Tale and old as Time

Dear Diary,

As certain as the sun raises in the east, Beauty and the Beast has for ever more been my favourite fairy tale… Though for many it is a sweet twist on the age-old classic story of Stockholm syndrome. Pretty girl, gets taken prisoner and ends up falling in love with her so called warden. But Beauty and the Beast is so much more than that. I find that the deeper I look, the more the more awestruck I feel by this Disney classic.

I caution that if you have not watched the movie, there will be come spoilers.

When we first come across Prince Adam, we see him as a spoilt brat that only looks at life in the most superficial of ways. For his ways he, and his castle and all that live in it, is cursed to become a hideous creature, until he can learn to love another and earn her love in return. For the most part, this at least creates the dramatic dynamic, and sets the space for some magical enchantment. Upon closer inspection, however, Prince Adam just had himself inversed. His ugliness came to the front for all to see, most especially himself, and his true beauty became hidden within. Like most people, Prince Adam, had to really look at himself, and even more – he had to dig deep to find his real beauty. Perhaps he was so busy admiring the outside that he forgot to admire his inside – perhaps deep down he was always loving and caring, he just had not given himself the opportunity to be who he really is. Even more closer and I see that perhaps becoming a beast was a sort of laboured effort to make someone really look at themselves. Maybe he had to see the ugliness so that he could know himself as who he does not want to be, so that he could be who he wants to be.

Peel back another layer and we see how angry the Beast was at being cursed and turned into a beast. Life is full of change, and most of the time we resent changes that come our way. Resentment usually plays out in anger, and most of the time we try to do things the same as we always have. Unfortunately, if you don’t adapt to the changes that come our way, you will end up trying to swim against the current, rather than going with the flow. You will never see the blessings if you only see change as a curse. If Prince Adam never became the Beast, he would never have found Belle, and more importantly, he would never have found himself. Often, things that seem unfortunate, are just necessary avenues for greater growth.

When we meet Belle, we find a beautiful, independent and self-motivated girl. She is not the typical Princess in a fairy tale. She doesn’t wait to be rescued, she goes off and does the rescuing herself. She doesn’t let people take advantage off, like the way she turned out Gaston. Most importantly Belle is not afraid to be herself, she doesn’t care if society accepts her or not, all that matters is being true to her beliefs and feelings. Unlike Prince Adam, Belle does not care for the aesthetics in life. Even more unlike Prince Adam, Belle is also quick to adapt to change, even if the change seems to be for the worst. She goes with the flow, instead of fighting the circumstances.

Mind you, Belle does try to run away from the Beast, but when he rescues her, she sees that there is more to him than the grumpy, angry Beast of a show that he puts on.  She is more open to seeing the real person inside, rather than basing her judgements on what she sees. Off course, she is sharp like a whip and realises that the Beast is really a handsome prince, caught in some enchantment – therefore the difference in species doesn’t seem to bother her that much.

I think the idea of entrapment is most obvious and yet subtle theme in the movie. The Beast may have the freedom to leave his castle at any given moment – however, he keeps himself locked away from society. He is trapped mentally within himself, and therefore his “four” walls. Though he is physically free, emotionally and mentally he is a prisoner of his circumstances and the way he views life. More than that, society shunned him for being so different. It didn’t take much for Gaston to get the entire village to join him in hunting the Beast. He was a prisoner of his own castle. So how free is he really?

Belle on the other hand was confined when she was free, and free when she was imprisoned. Being different, and having different ideals made her stand out in society. Though she was free to roam the streets of the provincial world she lived in, she longed for an escape. She may not have cared about the world’s opinion of her enough to change who she is, but she wanted an out from the typical life that society felt compelled in inflict upon her. When she swapped her life for her father’s, she gave up the freedom to go where she pleased, but she gained the freedom to be who she is, without being judged. She became free to live life on her own terms.

In this way, the Beast was as much a prisoner to himself, as Belle was to him – if that makes any sense. They were two people that didn’t fit into society. They were outsiders that found that being outside suited them just fine.

In most classic tales, the prince rides in and saves the princess. Princes always do the rescuing. They save damsels from hard time, dragons, high towers, and death (to name a few). But here we see that Belle is the one that saves the Beast. I mean he is a Beast, he has her imprisoned in his castle, her life seems to be filled with hard times – but she rescues him. She proved that women too are strong and their love can also save lives. She proved that she is not a victim of her circumstances, because she choose to turn the hardest thing that ever happened to her into the adventure of a life time.

There is so much to learn from this amazing tale as old as time. Let me know what your favourite parts of the Disney adaptation is.

I think, the most important thing about Beauty and the Beast is that the live action movie should arrive on screen on 17 March 2017, and I cannot be more excited to see Emma Watson become Belle.

Tata for now,

A.    Star