‘Beauty and the Beast’: The Spoilerific Chat

This is your last chance. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to be spoiled, just scroll on over to the next post. Ruth has a really good one about a themed pot from Williams-Sonoma.

Or you could read a review of Beauty and the Beast, or our 8 Things Parents Should Know post. Or Matt’s mostly spoiler-free discussion of that “openly gay” moment.

No? You ready? You’re staying? Ok, let’s dish.

That “openly gay” moment that had both social conservatives and LGBTQ activists concerned? That gay moment that had entire movie theaters refusing to play a Disney movie and parents threatening to boycott a trip to Disneyland?

Yeah, not so much. Sneeze and you’ll miss it. LeFou never says he’s gay. He seems to really like Gaston, but he never professes anything more than friendship. At one point when he got a little too close in a dance number, he asked if it was “too much.” OK. We’ve got the trope of “Why can’t you ever find a girl?” And at the end of the movie, he dances with someone who got forcibly cross-dressed by a cursed wardrobe. That’s the moment? I have to say that I really loved Gad in this movie, but it just wasn’t the “gay moment” it was made out to be. I really wanted a better moment. One that didn’t involve the dopey sidekick and that didn’t muddle things by confusing gender expression and sexual orientation.

But what did you think? Was it enough? Was it offensive? Was it a step in the right direction? Did it help that they made LeFou much more sympathetic and had him turn on Gaston when he realized how evil he was? Leave your comments here and let us know.

Belle is more of an active heroine in this movie. She tries to take an active role rather than just letting things happen to her (not that original Belle was completely passive–they both tried to save their fathers and defend the Beast from the villagers).  Did she succeed? Is she the live-action heroine we’ve been waiting for?

What about the wardrobe? Emma Watson asked to not wear corsets–which wouldn’t really fit with an active heroine, anyway, so the costume designers worked from historical outfits to find something with more of a bodice and pockets. Did they do well? Was this a much-needed update for real-life characters? Which outfit was your favorite? Who wore it better–cartoon Belle or live-action Belle?

Now, let’s talk about the singing. Do you think Emma Watson did the role justice? What about Dan Stevens, who was also making his singing debut?

The plot holes. There were many in the original animation, and they seem to have fixed quite a few of them here. Are you satisfied? Did you notice new flaws? Are you concerned that history doesn’t look good for young royal families in 18th Century France?

How about that crazy amount of CGI. Did you think the Beast was well done, or did you find him a little weird at times? What about all the pots and pans? The dancing numbers? That turban and Taj Mahal during the Be Our Guest sequence–why?

Anything else you want to discuss? This is your thread! Let’s talk. Let’s spoil! Snark is welcome, but keep it civil. We reserve the right to remove comments we find offensive.