9 Dec 2011
Quote: Beauty and the Beast
Taking [Disney's] Beauty and the Beast at face value is problematic; it’s the story of a girl who quickly succumbs to Stockholm syndrome, spurns the rescue efforts of an entire town that mobilized to help her, and ultimately decides to live with her captors. And it’s set in a world where powerful spellcasters mutilate hundreds of people at a time for entertainment without suffering any sort of consequences.
…Look at how the candlestick Lumiere declares that they have been “rusting” for ten years while waiting for a chance to serve someone, but the prologue explains that the beast can only break his curse before his twenty-first birthday (which occurs shortly after Belle discovers his castle). The math shows that innocents have been doomed to an eternity spent as matching dinnerware because of the moral shortcomings of an eleven-year-old with no parents.
–Peter Gross