Fairy Tale Oscar Watch 2018

One thing you may have missed in the all the Oscars advertising hype:

Best Picture is (very likely) between two fairy tale related films:

"The Shape of Water" and "Get Out".

The 90th Academy Awards  have quite a large representation with regard to folklore and fairy tales this year. With the Beauty and the Beast-like The Shape of Water up for a slew of awards (13!), including Best Picture and Best Director, the 'flipped' Beauty and the Beast/Bluebeard thriller/horror Get Out also up for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay (4 in all), the not-at-all-revolting Revolting Rhymes putting fairy tales front and center in the short film category, Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast getting noms for costume and production design, and the highly folkloric Coco up for best animated feature, fairy tales are likely to be a strong theme at the awards show this year. 

There's a good possibility there will be lots of water and beast type imagery, musical numbers, spoofs and jokes...

Illustrator Yoshitaka Amano (famous for character design of Final Fantasy) created a collaborative art piece for The Shape of Water, directed by Guillermo del Tor. Amano commented "I imagined he wraps himself in his cloak of water".
(Click for full size)

Fairy tales and fantasy have been in high demand the past year, meaning that in a year of great social unrest and confusion in the US (and inevitably, due to being a major world power, the rest of the world), fairy tales (and fantasy) are being turned to for many and varied reasons. They're a source of distracting - and positive - entertainment, they're used as a method for processing confusion and challenges and as a medium for expression for hope, anger, despair, and a call to change. From newly-desperate wishes for a happily-ever-after in a time of extreme difficulty and stress for many, to reflecting on simple truths that can cut clearly through a swath of fake news, to a beacon of creative inspiration that connects to human truths, fairy tales are surfacing everywhere. Fairy tale themed ads on TV tend to be split between sorting truth from fiction and being an inspirational element of hope despite various circumstances. Fairy tale based books, while always prolific, this past year have been hitting the bestseller lists when exposing their teeth, their dark underbellies and their smart, wily and take-no-prisoners heroines. 

Fairy tale films, in particular those with a happy ending, have caught the imagination and attention of the general public. While a film like The Shape of Water would be considered excellent at any point in history, we believe it's appearance at this time, has helped boost its profile, as this is the type of triumphant story of love winning over all odds, and the little people beating 'the big machine' that has resonated so strongly. It's the inspiration - and reassurance - people are searching for. Once again, a film's popularity has risen to meet its excellence in filmmaking, and it's a joy to see that being recognized at the Academy Awards - doubly so because its not at all shy about its fairy tale roots.

Here's the rundown of fairy tale and folklore-related films that are in the running, and for which category:

Film: The Shape of Water

Fairy Tale/Folklore Tie-ins:

• Beauty and the Beast
• The River God of the Amazon (Brazilian folklore meets The Creature From the Black Lagoon/Gill-man pop culture/urban legend)
• The silent heroine/hero and those keeping secrets [ATUs: 451 (eg. Six Swans), 442 (eg. Old Woman in the Forest), 533 (eg. Goose Girl),  945 (eg. Princess Who Couldn't Laugh/Speak), 923 (eg. Love Like Salt), and The Little Mermaid/Undine/The Fisherman and His Soul]
• There are even parallels that can be made with Sleeping Beauty (ATU 410) 
• There's even a little of the Moses story - both fishman and found in a river, grows to become savior of enslaved people, *spoiler* (highlight to view) disappears behind a wall of water to destiny *spoiler over*

Nominated for:

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Actress
• Best Supporting Actress
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Original Music Score
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Cinematography
• Best Costume Design
• Best Film Editing
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Production Design
• Best Sound Editing

Oscar Favorite? Yes - especially for Best Picture, Best Production Design and possibly Best Director

Film: Get Out

Fairy Tale/Folklore Tie-ins: Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard

Nominated for:

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Actor

Oscar Favorite? Yes - contender for Best Picture, Favorite for Best Original Screenplay (Note: this film appears to have Maria Tatar's vote)

Film: Revolting Rhymes

Fairy Tale/Folklore Tie-ins: 

• A mix of classic fairy tales
• Red Riding Hood
• Snow White
• Three Little Pigs
• Cinderella
• Jack and the Beanstalk (etc)

Nominated for: Best Short Film (Animated)

