Beauty and the Beast is
an amazing movie for children and adults alike. It was the first movie I ever
saw in a movie theatre, even though I was just a baby and don’t remember it at
all. I read an article by Michelle Arana entitled “Beauty and the Beast and the
impact it has on our children.” I thought this would tie in well to our theme
of the societal impact of Disney creations, and I thought that since this movie
is a Disney classic it would be a good indicator.
Earlier, my blog posts,
PowerPoint, and class discussions hinted that maybe Disney creations have a
negative impact on children for various reasons. Arana makes the completely different
stance which I think adds a good discussion piece. Arana says that the
characters of Belle, Maurice, and the Beast are all good characters for our
children to emulate. Belle is credited with being studious, loving, brave, and
patient, all positive qualities. She tries desperately to save her father and
even offers to switch places with him in Beast’s castle. This shows that she
loves her father dearly and would do literally anything to save him. She never
gives up on Beast even though he is at first cruel and heartless. Eventually,
the patience and compassion Belle shows to Beast softens him up and allows the
curse to be broken. Arana writes that, “This movie has a lot of wonderful
lessons for our children. It teaches our children that they should not judge
someone based on their physical appearance but how they treat others and how
they are as a person-their character, their morals, and even their values.”
At first, Beast is seen
as a villain and children watching the movie would be quick to make this
assumption. His outward appearance is unattractive as well as his mannerisms. However,
since Belle is able to change him through kindness, children may think that a
little benevolence can go a long way. Although “don’t judge a book by its cover”
is a bit cliché, it really applies to this movie. If there is one lesson to be
taken away from Beauty and the Beast, it’s that people can change for the
better, and I think that is an important lesson that our children need to
understand. Whether or not children are actually impacted from this film is
another blog post in itself, but I do believe that overall this is a great
movie with a lot of constructive themes. Because I presented so many negative
ideas about Disney earlier in the semester, I think this is a good contrast and
serves as an alternate view when it comes time to rate the cultural impact of the
Disney films.
forgot to post the main source: http://www.examiner.com/disney-movie-in-national/beauty-and-the-beast-and-the-impact-it-has-on-our-children
ReplyDeleteA good synopsis Bo, but I was hoping that you might have addressed the common rumors or jokes made about the connection between Beauty and the Beast and Stockholm Syndrome. Having not put any personal research into it before now I know little about how much evidence may really exist for this theory, but the movie does have the occasional tell, and it's more than just the idea of Belle being held captive. When Belle sings about her newfound feelings for the Beast in the snowy courtyard, she says:
ReplyDelete"He's acting sweet, and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined
But now he's dear, and so unsure
I wonder why I didn't see it there before"
It's something I didn't question when I was a kid, but every time I now hear Belle say "But now he's dear", a small part of me imagines the many ways people in abusive or unhealthy relationships will validate the other person's actions to avoid confronting the reality of what's going on.Your analysis is excellent, it's just something I'd be interested in taking further so we could learn more about things like this together. :)
Unlike the Snow White = Drugs connection, the Beauty and the Beast = Stockholm Syndrome connection seems viable. But I still have the question of whether kids can pick up on that. Being a psych student, I know that kids, before they can speak, understand words and basic grammar. Perhaps the same thing can happen with interpersonal relations, where they're getting the knowledge but don't know they're getting it. Kind of like subliminal messages, but instead of buying McDonald's, you get into abusive relationships.
ReplyDelete