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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

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