My Review on the Live-Action Beauty and the Beast

[1truekhaleesi]

I just got home from seeing Beauty and the Beast. To put it simply, it was amazing. I felt like I was reliving my childhood. Prepare for spoilers of course.

When I was a kid, Belle was my favorite princess. Like me, Belle likes to read. Also like me, she has brown hair. That was all I needed to like her. As I got older, Belle was tainted by idiots who dont know what Stockholm Syndrome is. If you want a fictional character that actually has Stockholm Syndrome, look up Harley Quinn. Joker pushed Harley out of a window, and she stayed with him because he made up by buying her flowers. Prince Adam never hurt Belle. Right here, Emma Watson makes a really good argument in Belle's defense.

Now that we have that out of the way, you can see that the producers still worked to make sure that Belle was more independent and make Gaston more of a villain. Belle even invents a washing machine so that she has more time to read and still get laundry done. Luke Evans does a good job of portraying a narcissistic asshole. He even looks exactly like the animated Gaston. Emma is basically the real life Belle, so of course she was great. Dan Stevens was excellent as the Beast/Prince Adam. I think they changed it just enough to make it modern without ruining the story. I was looking forward to watching Maleficent because Maleficent is a truly sadistic villain. She cursed a baby because she wasn't invited to a party. I don't even hate kids that much. I assumed Maleficent was going to be a story where we can get inside Maleficent's twisted mind. But the story was twisted to make it a story where the women save each other. I hated that so much. I was so glad that Disney went back to the original story for Cinderella. They knew it paid off for Cinderella so they did the same for Beauty and the Beast

Since the plot is so well known, I'll instead focus on the things that were changed. Belle is the inventor in the family and her father is an artist. A back story for how Belle's mom died is also added. Belle and Prince Adam go to Paris. They didn't stay for long because Belle wanted to go back. Belle even said, "lets go home." I love that part I think she loved him but didn't know it yet. And of course, Lefou is gay but I assumed he always was. Not only did Gaston try to lock Belle's father in a mental ward, he also tried to kill him. Technically it wasn't Belle that broke the curse. The last petal had fallen and it was too late for Belle to do anything. Belle was crying over Prince Adam's dead body, when the Enchantress walks in. Belle says that she loves Adam, and the Enchantress reverses the curse.

As for the parts that people thought were upsetting. No, I don't understand it. I'm talking about the ending fight where the wardrobe redressed those thugs in women's clothing and one of them actually acted like he liked it as if he was maybe enjoyed cross-dressing. And the ending dance where that guy goes up to LeFou and starts dancing with him like a couple. In real life Josh Gad has a wife and kids. I don't know about the other guy but honestly, I thought the cross-dressing moment was hilarious. I didn't really pay attention to that because hello! My eyes were concentrating on Belle & Adam dancing. And the father who was painting the scene. It was wonderful. And who really cares about those little parts? It did NOT take away from the movie. None whatsoever.

Beautifully done and I would love to go see it again. It was grand and marvelous. I loved it. Disney couldn't have done better. I think it might be better than the live action, Cinderella. But I'm biased because I like Belle. My favorite part has and always will be, the library scene. I still get goosebumps watching the scene even in the animated movie.

Aghhhh it's so beautiful. If I ever win the lottery, I'm recreating this library.

[FýrdracaDócincel]

See, I researched Stockholm syndrome quite a bit in my younger days. From that research, I can say that your interpretation of it can't be closer to the truth, yet also miss the mark entirely.

In all honesty, you (and Emma) make out the definition to be more specific than it actually is. All it is is when you get kidnapped/held against your will and begin feeling sympathy and/or attachment for your captor.

When push comes to shove, that's pretty much what happens. Regardless of how much resistance she put up, regardless of how relatively well she was treated, it still doesn't change the fact that she was being held at the castle against her will.

