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
Beast effectively kidnaps Belle, not allowing her to have contact with the outside world. This is very common in abusive relationships. However, many abusive relationships start off “mild” with this kind of abuse. Many abusers will guilt trip. Something like “I will feel really bad if you go hang out with your family” or “I will feel super lonely if you go hang out with your friends” with the idea of drawing up feelings of guilt and shame for going to see people who you view as allies. This can easily escalate to full out kidnapping where they really have you “locked down” within the home.
2. Extreme temper tantrums
From there we have the Beast begrudgingly ask her to dinner. The servants try to encourage a “gentleman approach” where he should ask nicely to entice her to dinner. However, Belle does not want to engage in dinner with him. The conversation escalates to the point where Beast full out screams “THEN STAY IN THERE AND STARVE!” with a ferocious animalistic roar…
