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Viewer discretion is advised — I discuss graphic incidents of domestic abuse for this article. If you have a history with this, read on with caution.
I love Beauty and the Beast. I love the original Grimm’s fairy tale. I love the 1991 animated classic Disney did. I love Nightmare and Fairytale’s comic alternative universe twist it did on the story. I was not a fan of the recent live-action edition Disney did, especially with the massive amounts of autotune they snuck in there. However, while rewatching the 1991 classic yesterday, I realized there’s very dark undertones to the movie that must be addressed.
There are a lot of abusive relationship parallels within the movie. Ignoring the never-ending debates of “Does Belle have Stockholm syndrome and/or dependent personality disorder”, I want to focus on the specific incidents that made me have flashbacks to abusive relationships.
Let’s start at the beginning when Belle and Beast first meet. Beast’s motives are to turn into a handsome man again because he is sickened by his beastly appearance. His motivations are purely selfish. The servants also are in it to be human again, however, they are also more-or-less victims at the hands of the beast from him getting the castle cursed due to his terrible personality.
- Kidnapping
