Something that's long bothered me
(And, yes, I'll grant you, among all the things that might bother me, this one's pretty trivial, but there it is.)
As part of our ongoing duties as Baby-sitters In Residence, this weekend we watched Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast. (Which is, hands down, one of the finest animated feature films ever.) And it struck me again, as it has since the damn film came out:
In the prologue, the Enchantress transformed the Prince into a Beast for, essentially, being a self-centered prat... and gave him a rose which would stay in bloom until he was twenty-one. Then in the "Be Our Guest" cabaret number, Lumiere notes that they've been under the enchantment for ten years.
So the Enchantress punished the Prince for being a self-centered prat -- at the age of eleven.
Aren't the vast majority of eleven-year-old males self-centered prats? I mean, seriously, punishing a child for being childish?! Give unto me a break!
And while we're at it... Chip, the little cup, looked to be younger than ten when he changed back to human at the end. (And he certainly acted younger than ten throughout the film.) Which means he was born after the enchantment was laid on the castle. So, um... not to be indelicate, but just exactly how does a teapot give birth to a teacup? (That's not even thinking about the impregnation process itself. Come to that, why don't we ever see Mr. Potts? What household object did he become? It might explain a few things.)
As part of our ongoing duties as Baby-sitters In Residence, this weekend we watched Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast. (Which is, hands down, one of the finest animated feature films ever.) And it struck me again, as it has since the damn film came out:
In the prologue, the Enchantress transformed the Prince into a Beast for, essentially, being a self-centered prat... and gave him a rose which would stay in bloom until he was twenty-one. Then in the "Be Our Guest" cabaret number, Lumiere notes that they've been under the enchantment for ten years.
So the Enchantress punished the Prince for being a self-centered prat -- at the age of eleven.
Aren't the vast majority of eleven-year-old males self-centered prats? I mean, seriously, punishing a child for being childish?! Give unto me a break!
And while we're at it... Chip, the little cup, looked to be younger than ten when he changed back to human at the end. (And he certainly acted younger than ten throughout the film.) Which means he was born after the enchantment was laid on the castle. So, um... not to be indelicate, but just exactly how does a teapot give birth to a teacup? (That's not even thinking about the impregnation process itself. Come to that, why don't we ever see Mr. Potts? What household object did he become? It might explain a few things.)