In the first scene of Beauty and the Beast there are many things to point out in the society portrayed. The fact that the baker man is yelling at his wife to hurry up, showing that he has more power than her, women are taking care of their kids in the streets, men are tripping over things because they were too busy staring at a slender pretty women with a revealing dress on, worst of all two ladies are singing about how strange and distracted Belle is because she is going to the bookshop to buy a book... Also Gaston the stuck up hunk of the town says that Belle is the prettiest girl in town and that he deserves the best so hes going to have her. This gives younger girls watching the Disney Princess film a clear idea that if you want to be like Belle you must be pretty. If you want boys to like you or even to fall in love like all of the Princesses want then you must be pretty.
Belle is represented as a very well brought up girl with kind manners. She is beautiful, has long hair, is great at singing and takes care of her father by doing chores. What separates her from the older Princesses e.g Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty is her love to read books, her independence and also her strong will to stand up for what she wants. When Gaston slumps his dirty old shoes up on her table asking for Belle to marry him she politely declines but as he continues to rudely nag at her she becomes more loudly spoken and defends herself.
The representation of Princess Belle being the perfect women has been developed to a much better and more well rounded role in Beauty and the Beast. What has not changed though is the portrayal of society. So as the younger viewers of the Disney Princesses watch Belle get bullied for reading and thought of in a strange way because she keeps to herself, the ideas that a person who does those things is strange is reflected in society. For example the stereotypical nerd is someone whom keeps to themselves, wears glasses, and reads all the time. So the representation of Belle as the perfect women may be much better but the portrayal of society in the film Beauty and the Beast still needs much more development in order to portray a less judging society and have that as a reflection of our own.
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