*This blog post will feature numerous spoilers for the Live Action Beauty and the Beast Film, please do not read it if you do not want spoilers and have not seen the film*
A few things have become apparent to me, perhaps with the help of this fan theory about a time loop that connected the dots for me a little more.
so, first thing I realized is that Gaston is kind of a shadow figure of the Beast. Because of the back story we got on the Beast and how the curse came about, its quite clear that the qualities that got him and his castle, and town cursed were quite similar to the qualities held by Gaston. Cruelness, vanity, shallow obsession with looks, complete lack of concern for anyone else. The reasons he became this way, and that he could be redeemed were made clear in the film. With Gaston, he is a two dimensional caricature of only the beasts worst qualities, and with no real hope of redemption. Thus it is the thing that actually brakes the curse isn't directly that the beast truly loves belle, and bell truly loves him back, it is more that because he loved belle, and she came back for him his hart was changed and rather than fighting with Gaston, and showing that cruelness etc in his actions, he shows compassion, and walks away from the fight. Gaston dies because of his own choices, and in no way at the Beasts hand. The Beast is killed by Gaston, but is redeemed by the enchantress after walking away from a symbolic/literal representation of the worst parts of his former self - Gaston. I think that's an important thing to realized, but not the big thing.
So The big thing came about because I was thinking about how horrible it is that the Village and all the servants in the castle were cursed because of the choices and actions of their ruler, the Prince, the Beast. This is horribly unfair of the enchantress, and just didn't seem right to me. As the film progresses the Beast is truly sorry for bringing this curse on others, but is trapped by his shame and guilt in a way that didn't allow him to break out of it, until someone from outside that curse came in and stood up to him.
So my thoughts initially on why the servants were cursed (at this point I hadn't considered the villagers), were that it was because they did nothing to stand up to the Prince and correct his ways, they let him get away with the horrible things he did. However it struck me that this is not an equal relationship, so its not fair to expect those servants to risk their own safety and jobs and well beings and that of their families to stand up to this powerful man. Nor would it have done any good. They would have been worse off, and the Prince/ Beast unchanged.
Then a thought hit me... throughout history we can look at example after example and see the same thing. When a tyrant reigns, when cruel and compassion-less people are in charge the entirety of the people under their charge suffer. Now, this plays into the time loop theory, because under oppressive rulers the marginalized, the people that are different (belle and her father for instance) suffer the most, but everyone suffers. Stuck in that time loop, we do not move forward, we do not advance. We are all trapped, until love can set us free.
Also, under cruel leaders, people become more cruel. As with Gaston and the mob, the people were content to let bell and her father be locked up unjustly so they could go "kill the beast" some creature they knew nothing about, except for the lies that Gaston told them, based off pure imagination and his desire for the kill. This happens in real society, often tyrannical leaders scapegoat some group or type of people and go for blood. What Gaston really wanted was power, and control, and his fight,his trophy, his chance to defeat the Beast, in a way another type of himself, at least earlier in the story.
Ultimately the servants in the castle used active and passive resistance, and open defiance to create the opportunities that put belle and the beast in a position to set everyone free from the curse if the Beasts tyrany.
When tyrants reign over us, we are all injured by their actions, we are all cursed. Even if,like the villagers, we have not idea, or awareness that we are so cursed. And that for me, was the biggest lesson I have gained from this film.
Other things I noticed that I had a problem with, are that not only in this film and the animated series, but in most English and American films, we do not represent people from their country or culture with actors from that country or culture, but with Americans or English actors. Even though its set in France, only one character even has a french accent, Lumiere, and he is played by a British actor. Why couldn't we have had French actors? I think it would have been better if we had done this from the start. The reason I am OK to look the other way this time is 1) I loved Emma Watson as belle, mainly because I love Emma Watson. 2) If Mrs. Potts hadn't had a cockney accent, a part of my childhood would have felt super offended.
I hope in Mulan, they will actually cast Chinese actors. This problem needs to be fixed.
Any way, those are my deep thoughts on Beauty and the Beast.
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