Beauty and the Beast Explained: Tale as Old as Time

[MoonchildOfDarkness]

My favourite part of the movie is when he changes at the end, and she has that tiny, momentary glimpse of disbelief in her eyes, like even though that there's a beautiful man in front of her now, that's not what she's looking for. She's looking into his eyes, to find the one she fell in love with. That's why I love Belle.

[pretzellina]

He turned into a prince in the end because he earned his right to be human. What I liked about it is that Belle is not automatically charmed by his looks. She’s skeptical until she looks into his eyes and sees his inner self shine through.

[AlliYAFF]

The Beast has a red cape with a blue shirt and Gaston has a red shirt with a blue cape. It could symbolize that on the outside Gaston is seen as good but on the inside he is a beast, and that the beast is seen as a beast on the outside but on the inside has more humanity than Gaston.

[rp]

The beast regaining his human form is the reward for the prince, not belle. It's just a bonus for belle that he turned into a totally hot guy. Great analysis btw, i love it!

[codsamanta]

I believe the beast being turned back into a beautiful prince is a symbol of our tendency to start perceiving people as more physically beautiful if they exhibit beautiful moral qualities, like the beast did towards the end.

[shadypigeon]

"We'll have six or seven!"
"Dogs?"
Same Bell. Same.

[dimatadore]

I think that the Beast returning to his human form means he was freed from his curse. The reward of the outer beauty matching the inner beauty. I mean we're not Shreks, we're human. So he goes back to being human but he's finally a true human. Both are rewarded by being able to be who they were born to be, but the experience was necessary for them to be good, and not beautiful in a shallow way. Idk how to explain this. If he had stayed the Beast then the sorceress is bad: she TOOK something away from him forever. However, she just returned him to his normal state, but she GAVE him something: a good heart.

[asc]

I loved the analysis, but the end sent me another message. To me, the beast turning back into a human was a gift for him, not for belle. It represents him gaining back his humanity through all of the changes he went through in the movie. It also shows that inner beauty will shine through, and that it is more important than external beauty, hence why belle fell in love with him while in beast form and was mostly unaffected by his change back into human. Him being human again was more a matter of internal changes than his actual, physical change.

[keshiaanders]

Finally!

I am SO sick of people thinking that "Beauty and the Beast " is about Stockholm Syndrome!

If there is a BatB relationship that is Stockholms, it's *not* with the title characters!
It's between Gaston and LeFou (worship wise).

[otherlen]

for the part where the beast turns back, I think its sort of like If you are beautiful on the inside people will see you as beautiful on the outside

[samcheney]

The beast is 11 when he's turned, so the real villain is the enchantress who turned a boy without parents present into a beast his servants into objects because he wouldn't let a stranger into his house for simply offering a rose. True the boy could learn some empathy but he was only 11. Still an interesting review that was worth the time to watch. Please keep making content.

[HPfrk]

This has quickly become one of my favorite channels. So insightful.

[lotrfan]

I've seen this movie numerous times, and that parallel b/w the Best and Gaston blew my mind!

[phoenixfriend]

I enjoyed your analysis. The one thing I would disagree on is the Beast turning back into a human at the end. I would argue that it wasn't about 'beauty', it was about being able to live as fully himself in every way. He changed back for his own sake rather than for Belle's or anybody else's. The same with the household staff.

[tjsmith]

When people are so quick to say "this movie is basically about Stockholm Syndrome" doesn't that sort of reflect the whole mentality of the society that rejected Belle in the first place? People that orchestrate or perpetuate that idea are like the Gastons of society, no?

[crystalfairy]

I love how you brought up what the Beast not remembering how to read means to him and the story. The remake made it so that he knew how to read and would "sometimes" read. It's nice that it allows them something to bond over, but it kind of takes away from Beast's arc. That he seemed to have given up on being human. Doug Walker pointed out how the animated Beast went from animalistic behaviors to more human ones as the movie progresses, which shows how he's willing to give humanity a chance and change for Belle. And in the Broadway, having Belle read to the Beast provides a sweet moment for them to bond when he realizes books can take him away from his pain for a little bit. Belle can relate to that since she's aware of what the town thinks of her, but reading brings her joy. Now she has someone to share that joy with.

[paradisecityable]

I knew the film had layers, but this video taught me about the many layers I've never thought about

[inkbery]

I feel like him turning back to human is necessary.. I mean,
1. He proved his inner beauty, so I don't see why he'd still be cursed
2. It also says that that being beautiful doesn't mean you're vain
3. ALOT of people (including myself) wouldn't have been okay with her actively dating (basically) an animal. She loved his personality, now she can actually love all of him. Not because he's pretty, but because he's human. If he was an ugly human would've been okay too. Just not a beast.

[CoolG]

The Beast becomes Human as a reward for him, not Belle.
Throughout the film on a sliding scale he goes from a beast (Hunting his food, not wearing proper clothes, he's losing memory of being human. That's him accepting what he is and he's miserable because of it) to human (learning compassion, thinking of others) and earns his, and everyone else in the castle's, humanity back.
Hell, even in the original tale, he doesn't change until after Belle agrees to marry him, with was AFTER she told him she loved him.

[anthonymartensen]

This video made me appreciate the movie more