Posted on 03/24/2017 9:35:31 PM PDT by ctdonath2
Having bought premium tickets in advance of the "gay moment" revelation, I ended up seeing Disney's remake of Beauty and the Beast. No point in wasting good money over an alleged 2-second problem in a 2-hour movie. FWIW, I saw the standard-format 2D version.
WARINING: SPOILERS. Not that you're really going to find them spoiling, since you already know the story and the hysteria, but if you're worried about spoilers anyway then stop here already.
Overall, it was a worthy remake of the hit animated film we all recall. The new generation is growing up with photorealistic animation (vs hand-drawn outlines), so the new "live action" version was compelling in the 21st Century. The castle was intricately detailed & vast, the Beast believably rendered, the acting was well up to Disney standards, the slightly modified story quite faithful, major animated characters (Cogsworth & Lumiere) were staggeringly well done, and the wolf attacks duly terrifying. Hermione held her own as Belle, and Gaston was perfect.
Before the sordid bits you're probably reading this for, let me note that there were two overtly positive Christian references. Early on, Belle exchanges books with the priest with a prominent crucifix or two in the background. In the grand musical number Be Our Guest, there is the lyric "praise the Lord". Backing these are pervasive expressions of heterosexual monogamous romance, chastity, courtship, self-sacrifice, respect, honesty, and other solidly Christian / Western values.
There is just barely enough injection of obligatory Disney / fairy-tale "magic" to set the stage (which is very bluntly & spectacularly set at the beginning), being necessary to the classic story. Set as bookends, this is matched at the end in predictable form (yet still sneaks up on the viewer) with a slight but very proper twist. We are talking about a talking clock, candelabra, harpsichord, etc. all under the responsibility of a hideous (and almost distressingly handsome) Beast.
The technological angle of this production is, on the whole, magnificent. Close-range graphics & compositing are perfectly done, to the point that children are going to have a tough time ever believing the animated characters aren't in fact real. The long-range backgrounds do, for those of us hypersensitive to such details (years back I worked at Kodak's digital cinema division), have an oddly imperfect feel which might be explained by their nuances actually being deliberate (the "pond bridge" scene being the most pronounced), recalling the exact flaws of old-school cinema.
The "gay moment" causing much consternation in recent weeks is, as later noted, subtle to the point of being overlooked if you're not actually looking for it. There are actually two, both being actually quite unflattering. The first is LeFou ending up, at the conclusion of a major musical set, in the very heterosexual Gaston's arms and asking "is this too awkward?" with Gaston emphatically agreeing it is. This is practically a Bugs Bunny gag. The second, which literally lasts only a second, is at the very end, amid a dancing crowd where many couples are reunited, LeFou - having finally gotten it thru his thick skull that the radiantly heterosexual (have I made that point enough yet?) Gaston is never going to fall for him and actually finds him expendable - finds himself the focus of an undoubtedly/flaming gay "diverse" character never noticed before in the movie. If anything, LeFou's subtle/obvious preferences end up rather repulsive: he's an unpleasant, annoying, grotesque character pursuing someone who rejects him on several levels, keeping him around only because he's useful & expendable. If any cinematic character is going to promote homosexuality, it's not LeFou.
There is also a momentary cross-dressing scene, where a vicious and matronly wardrobe, in heat of combat, defeats three very male opponents by inflicting women's attire & makeup on them. Two, very distressed, flee. One, reminiscent of a Bugs Bunny moment, revels.
Some of the "diversity" is awkwardly forced (such as Lumiere's pure-white object of affection who isn't when returned to human form, absolutely nothing objectionable but is needlessly startling). This is, after all, an old story set in medieval France where one would naturally expect the characters be genetically French. (Likewise, I won't expect Caucasians in the future live-action version of Mulan; maybe forcing the issue will be over by then.)
Obviously the movie being for children primarily, it is at times rather intense for that age. The sheer realism of the Beast & the wolves (multiple attacks depicted), and the total believability of the sentient furnishings, will be the stuff of young nightmares (my 7 year old promptly explaining to me that he will have them for one year as the result of this viewing). Many children are exposed to more than this, so it may not be an issue relatively speaking; evaluate your kids' sensitivities accordingly. The hotly-debated sexual undertones are quite subtle and likely invisible to the prepubescent; considering all the other places such content will arise in life, I don't see this as a reason to censor the movie outright.
