Skip to main content

Feminist Disney- Why Gaston is a Villain in Beauty and The Beast

Beauty and The Beast gets a lot of criticism... and I have to admit- I do agree with a lot of it. There are quite a few plot holes in the cartoon version... and after just seeing the Live Action version I feel like that explained a lot of those really well- which is why spoiler alert: I liked the Live Action version a little bit better. I'm not sure if I'll have a feminist review on that up on Thursday or not...I'll have a review of it on my other blog today though- so check that out- I release those at 11:30pm. 

Anyway one thing that I think people have said about it is why is Gaston the villain? He was only trying to help the woman he loves from a beast that kidnapped her... why does he deserve the title of villain. 

Consent. Consent is why he deserves the title of villain. No means no, Belle says "No, Gaston. I have no interest in being your wife. Let me read my book!" She and Gaston have NOTHING in common. Belle wants MORE than to cook and clean for her husband all day and that's all Gaston wants of her. And the only reason gaston loves her is because she's "The most beautiful woman in town, which means she's the best. And don't I deserve the best?" So he really isn't in love with her at all... he doesn't know her, he just loves her beauty and is obsessed with her. 

I'm going to compare Gaston for a second to Feminist Anti Hero and "villain of her own story" Crazy Ex Girlfriend's Rebecca Bunch... because that is who I would compare Gaston to. Why is Rebecca kind of a hero and Gaston is a villain? When Josh says no- Rebecca backs off. And although Rebecca is obsessed with Josh... she does genuinely love him and it's for more than his looks. Gaston won't listen to Belle when she says "no" to marrying him, he won't listen to her saying "no" when Belle says "don't kill the beast!" He just does what he wants for his own selfish ego boost. 

The way that he attacks his prey is also kind of cheating... and it is mentioned in the song Gaston. He sneaks up from behind to kill them... and Le Fou even says "isn't that cheating." And... well that's not a nice thing for men to do. 

And Belle also rejects the beast at first because he is so cruel to her... but the Beast changes because he genuinely loves Belle, and Belle loves him for this. Gaston does not try to change to better impress Belle... he just stays the same bad person that doesn't take no for an answer the whole movie... and then dies in the end... spoilerz. 

So yeah, No Means No, Gaston is a bad guy... and that is everything! 

Bye! 
-Shannon

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Catcalling Isn't Okay, and Why It's Okay Not To Like It

Today I went to the grocery store with my mom and grandmother and while we were checking out, some older man says “Ohhhh, Nice! Young Lady! Have Mercy," to me! I was really pissed!  The thing about catcalling though is that a lot of people kind of make it seem like its less of a big deal than it is and that women should be okay with it… And no one should have to be okay with being catcalled. Here are my reasons:   I wasn’t asking for it  A lot of times people shrug it off and say something like “Well if you dress like that you’re just asking for it.” Nope… I was wearing a sweater… a mock turtleneck actually, jeans, and a large peacoat. This isn’t any different than how I normally dress. I shouldn’t have to modify my dress for my safety… also I’m not sure how I could exactly be wearing anything more reserved. It’s a striped sweater with a slouchy turtleneck… I definitely wasn’t asking for it.  I was wearing makeup… but that’s another thing I do every da...
2 comments
Read more

Why "The Ditzy Character" Is Problematic/ Don't Let anyone question your intelligence.

So... I mentioned last week that I don't think we need a dumb female character on TV or in movies and it just doesn't really add anything to the story if there's just a dumb character... of either gender really. It's a cheap gag for laughs... and girls should know that it's not just funny to be dumb... and that people won't like you any better if you act dumb... it's okay to be smart. I'm smart... I don't think I'm the smartest person in the world... I'm sure if I said that many people reading this would disagree... lol. But in school I usually got good grades... maybe not in Science or Math or any of those types of subjects... but English, history. Those are my friends. And as far as English classes go... I was the best student in several of my classes and I'm proud of myself for that... The thing is... I feel like a lot of people won't believe me about that because at some point in my life... I've acted "dumb" beca...
Post a Comment
Read more

Feminish TV : Black Mirror Season 3 Episode 1: Nosedive

I had been wanting to see Black Mirror for a while, and this is the episode Netflix decided to play for me. Oddly, they have Black Mirror starting from the Most Recent Season and then going back to the first season… so it’s the opposite of what they normally do.   Also, in case no one knows, Black Mirror is a horror/sci fi series kind of like The Twilight Zone, but a lot darker and scarier. So each episode is different, different cast different characters, different story… so its kind of like its own movie… but a little bit shorter.  This one stars Bryce Dallas Howard as a woman living in a world where Social Media is everything. People have something attached to their eye that brings up everyone’s profile whenever you look at them, you can see their “Score” which shows how popular they are. 5s are the highest… most people are in the 4 range. Bryce Dallas Howard’s character is in the mid-4’s and she’s looking to bring herself up to a higher 4. There are advantages to ...
Post a Comment
Read more