Eric Chien Mahaffey Engl 461 April 9, 2010

Relationship Dynamics in Beauty and the Beast

They say that beauty is only skin deep. Weve all heard the saying, but not many people actually have thought about what that really means. Disneys Beauty and the Beast puts a spin on the classic French fairy tale. On the surface is a cute story about a woman and a monster that fall in love and live happily ever after. But what would Disney films be without a deeper message? Disney shows the different aspects to a relationship in Beauty and the Beast which exposes the relationship dynamics that hold true today. This includes what men and women actually find attractive compared to what they merely perceive to be attractive as well as what makes for a good relationship. The statement that looks can be deceiving can be taken to another level, analyzing Belle, Gaston, and the Beast through an evolutionary lens as well as the social lens. Belle is a curious character, quite different from the run-of-the-mill blondes that are usually found in Disney princess stories. For starters, Belle isnt even blonde, shes a brunette. Beauty and the Beast was the first Disney movie to portray a brunette as a heroine. And contrary to her blonde predecessors, Belle likes to read books. Is this Disneys of way of fueling the dumb blonde stereotype, that all blondes fit the damsel in distress kind of persona? If you think about it, the blondes in other Disney princess films arent really the heroines. In Sleeping Beauty, it is either the prince or the good fairies that actually save the day. In Cinderella, its the mice that lend their hands. In Beauty and the Beast, however, it is Belle that actually saves the Beast.

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This brings to mind the whole brunette versus blonde debate. By breaking the mode that they usually do with their movies of portraying blonde women, Disney is trying to say that there are more to females than just the stereotypical blonde damsels in distress. Another idea to take from Belle is that she is one of the first Disney characters to be seen as kind of a bookworm and a bit of a geek. But at the same time, Belle is able to hold her attractiveness, viewed both by the Beast and Gaston as the one. This is Disneys attempt at building a new, more attractive, and more sophisticated kind of princess, one that is able to think on her feet without taking away from her beauty and one who isnt smart enough not to fall for just any man. That is one of the ways in which Disney states that looks arent everything. The Bambettes are an example of this. They are the three blonde girls that swoon over Gastons masculine physique. But Disney is at the same time portraying the kind of girls that men wouldnt want because Gaston doesnt even notice them. First off, there are three Bambettes and with the exception of their dress color, they are all alike in looks and in personality. This would imply that there really isnt anything too unique or special about them and there must be so many of their kind in the world. What the world has only one of is Belle, the completely unique girl who is different from everyone else. In a way, being different from everyone else isnt such a bad thing. Disney has defined Belles uniqueness and individuality by making her the oddball of society, the one with a crackpot father, the one who likes to read books, the one who everyone else in the community finds strange because she is doing things that are different from other women. With this in mind, Disney is trying to paint a picture of a society where the more daring and more adventurous girls are the eventual winners in life. It might be important to note that

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Belle rides a horse by herself and even walks through the snow to help a friend [the beast]. Nothing like that happens in other Disney movies. Instead, all the other Disney princesses are forced to ride backseat while the strapping young prince whisks them away on their valiant steed. It is Belle who is the difference maker. Disney points out the attractiveness of a girl who isnt afraid to get her hands dirty and does things for the benefit of others, not for herself. Beauty and the Beast has simultaneously helped to define or at least fuel a revolution of what men find attractive in women in society today. Today, men are divided into two camps. In one camp are the men who only go as far as the surface. They see women for their looks and also see women as ways of carrying on their own legacies. They can be represented by Gaston. In the other camp are the Beasts of the world, where is the new school of thought that looks for more in women than merely looks but something greater. First to be examined are the Gastons of the world. Weve all met a Gaston at one time or another. Gaston can only be described as an arrogant and conceited male that really only cares about his own interests and no one elses. He is what society would deem today as a complete tool or douchebag, the kind of macho man persona that has biceps to spare and eats five dozen eggs. You might see him when you are at the gym or out at the bars and clubs trying to woo the prettiest girl he finds. Gaston feels that he deserves the best. He even says sees Belle as the most beautiful girl in town and the lucky girl Im going to marry. He doesnt say anything about Belles personality, just her looks. Gaston is a large representation of the old evolutionary way of thinking about relationships, which says that men have the instinctual drive to spread their seed and inseminate as many women as it takes to be able to carry on a legacy. Gaston proves this idea when he tells

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Belle that he wants to have six or seven strapping boys. Gaston is also a representation of old world views in the way that he doesnt feel that Belle or any other girl needs to read books, because then they start thinking. In the traditional male dominated society, the womans place would be in the house, not out and free. It is interesting how Disney portrays Gaston as the kind of hunter that he is. In one way, Disney is going back to the idea that Gaston is thinking in terms of the provider, which is a purely evolutionary way of thinking. Gaston would be the man that goes out and works all day to find food for his family while the wife stays at home and would take care of the homely things, which would include caring for children. But there is another facet to being a hunter. Gaston seems to be the kind of guy that enjoys the hunt. There is a saying that says the chase is better than the catch. Perhaps this is why he always seems to be pursuing Belle, who doesnt even want to pay any attention to him. There is even a scene at the end of the Bonjour song, where Belle is walking back home and Gaston is stalking her from the rooftops almost as if Belle really was the prey that Gaston was pursuing. This backs up the idea that Gaston would love nothing more than to make Belle his trophy wife, much like the deer heads that he has mounted on his wall. In relation to the society today, men that mimic this kind of Gaston-esque attitude in terms of courtship behavior tend to land flat on their faces when it comes to attracting the perceived one or the perfect girl. More often than not, the Gastons of the world end up by themselves or end up attracting the Bambettes of the world, the wrong girls or the less unique ones. The Bambettes in the movie went gaga for Gastons looks and his alpha-male take-noprisoners attitude. Going back to blondes versus brunettes, there might be a connection here that