Stockholm Syndrome aside (to wit Belle's comment "I cannot love if I am not free"), it is a solid classic tale of sacrificial devotion parent-for-child, child-for-parent, and equal-to-partner; even the witch setting the spell (fairy tale that it is) loyally bides her time that the prince properly learns his lesson. Romantic love comes in time as a result of devotion, sacrifices are made knowing full well the cost, and even the self-aggrandizing oft-misguided Gaston just wants to settle down properly.
I’ve tried watching some recent Disney movies, but find I don’t care for all the singing anymore. It was okay when I was younger. I can remember begging my mother to take me to see Sleeping Beauty during a heavy snowfall. We didn’t have a car, and had to take two buses. I loved that movie then, but at 69, animated films with singing and dancing just don’t cut it for me anymore. I end up fast-forwarding through all that crap, just to get on with the story. The only animated films I saw recently that I liked was the latest Ice Age film, and The BFG, and I only watched that because I like Mark Rylance.
This story goes back about 4,000 years.
Fairy tale origins thousands of years old, researchers say
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35358487
Now add in an interesting take on the movie.
Why Does The Beast In ‘Beauty And The Beast’ Look Eerily Similar To Baphomet?
http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/why-does-the-beast-in-beauty-and-the-beast-look-eerily-similar-to-baphomet
The whole gay thing was a PR stunt by Disney to generate interest.
ping
Aaron Blaise did the previous beauty and the best- (and may have worked on this one- but not sure)- He’s got some youtube videos showing how he drew and animated the characters via digital software- it was actually pretty interesting He’s a pretty good digital artist too-
It was good. I liked how they filled in some plot holes from the animated version: why the villagers didn’t know about the nearby castle, winter at the castle, how the scratched painting of an adult male could be The Beast when he was a youth when he was turned to a beast, etc.
I wasn’t fond of the singing. I could hear auto tuning in “Belle” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Be Our Guest” wasn’t as good. Paige O’Hara, Angela Lansbury, and Jerry Orbach did much better. “Gaston” was good, but Josh Gad has Broadway experience (as well as training from a fantastic university).
If you aren’t into the music, Disney Animation has some other films. Check out superhero “Big Hero 6” and buddy-cop “Zootopia.”
“Wreck-It Ralph” was also good, if you like video games.
I haven’t seen the movie. . .but my question, “Does God like it?”
I had the same impression
The gayness was way overhyped
You had to look for it to notice it
It was an enjoyable movie
it was a bit contrived to see the magical furniture transform into white men and black women servants
In medieval France
That was the most envelope pushing diversity in the movie
Sheesh already
Name one that God does.
You do realize the major sub plot of Beauty and the Beast is Gastons pursuit of the unattainable disinterested Belle, right?
Yup. If they hadn’t mentioned it, nobody would have noticed.
It’s not Fantasia but the scenes of magical transformation are pretty vivid
I thought it was an entertaining movie and so did the kids and teens I went with ( 11 total)
Interesting that the gaggle of teen girls sitting next to me started the movie with texting ( annoying but they used dim light) but they got into the movie and when belle was grieving for the Beast they were crying
You do the same for Bugs Bunny, right?
Interesting how NOBODY is mentioning the overly pro-christian content.
overly = overtly
You, sir, are far more vile than the movie at hand. You are needlessly profane and obscene, demeaning something that is an unusually strong portrayal of Western values. You are an embarrassment to the values you profess to uphold.
Projection much?
Disney made a big production of saying there was homosexuality in this movie.
They wanted everyone to know.
So, everyone should focus on homosexuality.
But it should be the real homosexuality....the penis in the anal canal homosexuality......the woman sticking a dildo into the vagina of another woman homosexuality.
Not this baloney of two old homosexuals holding hands by the fireplace.
If you can’t deal with the reality of homosexuality, then don’t come on a conservative website to tell us fairy tales about homosexuality.
Disney trumpeted this as having homosexuality in it.
They, like you, are just too cowardly and duplicitous to portray homosexuality as it really is.
Would you have written this glowing review of a fairy tale on this conservative website if Disney hadn’t trumpeted it as having homosexuality in it?
Nope.
You’re a fraud.
i gave it a B, B-. the gay thing would have gone right by me if it hadn’t been hyped - and after all effeminate characters are nothing new to the screen. i thought the diversity angle was a bit overdone and anachronistic. Beast did not really appeal to me so i didn’t feel chemistry - although i did cry at the end. that was the major flaw. i would have been just as happy seeing all the effects, etc. on tv or DVD.
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