Now, you can make the argument that Beast started getting a little more lenient after he fell for Belle, and so it wouldn't really count as Stockholm syndrome anymore. This is a fair enough point to make. Still, looking at the situation before that point in time, there is something to be said for it.

Whenever a feminist tries to make a point about anything like this, I always take it with a grain of salt. Oftentimes I find that feminists will speak out against a certain mistreatment of women, only to then turn around and defend it aggressively when that same thing is presented in a way that romanticizes it.
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The rest of your Take I think is pretty well thought out.

[Cccgala]

Good luck with that seemingly tedious recreation of the library! 😂

Great insights!

[smahala1991]

Sounds like an awesome movie that Disney tried to keep original. I remember seeing Maleficent and thinking it would have been better to stick with the original story. It was fun to watch once but I woildn't again. But Beauty and the Beast Ill have to check out. My sister doesn't like Emma Watson but then again she's 14 and at that part of life where a lot of teens hate everything

[1truekhaleesi]

I didn't like Maleficent at all. By the middle of the movie, I could see the direction they were heading and didn't like it. But I paid to see that movie and wanted my moneys worth. At first, I wasn't sure about Emma's singing voice but it grew on me and I think it suits Belle well.

[smahala1991]

Plus as far as the whole crossdressing scene goes Bugs Bunny did it in the 50s And so did Scooby Doo in the 70's so why now all of a sudden do we have an outrage about it?

[1truekhaleesi]

Exactly. I think it was to add humor but people took it too seriously

[smahala1991]

I remember when I was little there were episodes of Rugrats where Tommy and Chuckie dressed up as girls. One was to enter Tommy in a beauty contest where the prize was a fishing motorboat.

[smahala1991]

Same with SpongeBob plus he's worn purple lipstick and mascara no one complained

[curiousnorway]

@smahala1991, I liked the new Maleficent movie. I thinks it was interesting to see it from her perspective and that you doesn't necessary have a evil nature, but do a bad action because you've a reason behind it. It makes much more sense having a explanation behind it than just being evil because you're evil. In addition I likes that Maleficent is portrayed more dynamic. She have both good and bad sides with her. The king in the movie isn't all-good either. He have also two sides of him. I do also like the movie producers to stick to the original, but sometimes I just gets positive surprised.

[Leos123]

Eye candywise, I think the film is good. I'm always a sucker for good effects plus it's a musical! Sadly, Belle is also an intellectual snub (Mrs. Gaston) which the film never explored deeper.

Much worse is the Beast, as he scoffed at at Belle's favorite book for being mainstream. While in a comedic way, yes he's very well cultured he blobbed about one writer that you might not have heard of. Like oh please. If he's so well read, he should have read a simple book like "The Princess and the Toad". That way, he should have never been cursed in the first place,

[1truekhaleesi]

I definitely wish they explored belle being an intellectual more. The movie mentions one of the outbreaks of the black plague. I bet they wish they had more intellectuals so they knew how the plague was spread. But back then it was weird to be an intellectual. That's why so many people talk about how weird she is. I wish they explored that more because so many bookworms and nerds like me can closely identify with that. And people like having a character they can relate to.

[pavlove]

Guys--clue into the fact that belle said "any chance you'd consider growing a beard?" with a sly smile. She wanted to bang the beast haha.

But in all seriousness, that is a lot of the attraction in the love story. It's the mixture of a dominant beast like figure with the emotional heart of a more tender and intelligent man. If he were merely the prince the entire time, it would not have worked. women like the drama. they like having to work for it (having to convert him out of the beast) and they like the fact that other people misunderstand him (its her secret) even in that last scene where they kiss after his conversion there's a lot less tension then when they're looking into each others eyes as beast and beauty as messed up as that is.

[1truekhaleesi]

When belle asked about the beard, that made me laugh out loud. Maybe because I love beards.

[Dim1213]

I liked it my only complaint was that the beast always kind of looked like a pretty boy there was no rough transformation of the face like in the animated series where he kind of was messing with making different faces and he also changed his looks and got a hair cut.