Oscar Favorite? Yes

Film: Disney's Beauty and the Beast (live action)

Fairy Tale/Folklore Tie-ins: Beauty and the Beast (Villeneuve as well as Disney's animated classic)

Nominated for:

• Best Production Design
• Best Costume Design

Oscar Favorite? No

Film: The Breadwinner

Fairy Tale/Folklore Tie-ins: Afghan storytelling and fables

Nominated for: Best Animated Feature

Oscar Favorite? No

Film: Coco

Fairy Tale/Folklore Tie-ins: 

• Mexican Day of the Dead/Land of the Dead
• Mexican spirit animals
• Dante (dog's name)
• Aztec gods
• Alebrijes (Mexican folk art imaginary creatures - newish 'lore' dating back to 30's)

Nominated for:

• Best Animated Feature
• Best Music (Original Song)

Oscar Favorite? Yes - both for Best Animated Feature & for Best Song

Fairy Tale Bonus of the Day:

Check out this wonderful essay by Dr. Jeana Jorgensen:

Strategic Silences: Voiceless Heroes in Fairy Tales

This essay (available to read online for free) explores the use of silence in fairy tales, for both female and male heroes, discussing the many aspects of silence/mutism (voluntary, non-voluntary, tasks, spell-breaking etc) and looks at the variations from different cultures and eras.

Highly recommended!

In that vein, we bring you a timely reinterpretation of Oscar statues for a group of people long silenced in Hollywood: women. These re-visioned statues were created this year by A-list artists, especially in the wake of the #MeToo era. (If only we could see more of these on the red carpet as opposed to the 'casting couch' statue, that appeared days before the Oscars*, making a similar, but very differently focused, statement.)

The Oscar Statues Reinterpreted by A-list Artists for the #MeToo Era

*Only to be removed two nights before due to inclement weather. Reports are that it's unlikely to be reinstalled in time for the Academy Awards for the same reasons.

Google Translate Sings 'Aesthetic & the Animals' (aka B&tB) aka the importance of good translation!

Ah Google Translate! Where would researchers and far flung friends and colleagues be without you? Performer Malinda Kathleen Reese gave us a glimpse of what non-English speaking folks, trying to translate tales and lyrics via Google Translate, might be 'hearing' instead...

This is a bit of (very well done) fun, of course, but it illustrates wonderfully why, when studying tales translated to English from other languages, you should be aware of the translator and how accurate they're considered to be, or (if you're lucky and have their notes) why they chose to use certain words and phrases instead of the more obvious ones... for instance the ones the Google Translate might suggest. ;)
             
One of the difficulties in translating to English is that it's a very imprecise language and definitions are constantly evolving, because social and popular meaning changes. And that's only half of the equation. The other is the original language and its quirks. If you've ever dabbled in languages with even minor translation endeavors, you quickly learned that there is rarely a 'correct' way to translate  - except that the guaranteed 'wrong way' is to try the word-for-word method - and that it's more of an art form than a science of substituting equal meanings.

You have to take into account:

• the words and what they specifically mean (and their equivalent in the language you're translating too)
• what the words also imply (the subtext of using that specific word instead of similar ones), which is influenced by...
• the context at the time - and place - of writing
• all of which usually has a 'tone' and style

(A very small selection of recommended books of translated tales with lots of great notes!)

And that doesn't include:

• storytelling style - which is very important in translating tales
• cultural expressions, idioms, similes and metaphors
• those words that have no English equivalent

(And there are more factors too that a qualified folklorist or professional translator could discuss at length, but you get the idea.)

When you take these into account, even retelling old tales originally written in English can prove tricky..!

Speaking of untranslatable words, can you imagine a retelling of Rapunzel, in which these words - wonderfully illustrated  by Marija Tiurina - are used? (Click on the images to see full size.)

And what about this one for Riquet of the Tuft?

You can find a lovely bunch of many more 'untranslatable words', that have been wonderfully illustrated HERE.

It's a pretty fascinating subject and we're a little in awe of people who translate tales and other creative and social works (not to mention those who facilitate United Nations negotiations!). Be prepared for a fun ride down a rabbit hole if you decide to look into this subject further!

(Note: our suggestion, if you don't want a world of instant-overwhelm, would be to start with annotated tales, and tale collections in which the translators include their notes on the story origins, collection and translation process, sometimes summarized in a foreword on each of the stories. Be prepared to never read anything quite the same way again!)

