The Trouble with Beauty and the Beast

From Cupid & Psyche to Cocteau’s film and finally to Disney’s portrayal of this classic theme, not much has changed in the idea of Beauty and the Beast. All versions of this story have stressed the importance of being good and have even dwelled on the importance of looking behind appearance to see a person’s true nature. In order to convey his ideas and themes, Cocteau uses the beast as a lurking figure whose lack of appearance on the screen ultimately has a great effect on the viewer. The Beast that Cocteau portrays is a model for modern storytellers and has been vital in stressing the theme of genuine nature versus appearance throughout society.

In fact, Belle is not actively seeking love, but rather stumbles onto it, as a consequence of her own bravery and sacrifice. The relationship that grows between the beauty and the Beast is often the target of criticism as it can be perceived as Stockholm’s syndrome on Belle’s part and is seen to advocate that women should remain with their loved ones even if they are abusive. This is aspect of the film is condemned as it suggest that, somehow and through love, the abusive husband or lover can better himself. And although one can read the film as such, another could see that Beauty and the Beast is the tale of a woman who enters a man’s life and initiates and reciprocally healing and growing bond: Belle learns to see beyond someone’s appearance, and the Beast learns to let other people in. This is literally reflected by his complete forbiddance to have any visitors in his castle as the castle symbolizes his soul. This relationship of equals demonstrates that, contrarily to Disney films such as Cinderella or even The Little Mermaid where all a man or a woman need to fall in love is to set eyes on one another, without having to know anything about each other, or even share a discussion. The Disney princess here is not a princess but a villager, and Prince Charming is not charming but rather temperamental. The unusual end of the animated feature also mirrors this unusual

In the “Beauty and the Beast” by Madame Leprince de Beaumont she talks in her fairy tale how money was very important for the characters within the story. She also talks about how people could fall in love with another and that it does not matter if a person is not a good looking person that their feelings were more important. In my new adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast”. I put the character of the Beast from Madame’s fairy tale in my adaptation he is a man because I want to show how a good looking man can be a bad person and that it does not matter how you look outside. In my adaptation I also change Beauty to Bonita, and I show how a woman can be different than the others in the way of the things that they like to do. Bonita prefers to

Through the three revisions of Beauty and The Beast, the fairy tales retold share many similarities as well as many differences according to their time period. In all three versions femininity and masculinity are presented in many ways. Femininity is shown through all three main female characters, Belle from the famous Disney film “The Beauty and The Beast”, the narrator in “Tiger’s Bride”, and Psyche in “Cupid and Psyche”. In all three versions, the female characters breaks society’s expectations of a typical woman. In CP Psyche stands up to Cupid’s mother Venus and accomplishes these activities usually performed by males. She shows society that women can overcome male activities and have strength to complete the same tasks. She breaks tradition of the male character fighting for her because in this version she takes on the hero role and fights for Cupid. This was not something ordinarily done by woman characters during this time. In TB the narrator breaks the tradition of the innocent stereotypical woman figure. The narrator exposes and does things most woman would never have the nerve to do. She shows society that women can fault their beauty in other ways. Even if society does not make it acceptable to have sex before marriage, she shows that women can expose their body and beauty in many ways. In DB version Belle is a great example that women should not be looked at as dolls and let males have control over them. She shows society that woman can be independent and educated. She does not get married to the most handsome male in town however she goes after someone who deeply cares about her. She displays a great example of how woman have their own mind and can think for themselves. Woman are allowed to make decisions and have ...

He is willing to sacrifice himself so his daughters can live in peace. Beauty offers herself up to the Beast. Poor, kind-hearted Beauty could not bear for her father to be at the Beast’s mercy, so she goes in his place. Beauty is a strong, compassionate girl who will risk her life for the ones she loves. When Beauty is with the Beast she is content with her life. She thinks the Beast is ugly and not that smart, and is still fearful of him, but she grows comfortable in his presence. As she spends more time with the Beast she also becomes more comfortable with herself and what she wants. Beauty isn’t afraid to ask Beast for something she wants, like seeing her father. While Beauty has been with the Beast her father has been dying of grief, with no one to take care of him. Beauty makes a promise to return to the Beast after a week, but her jealous sisters manipulate her into staying, and, of course, gentle Beauty just can’t leave her family behind. When Beauty finally returns to Beast she confesses to loving him, flaws and all, and Beast turns into a handsome, smart, man for Beauty to live with and

The fairytale The Beauty and the Beast is illustrated as a love story, however when looking deeper into Belle’s nature it seems to be that she is affected by several disorders throughout the film. In Beauty and the Beast, we see Disney once again sugarcoat personal problems in order to present a young audience with a one dimensional and simple female hero. Belle has clearly shown symptoms of Schizoid Personality Disorder, Stockholm Syndrome and Schizophrenia which can be treated by a biological therapeutic approach or a psychoactive drug approach and therapy.

Over the years, Disney has presented many movies to their audience—most having a Princess as the protagonist. These movies became a babysitter for most parents in the early stages of their child’s life. Most people found these movies as relatively harmless. The obvious assumption about the Disney Princesses is that they only desire true love since almost every movie ends in romance. Parents just viewed these movies as romantic movies on a child’s level. However, these movies were not solely intended for an audience of an age that can be counted on both hands. They were intended to speak to “an intelligent and active audience” (Sumera 40). However, there are many people who disagree with the ways of the Disney Princess movies. The disagreements lie within the portrayal of women gender roles in these movies. It is argued that Disney portrays women as a being nurturing individuals without any control over their identity. The women are unable to think for themselves, because they are uneducated, and they are quick to fall in love with the first man that pays them any attention. However, this is not completely true. The people that are against the portrayal of women in the Disney movies are failing to recognize the underlying concepts in these movies. For example, Belle, in Beauty and the Beast, was well educated, Mulan went to war despite the consequences, and Merida, in Brave, stood up to her mother in refusal to marry. The Disney Princesses desired intelligence, bravery, strength, and independence—not true love’s kiss.

In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the author wastes no time in getting to a controversial subject of individualism and the desire for one to be true to their wishes and desires despite pressure that may be imposed by other (Booker, 2010). Belle, the main female character, and the “beauty” of the fairy tale, is unmistakably looked down upon for deviating from mainstream society. She struggles with the dualistic positioning of men and women and the struggle to manifest with socially accepted norms (Parsons, 2004). The story’s initial leap at presenting females differently attempts to introduce the fair skinned...

Sarah Parrish says, “Plastic surgery can't make you younger or more beautiful, because beauty is in your eyes, isn't it? It's in your soul; you can't strap it on.” Who ever said Barbie was perfect as ice cream on a hot, summer’s day? In today’s society, adolescents are profoundly influenced by the media; this includes celebrities, social networking, blogs, and more. However, beauty has always been heavily valued. In literature, being attractive frequently indicated an admirable protagonist, while hideousness indicated an abominable antagonist. Because cosmetic surgery is promoted throughout the world, teenagers have no choice but to promote cosmetic surgery, too. The demand for cosmetic surgery is inevitable and gradually increasing. According to the National Clearinghouse of Plastic Surgery Statistics, Americans spent $11.5 billion for 11 million cosmetic procedures in 2006, a 48% increase over the number performed in 2000. Social media is propaganda for cosmetic surgery, they paint a dainty, unrealistic, picture, however, they seem to caper the negative effects. What is the cost of beauty? Cosmetic surgery has harsh effects in the long run, is addictive, and is only temporary.

Beauty and the Beast Disney is an excellent example of a Media corporation as it is known