Plenty of Beast... No Beauty

I saw Beauty and the Beast last night. I'll do a review soon, but for now I want to talk about the leftism within this film. The film was fine. It was good. It was ok. If it had come before the cartoon, there would be no phenomena... no little girls excited to meet Belle. It didn't suck though. But the film was packed with rather interesting stupidity.

● Racism: The left loves racism. It loves to think it's being anti-racist, but it isn't. Get this. The opening of the film begins with Hermoine in the village. The village is about 30% black. Keep in mind that this is ancient France, so the presence of these people is odd. And being in such numbers is so obviously a statement that it screams "We are trying to make blacks seem relevant!" How insulting. And why are there no Indians, no other Indians, no Asians, no Hispanics? Is Disney really singling out blacks for being the only race that needs their hands held?

Then it gets worse. When the villagers turn into a mob, all the blacks mysteriously disappear. Either they were raptured or Disney is saying, "blacks are too overly sensitive to be included in this scene... we don't want them whining about being portrayed poorly on screen." Again, how insulting.

There are two interracial romances in the film too. Both involve white men and black women. As I pointed out before, that's by far the statistically least likely paring. What's wrong with black men and white women anyways, Disney? Are Asian women beneath being put into Disney films? Does Disney not believe anyone will accept someone loving an Indian?

● Feminism? Ha!: So the whole film has a wicked anti-princess vibe. You stupid little girls need to learn that you don't need no stinking man to save you. Yep. Rip off your princess dresses, get down to your underwear and go fight little girl... hmmm, yeah. Sounds creepy, huh? Well, feminist (and womyn who posed with her shirt off) Emma Watson rips off her dress as she races back to the final battle. Why? Who knows? It has no meaning to the plot. So what does she wear into "battle" then? Her underwear. Yep. This is the period piece version of every "strong woman" role Hollywood has put out in decades -- hot chicks stripped to their underwear blasting away at bad guys. The only thing missing was the five-inch heels and the leather whip. So much for dignity.

Oh, and I must say that Watson's version of Belle sucked. She came across as an unpleasant elitist rather than a charming dreamer. She was nasty about the simps in town, telling us "I am not simple!" (Uh, Emma, "simple folk" means people who live good lives without drama and machinations, not people who are stupid and uneducated.) She insulted the Beast to the point I would have ripped her face off. She was a royal bitch to Gaston to the point that it made no sense he would keep chasing her. So feminism means you're a bitch... and you fight in your underwear. How noble.

Oh, and her acting sucked. She didn't get this role for her skill, I'll tell you that. I'd say she traded on her looks. Surprise!

● Don't Blink, Gay Boy: If you weren't told that Gaston's buddy was gay, you might have missed it. It was clear that while Disney wanted credit for including a gay character, they didn't want it being apparent on screen. Out... but not so proud.

And then they did something kind of lousy. The wardrobe dressed three of the attackers in drag and one liked it. Oh my, he's a cross-dresser! Big whoop. Only, Disney then made him gay at the end of the film. Hmm. Having taken psychology courses, I can tell you that few gays cross-dress and cross-dressers as a group are rarely gay. But apparently, if you aren't straight and narrow, Disney thinks you're gay. Way to label people, Mouse House.

● Damn Christians: Throughout the movie, Disney slammed small-minded Islam. They made us hate them when they tried to stop a young Belle from teaching another girl to read. They locked up Belle for witchcraft (which happened to be true this time). They screamed "Infidel!" as they did. They denounced science and disassembled Bella's washing machine, which was clearly the product of Satan. Yep. Islam sucks. The only problem... they pinned all of this on Christians. There was no suggestion of Islam in the film. Infidel? Really?

So if we can just shift the sins of anyone onto someone else for convenience, then I think tomorrow I shall start blaming homosexuals for the crimes of poachers... why not?

● Gun Control: Gaston used a gun to try to kill the beast rather than an arrow, but Emma broke Gaston's arrows. Talk about a mixed political statement. But at the same time, the piano fired keys at the mob as if it were a machine gun. So are guns good or bad, Disney?

● Psychological Problems: Finally, the film was packed with bizarre little changes that seemed to make no sense. They did make sense though when you understood that the left can't process subtlety. In the cartoon, Gaston is a jerk and a blow hard. He dies when he engages in an act of malicious cowardice - he wants to show off to Belle so he decides to kill the Beast. He tries to do so cowardly and he dies. Very Greek tragic. That's not enough for the left though because they don't accept that evil can be small. So this time, he tried to kill Belle's dad first so we know to hate him. The left simply cannot accept the idea that evil is anything less that total and obvious. No wonder they can't spot it.

Like I said above, the film was ok. But the politics of this film were noxious. Disney really should be ashamed.

Thoughts?