of them was a game of Kill/Refurb/Marry with regards to Disney princesses. Celeste's choice for a "kill" was Belle which was shocking to me because she's probably my favorite Disney princess.

I ended up tweeting about the show with Annie, Danny and my own co-host Daffy Stardust. Our conversation got me to thinking about what a messed up movie Beauty and the Beast is.

According to the prologue, the prince was living in a castle apparently all by himself. That's a little weird, but okay. It gets weirder when you take into account the prince's age. He has until he is 21 to break the curse. And the lyrics to Be Our Guest clearly state that the curse has been in effect for ten years. That means Prince Adam was 11 when he turned the old beggar lady away and got everyone in the castle cursed. That's harsh!

I came up with an in depth analysis of this and a lot of other weirdness in the movie here. Don't get me wrong. I still love Beauty and the Beast. It will always be one of my favorites Disney movies. But it is seriously messed up!
Just off the top of my head but during the time period it was set, 11 was almost an adult.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
You didn't even get into Belle and the Prince's short lived "Happily Ever After." Those towns people will shortly be back demanding aristocratic heads while shouting "Liberté! Égalité! Fraternité!"

What I find even weirder is that Disney celebrates these weird parts most of all, especially Belle's improsonment. Just look at New Fantasyland where Maurice thinks we too would love to experience the magic and wonder of his only daughter being held captive. Be Our Guest also takes place at this same time period. And while about another film, the far end of Fantasyland now celebrates Mother Gothel's prison.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just off the top of my head but during the time period it was set, 11 was almost an adult.

You're not wrong about that. Still, the curse is a tad harsh don't you think. She even cursed the dog!

You didn't even get into Belle and the Prince's short lived "Happily Ever After." Those towns people will shortly be back demanding aristocratic heads while shouting "Liberté! Égalité! Fraternité!"

lol. I wasn't thinking about it's place in French history. I wonder if Belle will let them eat the grey stuff.

What I find even weirder is that Disney celebrates these weird parts most of all, especially Belle's improsonment. Just look at New Fantasyland where Maurice thinks we too would love to experience the magic and wonder of his only daughter being held captive. Be Our Guest also takes place at this same time period. And while about another film, the far end of Fantasyland now celebrates Mother Gothel's prison.

My friend Daffy pointed out a few inconsistencies in the parks. In the Be Our Guest restaurant, there is a huge stained glass window depicting Prince Adam dancing with Belle. So clearly, he has already broken the curse. And yet, inside diners meet the Beast and Belle is nowhere to be found.

At Maurice's cottage, Maurice has marked Belle's height as she has grown. But in the opening song, Belle sings about “every morning just the same, since the morning that we came, to this poor provincial town” which suggests that Belle and Maurice moved into the poor provincial town while she was still old enough to remember living somewhere else. Did he transfer them from a previous cottage?
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I never thought about it that way until now, but you're right. Worse yet, an 11-year-old child gets turned into a hideous beast beacuse he would not let a stranger into his home. Yet Gaston, a womanizing, cruel, selfish, & unkind bafoon gets to remain human. o_O

Still a great story despite it's ever-growing plotholes.

Well, in the end Gaston gets what's coming to him. And Prince Adam finds true love with a hottie who likes to read. So it's all good.

I would never let the details of a fairy tale interfere with my enjoyment. It will always be a favorite.
 

Disneydreamer23

Well-Known Member
Here's one from Aladdin:

In the movie, Jafar has a magical snake staff which is capable of hypnotizing the Sultan, and forcing him to do anything he commands against his will. From giving away his prized diamond ring, to forcing his daughter to marry Jafar...if the Sultan is hypnotized...he does exactly as commanded, no matter how extreme.

So with that being said...why didn't Jafar simply hypnotize the Sultan & order him to step down from the throne and give Jafar the title? Would've been a lot simpler than going through the whole diamond in the rough / find the lamp ordeal, dont'cha think?

