Beauty and the Beast's OVERLOOKED Tragedy

"Hello, Internet. Welcome to FILM THEORY, where today's little episode will teach you that not everything is A-OK in Disney's fairy tale universe. Case in point, one of my personal favorites, Beauty and the Beast."

- MatPat

Beauty and the Beast's OVERLOOKED Tragedy (subtitled Beast: Betrayed!) is the 10th episode of Film Theory and its 1st episode on Beauty and the Beast on The Film Theorists.

Description
''For years, we've always thought that the Beast in Beauty and the Beast was made into a monster so he could learn a lesson about respecting others and loving people for what's on the inside...but we've been wrong the whole time! Dissecting the film's lore, it becomes clear that the Beast isn't the evil prince he was made out to be, but actually just a little boy who was deceived at a time in his life when he was the most vulnerable. Fans of Beauty and the Beast have loved this story for so long...but have overlooked ONE crucial plot detail!''

Thanks to Loyal Theorist @ThePiggyReview on Twitter for bringing this one to my attention!

Transcript
Hello internet, welcome to film theory, where today's little episode will teach you that not everything is a-okay in Disney's fairy tale universe. Case in point, one of my personal favorites: Beauty and the Beast. Similar to a lot of the classic movies like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, B & The B opens with a storybook style preface that dumps a whole bunch of exposition on the audience, meaning the kiddies don't have to schlep through a bunch of backstory before they get to the singing teacups and promiscuous feather-duster. In it, we’re treated to a story about an arrogant, shallow prince, living in a castle that's visited by an old beggar woman on a cold winter's night. She's looking for a place to stay, and then tries to trade him a rose in exchange for a night out of the weather. According to the story, he turns up his nose at her rose and is so put off by how old and ugly she is, that he refuses to let her in. She warns him that real beauty comes from the inside, and that he shouldn't be swayed by appearances. But he's having none of it and tells her to get lost. At that point, she changes into a beautiful sorceress and the prince sees that he's made a huge mistake. But, his apologies come too late. In punishment for his arrogance, she turns him, into the beast. So, what's the theory here? Well, along with transforming him into a monster, the sorceress also gives him the rose he rejected. Which, surprise surprise, happens to be a magical rose. It comes with a catch that it'll bloom until he turns 21, at which point he's either had to have found someone who loves him, or he'll stay a beast forever once that last petal falls. Basically the most elaborate hourglass ever. Oh and, before she goes, all the prince’s employees are turned into cutlery, because of, reasons. So, ashamed of his looks, and with 21 as the magic number, the beast stays locked in his castle with all his anthropomorphic household utensils. Which takes us to the point where the movie starts, and Belle stumbles in ready for some good old-fashioned Stockholm Syndrome. It's unclear how much time it's taken her to get there until Lumiere gives it away in the song that'll be played in dinner theaters from now until eternity: Be Our Guest. So, according to the lyrics of the song, we know that they've been “rusting” as household appliances for ten years. But, wait a minute. How does that make any sense? We know that when Belle shows up, the rose has “already begun to wilt”, so we're in the homestretch towards the beast’s 21st birthday. If they've been waiting for Belle for 10 years, that means that when the old woman shows up at his doorstep, the prince was, at most, 11 years old. And I know where you're gonna say in the comments, “But MatPat, those are song lyrics. They might just be hyperbolic representations of real story elements”. To which I would say, “Wow, what an incredibly well-articulated response for the youtube comment section”. But, here's my rebuttal. Beauty and the Beast is one of the best examples of a Disney movie leaning heavily on song lyrics to forward major plot elements. It's only through the songs in the movie that we learn how Belle dreams of finding more in her life, how Gaston plans to hold Belle's father hostage, and how Belle and the beast are developing feelings for each other. Belle sings about her book reading habits, Gaston sings about his tromping in boots and his home decorating abilities. I mean yes, this could be a metaphor, but seriously look at the antlers he's using in his home decor. Queer Eye for the straight guy this is not. These songs aren't about metaphor, their lyrics are meant to be taken literally. They're about providing critical information about the characters, and their story. Which means Beauty and the Beast’s prologue isn't talking about just a young prince, it's talking about a really young prince. So, taking a look back at the movie opening again with the prince and the old woman, we realize that the story we're being told is far different from what actually happened. The beast didn't start as some jerky, arrogant member of a royal family. In reality, the prince- who's young enough to still be watching Power Rangers unironically mind you- answers the door in the middle of the night. Which, as an aside, should actually fall on Cogsworth as the butler. #ButtleFail. Once there, this 11 year old boy finds a dirty old woman at the front door. She wants to come in but he says no because, well, you know, he's a little kid who's alone in the middle of the night, and she probably stinks of urine, and forest wolf or something. Those things were so scary. She offers him a rose but he's not interested because, well, can someone say stranger danger? Don't accept candy, or creepy glowing floral arrangements, from strangers, kiddos. And, when she turns into a beautiful sorceress he apologizes because he's a nice kid who didn't mean to offend her, but the sorceress apparently has a vendetta, showing no leniency to a kid who is doing what all responsible young kids should have done in that situation. She curses him by making him grow up as a monster. As if puberty didn't suck enough. Oh, and because she's really a lot more evil than Disney's storybook opening would have us believe, she also happens to curse everyone else in the house, because, why not? Witch probably be hating on some rich folks up in this hizz-house. Then over the next 10 years, he hides. Even more than he would as a regular teenager. During that time he develops a grand total of zero social skills, and doesn't even know how to begin when approaching a girl. Much less getting one to fall in love with him. In a state of Arrested Development, “I've made a huge mistake”. He doesn't know how to react when Belle's father shows up at the castle, and he behaves not like a rational adult, but like a petulant child, which is, surprise surprise, exactly what he is. The beast isn't a monster, he's not even a bad guy, he's just a little kid who never had the chance, to grow up. But hey, that's just a theory. A film theory, and cut.

Trivia

 * This episode was meant to be a "mini-theory". To date, this is the only one.