Movie Beauty And The Beast - 1324 Words

When I was a young girl my favorite disney movie was Beauty and the Beast. I must have been around five years old when I saw it for the first time and I was infatuated with what I thought the story line was. I five year old self understood the movie plot being about a smart, beautiful young woman rejecting the boy who wanted her only to then fall in love with a prince who would be her one true love. My parents, brother, and I would all sit down to watch this movie time and time again and when I was young, this is the plot I saw every time. As I ve grown up I have come to realize not all of what i thought was true. Of course, there are elements of what I thought that are true. Belle is obviously a smart, beautiful woman and she does fall†¦show more content†¦She is being talked about by the townspeople as not acting as though a stereotypical pretty young girl should. And because she doesn t conform to the stereotypes she is made to feel different and strange. The next example of sexism is in the character of Gaston. Gaston does conform to the stereotypical definiton of how a male should be. He is tall and very muscular and always has three girls following him, constantly swooning over him, only to objectify themselves. He also has stereotypical idea of the female he wants in his life. He tells Belle that her dreams are on the verge of becoming true and when she asks how he responds Here, picture this: A rustic hunting lodge, my latest kill roasting on the fire, and my little wife massaging my feet, while the little ones play on the floor with the dogs. We ll have six or seven. While this line is clearly sexist, five year old me did not pick up on this. I simply thought that Gaston was a self- obsessed person who did not really care for belle but at this point I didn t understand sexism. You can also see Gaston s sexist attitude towards Lefou. Lefou, unlike Gaston, does not conform to the stereotypical male characteristics. He is shorter, not muscular and does not have women falling for him left and right. He is seen much more as Gaston s sidekick or little friend rather than a man in his own sense. It is hard to imagine Lefou being Gaston s sidekick if he were of the same height and build as him. In the