And just because these are a lot of fun, here's Malinda's latest Google Translate Sings video with a compilation of Mary Poppins songs. Enjoy!

Want more? Malinda has a bunch of princess songs too, in which she sings the original and has a 'sing-off' with the google translate version. Funny stuff!

Gans' Gorgeous 'Beauty and the Beast' Is On Netflix!

We know lots of readers have been waiting a very long time to see this. Now Netflix has the English language dub of this sumptuous French live action retelling of Beauty and the Beast. (The original actors are the voice dubs -they just re-recorded their lines in English, but the movie was shot in French - so English dub, despite the great voices, doesn't match lip sync.) 

Other great news, you can also choose to watch it in the original French - with or without English (or Spanish) subtitles! (It's been very difficult to find a disc that gives this option.)

It's not Disney. It's French, luscious and has much more in common with the French literary versions. Here Beauty has siblings, her father is a merchant and there is a new-but-feels-old mythical aspect to the Beast's backstory that is probably our favorite addition to the story. There are also a heck of a lot of Cocteau homages and you simply can't help but be amazed by the visual aesthetic brought to the whole production. Even the 'pedestrian' scenes without magic have a glow about them, while any scene with magic is breathtaking.

It's biggest criticism is people finding the beginning slow, or that it has "all these extra things about the family", but if you're expecting a musical with animated objects, instead of the merchant backstory and the tale being told to children, perhaps it might seem that way. This version initially develops the character of Belle in the context of her family, like the written version, and shows the strain which they are all under, echoing other themes throughout the better-known parts of the story. Despite having no dancing enchanted tea sets, and some additional human drama, this version has a lot of magic - a LOT.

Every frame is beautiful and the magic is, well magical, rather than just fancy fantasy.

Take a look at the English trailer:

Yes, it's not Cocteau, but if you like fairy tale and fantasy films, you'll be doing yourself a disservice not to check this out. It's a well made and beautiful film. The costumes are gorgeous, the effects are amazing, and it incorporates the importance - and magic - of the garden and roses. (And we love the use of statues.) There's thrills and adventure, romance, mystery, and sweetness and Belle and the Beast have a feisty, interesting relationship that develops in an unusual way. Vincent Cassel as both Prince and Beast is very compelling, (complete with very decent creature make-up and VFX) and Léa Seydoux as Belle is the stunning and modern fairy tale heroine you wish more films had - accessible and gracefully adapting to princess mode without losing that appeal. Most notably, Belle is so independent and has so much agency, even when staying 'true' to her time period, that it doesn't have that whiff of Stockholm syndrome other versions are criticized for.

The Beast has a story, Belle has a story, everyone in this film has their own story and they weave together affecting each other but none of them change their essential natures until they're ready to take that step themselves. (And you're not disappointed when the Beast transforms at the end!)
           
Here's a full clip (in French with English subtitles) in which Belle is late in joining the Beast for dinner. Just know that his story is more complicated (and satisfying) than it appears, even here.

Possibly the most basic and best thing is that this is a full-on fairy tale film. It's a big story, with a lot of scope and once the magic starts happening you are neck deep in fairy tale mode, never to leave again until the credits roll. It also has all the 'original' Beauty and the Beast fairy tale bits and pieces missing from other remakes (though it doesn't get waylaid by fairies or fairy politics, thank goodness!).

We only wish we could have seen this in the theater.

'Bratty & the Beast' (Trailer Spoof)

Too fun not to share and doubles as a commentary on the generation that are watching the remake as well. Nice work by Toon Sandwich (of ArtSpear Entertainment)!

A bit of a much-needed laugh for your Monday.

Stay till the end once the credits & notices for the channel starts. There's a parody of 'Tale As Old As Time' sung over it which is pretty amusing as well.

Enjoy!

