Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash
Hey all, we have such a treat today! I’m excited to reveal the very first guest post on Think or Blue. I am even MORE excited to introduce the author: my awesome, smart, witty, and fun almost-13 year-old niece.
My niece is here today to offer her insights on the live-action Beauty and the Beast remake. First, check out my own review from yesterday to get up to speed. We went to see the movie together – a rare treat for me these days – along with my sister and cousins. We had such a fun girls’ night out, but both wanted to dig deeper into the film and its messages to women and girls.
My responses are in green italics so you can follow our back-and-forth conversation.
Before I begin, I’d just like to point out that no, I have not seen the original Beauty and the Beast. You could say I was rather… sheltered from the Disney princess movies. My mom wasn’t too keen on the whole “courageous princes saving helpless women” thing. Understandably. (Didn’t I say she was witty?)
That didn’t stop me from being obsessed with Disney princesses anyway, something that I can’t say I’m very proud of now that I’m twelve. Why did I feel the need to jump on the princess bandwagon? Most girls seem to go through this phase at some point, despite feminist moms and the best of intentions. I’m glad you turned out so well! Gives me hope for my daughter.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the movie. First of all, it had a very important message. It’s the beauty inside that matters. Some might argue that it’s still sexist due to the fact that the prince was hideous, but not Belle. That if women aren’t attractive, they will never find love, but men can, no matter how they look. I feel like that’s grasping at straws a little. Fairy tales are directed at younger audiences. Do you really think that a seven year-old is going to walk out of the theater saying “I bet if Belle had been a beast, the Prince wouldn’t have fallen in love with her. Ugh, movies these days. So sexist.” Of course not. They’re just going to enjoy the film. True, they might not think that critically. I wonder whether the messages stick or not?
But enough about what seven-year-olds think. I really enjoyed the movie. I couldn’t find too many flaws in the plot, which is saying a lot for the critical almost-13-year-old that I am. One flaw is that Belle developed a strong, healthy relationship with her captor, which makes very little sense after showing that Belle is an independent, stubborn woman, who seemed to want nothing more than to return home to her father. Really good point. It seems odd that she stuck around so long.
For more about relationships and consent, check out:
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I’m also annoyed that Belle is so perfect. She’s super smart, pretty, brave, and independent. Another great point! I hadn’t really thought of that. The other villagers saw her as strange, but she didn’t demonstrate any faults in her character other than occasionally making rash decisions.
I’ll put my judgmental side away for now, because this was a great movie. The animation was unbelievably realistic. The acting was great. The songs were so classic. And my favorite thing about it was that they hardly strayed away from the original plot. (No, I haven’t seen the original movie, but I have seen a Beauty and the Beast musical so I know the story.) As someone who has been disappointed by many book-to-movie adaptations, I was really impressed by that. I feel this way about John Grisham’s “The Firm” but that’s probably not on your list.
And even though I find it unrealistic that Belle and the Beast had a good relationship at all, I did like how they bonded over shared interests.
Overall, I really recommend the movie. It was surprisingly suspenseful and exciting, nothing like the stereotypical storyline about a pretty girl who experiences some minor troubles, but ends up finding true love in the end after solving all her problems by singing.
There you have it, folks. My incredible niece! Can’t wait to go to the movies with you again, girl! Be sure to share your own thoughts below.
The perception of Belle as being too perfect was spot on. And in my opinion, that was Belle’s major flaw. She was harsh and judgmental and dismissive of everybody in that “poor provincial town.” In some ways, she was as bad as the Prince who was cursed to become a Beast. Nobody was good enough to even be friends with Belle. So when her father went missing, there was nobody she could turn to for support. They couldn’t possibly believe her or care about her problems when she had never taken the time to take a real interest in any of them.
Beauty and the Beast was like Grease. Both the main characters had to learn to bend from their inflexible worldviews.
It’s impressive that an almost-13-year-old is so articulate and aware of the messages in the movie. I wonder if she and her friends ever discuss movies in depth, together. A great movie and topic for all generations!
(PS. Said 13-year-old is my super intelligent granddaughter)
It is impressive, indeed! I hope she’ll make a return appearance again soon.