(Untitled)

[happycycling]

Click to view

one of the better youtube presentations on social ramifications of mass media images.

expect to see a much higher than usual proportion of this sort of hey-check-this-out post with half-assed (if any) commentary. the next 10 months are going to be an uphill battle.

Comments

[timely_musing]

I was going to post the exact same in regards to the fanboy and Gaston. The Beast was the protagonist and wouldn't fight, AND won the girl, which goes against what the vid was portraying. Gaston was intended to be hated for being nothing more than a self righteous muscle mass. I mean, come on. Beauty and the BEAST. The whole point is that it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside!! I also thought that the men that just wanted a woman to cook for them in Mulan were designed to be undesireable.

Robin Hood? With animals instead of people? Robin was a scrawny criminal and his best friend was fat.

Fox and the Hound? The characters were all average looking and the story was not about 'winning' a female (although Tod did have a love interest). It was essentially about overcoming racial differences (if you want to make it symbolic to the human world).

The Lion King always just seemed like a rip off of Hamlet to me, so I think any commentary relevant to Hamlet generally applies. In The Lion King II, Scar's son is the protagonist along with Simba's daughter. Kovu does not fit the stereotypical 'disney model' for protagonists as presented in the vid. He's a scrawny, unattractive, misunderstood loner that ends up being accepted.

Dumbo, no love interest. All about being accepted for being different (although the crows are portrayed in a hilariously racist fashion).

Jasmine is supposed to marry before her birthday but refuses all the princes because she wants to marry for true love, not wealth. While the genie fits the description in the vid, Aladdin does not. He's fit, but not unrealistically built.

The Aristocats and Lady in the tramp both feature essentially HOBOS that are the protagonists and win the lady.

The Jungle Book shows the antagonist as a fiercely strong tiger, with a fat bear and scrawny child as heroes.

Hunchback of Notre Dame, Brother Bear, 101 Dalmations, finding nemo, monsters inc...

There is a mighty list that totally contradicts the message of the vid. I mean..OF COURSE movies like Tarzan and Hercules are going to have big buff heroes. That's what the movie is ABOUT. Saying Disney needs to break away from that though is silly, as they've been doing so since 1940 with the premire of Pinnochio (their second feature length animation).

[tiredstars]

Beauty and the Beast is an interesting case study because while it rejects some of the cruder aspects, it still keeps the characteristics mentioned in the video to heart. I'm studiously avoiding any comment on Belle herself in this...

The dramatic device is, of course, the reversal whereby the villain is good-looking, while the hero is a hideous beast. The lessons of looking beyond the surface of people, being open-minded and suchlike are good ones, of course. However the film actually fits the model proposed in the video very well.

The film's dramatic tension comes from the fact that everyone recognises this is not the usual situation. In narrative terms, it is an unstable equilibrium. And as it turns out, that is how the story resolves - the villain ends up deformed (well, dead), while the hero turns out to be a decidedly good-looking prince. (Side-note: even the beast fits the archetype of a top-heavy, broad-shouldered body.) Equilibrium, with the good looking pretty and the bad looking ugly, is restored. (Hence why Shrek works as a subversion.)

From the point of view of Gaston and the Beast, Belle is clearly an object, a goal. For Gaston, it's to satisfy his desire and self-importance. For the Beast, Belle is necessary for him to turn back into a human.

The film climaxes with a battle between the two over a woman. The Beast initially avoids confrontation, which is standard for heroes, who always show some reluctance to fight. However when the Beast's vigour is restored by the realisation he has an object to fight over, it becomes a traditional test of strength and fighting wit. Gaston shows his unmanly lack of physical courage, while the Beast shows his manly determination to continue despite his injuries. The Beast physically wins the battle, if only by virtue of staying in place and alive slightly longer (imagine if both characters had died, but the Beast had been the one who fell off the tower).
Note that Belle plays no part at all in this climactic physical confrontation, except as an object - all it takes is a look at her is enough to reinvigorate the Beast.

To me, Gaston is a considerably more interesting character than the Beast. The Beast has one dramatic flaw - his anger. When he controls that, he fits the standard hero mould. He is genteel in the presence of Belle, but still physically powerful enough to defeat his rival. The is some implication that he's reasonably intelligent - he does read, and he has a large library. That's scant evidence, though. His plans come from Lumiere. It could well be that his quality in this regard is that he's just rich.

Gaston, on the other hand not only comes up with a plan to win Belle, but is also able to whip the people into a frenzy against the Beast. Unpleasant, but smart. That sort of cleverness gets you killed in Disney films, though. (Guess: they reward wit - eg. Aladdin's tricking of Jaffar - but not planning or tactical thinking - eg. Scar (though this is common in stories, where the hero responds to the villain's actions).)

Something else that occurs to me: there's also a conflict between station. Gaston is top dog in a small town, whereas the Beast is a prince. The higher rank wins. This convention may be honoured more in the breach than the observance in disney films though - lowly birth being a useful dramatic device, especially for egalitarian Americans.



(Nabbed from this DA account.)

[happycycling]

the prince was an uggo. i recoiled in horror after the dramatic turn-around.