Disney's 2017 'Beauty and the Beast' on Blu-ray & Digital June 6

Here's the trailer for the release, giving you an idea of the special features included:

Here's a list of the special features included:

• Enchanted Table Read – Join the cast for the movie’s elaborately staged table read, complete with singing and dancing to live music, set pieces and more.
• A Beauty of a Tale – Explore the process of transforming a beloved animated film into a new live-action classic.
• The Women Behind “Beauty and the Beast” – Emma Watson introduces several of the talented women in all aspects of production who helped bring this enchanted tale to life.
• Making a Moment with Celine Dion – Celine Dion shares what it’s like to sing “How Does a Moment Last Forever” – and be a part of the legacy of “Beauty and the Beast.”
• From Song to Screen: Making the Musical Sequences – See what goes into making some of the best-known moments from “Beauty and the Beast.”
• Extended Song: “Days in the Sun” – Learn more about Beast’s childhood in an alternate version of this beautiful song, introduced by director Bill Condon. “Beauty and the Beast”
• Music Video – Award-winning artists Ariana Grande and John Legend perform a moving version of this iconic song.
• Making the Music Video – Go on set to capture the magic as it happens in Ariana Grande and John Legend’s “Beauty and the Beast” music video.
• Disney Song Selection – Jump directly to all your favorite songs and sing along with the movie.

Best Buy Exclusive is a Steelbook Blul-ray + DVD + Digital, with unique cover artwork

Target Exclusive Blu-ray + Digital + DVD Combo Package - includes a 'storybook version'

'Beauty and the Beast' 2017: MORE 'Best Thought Provoking Articles' About the Movie on the Internet (Pt II)

This is likely the last post focused on Disney's current billion dollar (!) hit, the live action Beauty and the Beast. These are the remainder of the articles and summaries not included in the first list (you can find Pt I HERE), as well as a few new ones that have been written since then. The focus is a little different too. We dig into history as well as looks at parallels with the present day political and social climate, and look at the timelessness of the tale and the resonant issues that have been implied in every version (along with why they're still relevant).

From "5 Bo-Po, Feminist Things We'd Like to See in Beauty and the Beast"
(article written before movie release by social justice advocate,
who promotes awareness & education on issues of
mental health, and on violence against women)

We really like how many of these articles are using the opportunity to expand on the most-tired-&-talked about subjects - it makes for a nice brain stretch and something fresh to discuss!

We've included the link, the origin (either online magazine/newspaper, website or blog & writer), and a brief summary and/or excerpt to give you a taste of why we think it's worth a look.

Enjoy!

Note: All art images (bar the cartoon at right & a couple of instagram captures below) are from the Gallery Nucleus Show "BE OUR GUEST: AN ART TRIBUTE TO DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" (of which we shared  preview HERE), showing from March 11, 2017 - April 2, 2017. 

You can see the rest of the art at Gallery Nucleus HERE.

INTO THE FOREST
Ha Gyung Lee

SMACKDOWN: Jordan Peale’s GET OUT vs. Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - Maria Tatar's blog Breezes From Wonderland

"It’s rare to have a moment when two high-wattage cultural events collide to bring back a story–in this case Beauty and the Beast. One of those blockbuster films, Disney’s live-action version of that story, “smashed records,”...
Then there was Jordan Peele’s Get Out, a Beauty and the Beast story that pulls out all the stops and gives us what horror movies do best, exaggerating and amplifying our cultural anxieties, and putting what Frank Bruni of the NYT called a “fantastical, grotesque spin” on things. Get Out (budget of $4.5 million) as a Beauty and the Beast story? Yes, it’s that and Bluebeard too. Only in this case, the monster is Rose..."

BEAUTY IN THE FOREST
Justin Gerard

'Beauty and the Beast' Comes From a Long Line of Stories About Women Hooking Up With Animals - Jezebel
"...the confluence of modern fan culture and the big business of viral content have conspired to cram every possible remix of the Disney princesses onto your newsfeed. Every new blockbuster and every new article picturing Ariel, Belle, and Aurora as hipsters or breastfeeding moms or activists binds the fairy tale even tighter to Disney, obscuring the source material that little bit more. It behooves us to pause and look at one particular tale’s long history of retellings and consider what we lose by letting Disney dominate.
... The tale we know today is likely descended from the story of Cupid and Psyche. 
The tale is part of a broader, deeper tradition of stories about women and men disguised as beasts..."

GASTON AND LEFOU'S ARRIVAL (FRAMED)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Belle’s costumes don’t fit the live-action Beauty and the Beast, but they fit her brand - vox.com
"Belle is the jewel in Disney's crown, and her success is so important that not even the costume design around her is going to stand in her way, even if it doesn’t make sense for the setting or the character. Belle's iconic costumes — in particular her simple blue day dress and her voluminous golden ballgown — are great for the brand; they’re more awkward for the story.

