Don't Talk Smack about Beauty and the Beast

I have been watching movies and reading books since before I can remember. How the heck did I not notice the trope of kidnapping being used as a romance starter until literally this class. Don't get me wrong everyone has watched Beauty and the Beast and had that conversation, but I think that is a bit different but I will go into that later. My mind is actually blown why am I always rooting for the romance and never actually questioning the kidnapping part like who green-lights this? The explanation they gave in the video said that it is likely used to bring an unlikely pair together, which I get, but I feel like there is a better, possibly less sexist way to get there.

 

The whole media literacy lesson I thought was very informative, and brought up a few things I had never thought about before, particularly the tropes, any of them. I am 25 years old and have never really thought about a lot of this stuff apart from safety stuff like not giving your information out to people on the internet and to look at where information is coming from. I think this is a good example of exactly why we should have some sort of media literacy lesson in our classrooms as teachers. The media is unavoidable, technology, social media, movies, everyone has an angle, and it is important we are able to analyze that as early as possible. Being knowledgable consumers makes for a more responsible population when it comes to technology.

Anyways I think the video's criticism of Beauty and the Beast was unfair. I do agree with the refusal to use Stockholm Syndrome in the description based on the fact that it generally shifts blame from the perpetrator to the victim and undermines the female by labeling her as brainwashed. I have never thought about that distinction before and I agree. And yes, the Beast is pretty messed up, he does verbally berate Belle, forbids her from eating, and is just generally mean to her. However, I don't believe he is meant to be seen as a misunderstood nice guy as the video suggests. Look at the beginning of the movie and the very reason he was imprisoned by his own body. He is a jerk. The point is that he learns to change through love. He changes as a person. Also I feel that it is unfair to say that this movie gives men the idea that if they meet the right woman they will be magically cured of their violent ways when this movie is literally about a magic spell that can only be broken when he fundamentally changes as a person. Okay now that I am typing it out I kind of get the point. This movie does have some serious issues. But I think it's different from the other abduction as romance movies in that he isn't meant to necessarily be seen as a nice guy all along just misunderstood, but he genuinely changed as a human, or I guess beast...

Okay anyways I'm stepping off my soapbox. I do believe this is a genuine problem over all and the woman falling in love with her captor is extremely problematic especially when looked at in terms of domestic violence situations. Media literacy is important!!!