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Disney is trying to say that the typical run of the mill blonde might fall for Gastons bag of tricks, but the brunette Belle, who is smarter, wont fall for such things. According to the law of attraction, like attracts like. Men who see women just for their looks will just end up attracting the women who just see them for their looks. Disney reveals one of the biggest facets today of how society thinks. This is also one of the rationales for why Gaston and Belle are not exactly a match made in heaven. Why then, does Belle end up with the Beast? The Beast is a new way to look at what women find attractive in men. He was originally a wealthy prince that bad mouthed an enchantress and then had a spell cast on him. The spell would not be broken until the prince could learn to love. In the beginning, he is mean and yells a lot at Belle, but he learns to be more compassionate and in the end marries Belle. One of the points that Disney is trying to get across is what real love is truly defined as. The Beast clearly doesnt have looks going for him. So there must be something else that Belle sees in him. Belle looks past the fur and fangs to expose the Beasts very core where his personality is. And in the process of that, she sees a kind of vulnerability within the Beast. The Beast has a lot going on in his life too. He has to learn to love or else he will die once the last rose petal falls from the enchanted rose. When the situation is life or death, one finds a way to change. Speaking of change, one of the reasons why Belle can fall for the Beast is because the Beast is a very dynamic character. He goes from being a misanthropic creature to one that can feel compassion and love. This is a sharp contrast from Gaston. Throughout the movie, Gastons attitude doesnt really change whatsoever, he is bent on marrying Belle and thats all there is to

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it. He is so blinded by his own ambition that he does not allow his mind to open up to anything else. Picture a horse with blinders, and that is Gastons attitude towards Belle. This kind of blindness and inability to feel any sort of compassion or change is a large weakness on Gastons part. In society today, people who browbeat people into submission, much like Gaston does and are thick-headed are viewed as weaker than the kind of men who can show vulnerability. It is because people who only try to take value away from others instead of giving it only let their inner self show through. On Gastons part, his rough and tough attitude can be rationalized by his own insecurities about himself. Gaston shows no sign of vulnerability whatsoever and masks it with his tough guy attitude. The only time where Gaston pleads for mercy is when he is teetering over the edge of the enchanted castle, but thats when it is too late. The Beast, however knows how to show his own humility and with that, he is viewed more highly, because he isnt afraid to let his true self show. Disney could be saying that the kinds of people that do show a vulnerable side are the ones that get the girl in the end because they show a side of humility which is human. Though commonly, Beauty and the Beast is thought of as a tale of a monstrosity and a beautiful woman, there is another way to interpret the title. If we were to judge who the beast was and who was the beauty between Gaston and the Beast, Gaston would most certainly be the true monster and Beast would definitely be the beauty. Because the beast is able to show this human aspect of him, being able to admit his own mistakes and open wounds, he is seen as more of a human than Gaston is. Gaston is seen more of as a monster because of his inability to admit that he is imperfect like everyone else. Disney might be trying to say that in some way, showing a certain level of vulnerability, of humility, actually makes men attractive.

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Relationships in societies are viewed in two kinds of ways, one being that women and men find a mate to complete them. The other way of looking at relationships is to find a mate that brings out the best in the other. The former is kind of the Gaston way of thinking, in which Belle is nothing more than a trophy to complete Gastons collection, something that he can add to his wall of achievements. To Gaston, Belle is the one elusive game that he hasnt caught yet. To Gaston, Belle is also just being used as a tool for a function which almost seems like Gaston only needs her for his basic functions to carry on life, which is strictly non-emotional. Gaston doesnt show much feeling overall. In, the Beasts perspective, Belle might be seen as someone who can bring out the best in him. There is the scene in the movie where Belle is reading a book to the Beast. The Beast enjoys this so much that he wants to hear it again. But then it is Belle who flips the script and says why dont you read it to me. It seems like Belle is almost challenging the Beast to get outside of his comfort zone which in turn makes him a better man. Belle is bringing out the best of the Beast in that scene. This causes kind of a harder-to-explain chain reaction between the two and this is truly where the sparks begin to fly. It prompts the Beast to bring the best out of Belle, to open her eyes to seeing that beauty is only skin deep and that you should never judge a book by its cover. This kind of relationship where one brings the best out in the other is not as much functional as it is emotional. Going back to attraction, emotion is able to intensify it. You can picture emotion as the thing that makes you all warm and fuzzy on the inside and it courses through your body to trigger very powerful and indescribable feelings It seems that Disney has found a clever way to illustrate relationship dynamics in Beauty and the Beast. With Belle, Disney has redefined the elements that make a woman attractive. And likewise, Disney has redefined what women find attractive about men. Disney has gone deep in

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showing what a truly good relationship actually entails. Merely saying that the movie teaches people not to judge a book by its cover or to go past the looks barely scratches the surface. That is the magic of Disney movies. There is always something different to take away every time you watch it!

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Works Cited 1) Beauty and the Beast. Dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. By Linda Woolverton, Paige O'Hara,
and Robby Benson. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., 1991. DVD.

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