[curiousnorway]

I hasn't watched this movie yet. But I considering doing it. : )

[Straightedge_Atheist]

Hollywood sucks now that feminism and SJWs have infiltrated it. Now all movies have to feature gays and black men for the sake of "diversity".

[1truekhaleesi]

Hollywood doesn't need to feature straight people for the sake of diversity. Now you know how stupid you sound.

[Straightedge_Atheist]

What? I said hollywood cast black men and gays for the sake of "diversity" do to pressure from feminists and SJW's. Not only that now in most movies the main protagonists are women because having a male protagonist is "sexist".

The gay thing was unnecessary and they should have stuck to the original storyline.

[1truekhaleesi]

I turned the tables so you can know how stupid you sound. They changed more about the story than just someone's sexual orientation. Belle invents a damn washing machine. That wasn't in the original story but no one bitches about it. Even in Cinderella, some things were changed but no one bitched. Beauty and the Beast is about loving people despite their outward appearance and yet people whine about the one gay character. I wished I care about something that much.

[Straightedge_Atheist]

Because it is aimed at CHILDREN. If it were a movie meant for mature adults I wouldn't care. I am not against gays but as a rational human being I firmly believe that no ideology or agenda be imposed on children, let them learn when they are old enough because they don't understand concepts like homosexuality let alone sex in general.

And they only cast black men like star wars etc but they never cast Indian men or Asian men it's always specifically black men there's 1.2 billion Indians and they can't cast 1 Indian actor who isn't dev patel?

[1truekhaleesi]

Children don't care because they haven't been taught to hate yet. Let's turn the tables again. Are you afraid that seeing gay people will turn children gay? Do you magically turn black when you watch movies with black people in them? If you want to hate someone, hate the straight people. They're the ones making gay people.

[Straightedge_Atheist]

Im not afraid that gays will turn children gay. That is a stupid notion. Nothing straight or gay should not be imposed on children. They should learn about these things when they are mentally mature enough.

And you misunderstood my comment about black men. As a Indian male I feel that my race is underrepresented in hollywood so why do black men get the "diversity" roles?

And who said anything about teaching children hate?

[1truekhaleesi]

Children are equipped to handle more things than people will ever give them credit for. Children have been abused and neglected but they survive, yet people are worried about them seeing gay people? Lol. Yes society teaches them to hate people that are different from them. That's why our world is so divided.

[Straightedge_Atheist]

It's not really about sexual orientation but anything of a sexual nature. There is a right time and a wrong time for everything.

And the world is divided because people want to label each other, force people to accept people they don't like for whatever reason, etc. You bashing someone for their opinion is hate in itself. PC culture is why the world is divided, accept that people have different opinions or views and move on.

Also do you consider feminists who tweet "kill all men" spreading hate?

[1truekhaleesi]

Okay sure. Yes you're right. You have completely changed my opinion. 🙄 Obviously they're spreading hate.

[JustinTheGreat]

You said it's not sexual oirentation but things of sexual nature that are inappropriate for children. Obviously sexual things shouldn't be in a kids movie, but how is two men dancing together sexual? How is it anymore sexual than a man and a woman dancing together? Plus it's literally at the end of the movie for two seconds. I actually almost missed the scene because I looked away from the screen for a second.

[Straightedge_Atheist]

@JustinTheGreat
Because it was placed in the movie for PROPAGANDA and not for innocent reasons.

[1truekhaleesi]

I seriously doubt the children even noticed. Children aren't as stupid as adults believe.

[Straightedge_Atheist]

Would you like it if they were remaking a popular movie from the 90s and a bunch of conservatives pressured the director of said remake to add conservative propaganda like some religious bullshit? Im sure you wouldn't like that.

[1truekhaleesi]

I wouldn't care.

[WriterAndPainter]

This is one of my fav movies ever!