Of course, it would've been a much shorter movie too, which defeats the point. ;)
. You just blew my mind!
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Here's one from Aladdin:

In the movie, Jafar has a magical snake staff which is capable of hypnotizing the Sultan, and forcing him to do anything he commands against his will. From giving away his prized diamond ring, to forcing his daughter to marry Jafar...if the Sultan is hypnotized...he does exactly as commanded, no matter how extreme.

So with that being said...why didn't Jafar simply hypnotize the Sultan & order him to step down from the throne and give Jafar the title? Would've been a lot simpler than going through the whole diamond in the rough / find the lamp ordeal, dont'cha think?

Of course, it would've been a much shorter movie too, which defeats the point. ;)

Good one.

For things like this, I always remember the bit from Roger Rabbit where Roger and Eddie are handcuffed together. Roger slips out of the handcuffs and Eddie is outraged. "You mean you could have done this at any time?" he shouts. "No," replies Roger. "Only when it's funny."

The snake staff only works when it's conducive to the movie's plot.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Here's one from Aladdin:

In the movie, Jafar has a magical snake staff which is capable of hypnotizing the Sultan, and forcing him to do anything he commands against his will. From giving away his prized diamond ring, to forcing his daughter to marry Jafar...if the Sultan is hypnotized...he does exactly as commanded, no matter how extreme.

So with that being said...why didn't Jafar simply hypnotize the Sultan & order him to step down from the throne and give Jafar the title? Would've been a lot simpler than going through the whole diamond in the rough / find the lamp ordeal, dont'cha think?

Of course, it would've been a much shorter movie too, which defeats the point. ;)
My familiarity with Middle Eastern politics is not that strong, but one of the overriding issues throughout the film is "The Law." Laws do get passed regarding who can and cannot ascend to thrones. While that can be changed, as the Sultan later realizes, and such rulers can be overthrown, it is also not unusual for other rulers in the greater area to step in and defend such radical challenges to the established order.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My familiarity with Middle Eastern politics is not that strong, but one of the overriding issues throughout the film is "The Law." Laws do get passed regarding who can and cannot ascend to thrones. While that can be changed, as the Sultan later realizes, and such rulers can be overthrown, it is also not unusual for other rulers in the greater area to step in and defend such radical challenges to the established order.

Dang. Dropping some knowledge. Well done.

Gaston isn't any worse than the Prince/ Beast at the beginning of the film. Both tried to lock up Belle's dad to extort Belle, the only difference is that the Beast was successful at it!

Very true. Kicking myself for not making more of a point of that. Although I think deep down we know that the Beast didn't mean Maurice any harm whereas Gaston would have killed him with his bare hands to get his way.

The Beast also had a kick library.

It was the library that got him the girl. Makes you wonder why he didn't show her around his swank pad right off the bat.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well how old was Chip? He seemed to be a very young boy when they are turned back human. Definitely less than 10 years old. So...where'd he come from?

That question I actually did raise in the article. Plus, when we actually see her at the end of the movie, she looks like she's eighty. Is she taking some kind of enchanted fertility treatments?
 

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
And here's another thing- the castle isn't that far from the village. So how is it no one in town knew? Certainly, ten years prior isn't that long ago, and even if all the castle's staff lives on site and they're completely self-sufficient food wise, trade must have been going on with the village in some fashion. For that to suddenly dry up and no one asks questions is suspicious. And no one went exploring or got lost like Maurice?
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
And here's another thing- the castle isn't that far from the village. So how is it no one in town knew? Certainly, ten years prior isn't that long ago, and even if all the castle's staff lives on site and they're completely self-sufficient food wise, trade must have been going on with the village in some fashion. For that to suddenly dry up and no one asks questions is suspicious. And no one went exploring or got lost like Maurice?

And all those people who work in the castle (Lumiere, Cogsworth, etc...) they have no family or friends who miss them when they turn into objects and never return from the castle? They all live there 100% of the time and have NO outside connections whatsoever?
 

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