But Belle doesn't look the part, and she was arguably never really meant to. She was designed top-down as a princess, dressed as a brand rather than a character — which makes her a living glimpse into Disney's nostalgia machine.

It's possible (costume designer Jaqueline) Durran has been clear about where credit's due because the dress disappoints on film; it's more an Emma Watson dress than a Disney wonder. ...The major thing this gown tells us about Belle is that Emma Watson plays her."

TALE AS OLD AS TIME
Cécile Carre

Beauty and the Bestiality - The New Yorker
Not as lewd a discussion as you might be led to believe from the sensational-making headline. It largely talks about the issues of falling in love with one form (the beast) that is then transformed into something else entirely (a man). It centers on the differences between Cocteau's underlying themes and commentary (including the "give me back my beast!" finish), versus Disney's, and also discusses Maria Tartar's new book on Beauty and the Beast, along with a number of 'beastly-bride' fairy tales - most of which regular fairy tale readers will be familiar with, even if they're not well known otherwise. We like that they finish with The Crane Wife.

"In Anthony Lane’s review of “Beauty and the Beast” for the magazine, he noted the glint and tug of sex in Jean Cocteau’s 1946 “La Belle et la Bête,” in which the Beast, after becoming a man again, says to Belle, “It’s as though you missed my ugliness.” Lane writes, “The lady preferred the animal. Such thoughts are out of bounds, needless to say, in the Disney garden.” And still, at the end of the remake, as Belle is dancing with her prince, who wears powder-blue pants and a hair ribbon, she asks him, flirtatiously, if he’d consider growing a beard. He looks back at her knowingly, and gives a short, beastly roar.
The “Beauty and the Beast” story may originally have held appeal because of its relatability. “Many an arranged marriage must have felt like being tethered to a monster,” Tatar writes. 
The animating question behind these tales of beastly alliances, however, remains: Which desires are quashed, and which are awakened? What is the heroine robbed of, and what is she given—both in the manner in which her story is told and within the story itself?"

SOMETHING THERE
Heather Theurer

Would The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Characters Have Died In The French Revolution? - uproxx
This is both a fun article and good food for thought, focusing on the faux-period the movie is sort of set in. The writer is fully aware of both how absurd this 'fictional investigating' is, as well as bringing up some great points about what war Gaston and LeFou have returned from, general forms of dying at the time (which, has become a more common question with both Belle's mother and the Prince's mother given 'death' stories in the new film), The Sun King and where he might fit into the aristocratic picture, as well as whether or not Belle and the Beast would have survived the French Revolution or not.

REMEMBER ME
Jonathan Lau

The Fairy Tale That Won't Die: Beauty and the Beast - Disney Revives the Fantasy of Captivity and Monsters for Young Girls - bitchmedia.org
Written by someone who isn't a fan of the Disney princess machine, this article comments on the current political climate and parallels between it and the French aristocracy of the 1700's. Not as balanced in its argument as it could have been, this nevertheless highlights some different issues some people see as problematic in the film.

PURSUIT
Sophie Li

Beauty and the Beast: feminist or fraud? - The Guardian
Looking at the film with a critical eye - how feminist is this really? - the article delves into a few different areas, prodding at whether the 'feminist updates' are on point or if they're really just ineffective tokens. 1) incomplete subversion of the genre, 2) glorification of male domination, 3) surrendered filial relationship, 4) the great lacuna where Belle's character should be and 5) Palpable fear of ugliness. We would have liked this article better if they had paid better attention in the remake as some of the protests (eg make Belle's father less useless) were actually addressed, and addressed well, but it does bring up some excellent points we haven't seen discussed elsewhere.

'TIL CHAPTER THREE...
Phillip Light

*How feminist was Disney's original Beauty and the Beast? A critique with hindsight. - Glosswitch at NewStatesman

This article is one of our favorites. It outlines what feminism really is and how the contemporary view/idea of feminism is actually working against the principle - many examples of which can be seen in the new Beauty and the Beast if you look closer than the surface.

TIME TO GROW
Amei Zhao

The Beauty of Jean Cocteau’s ‘La Belle et la Bête’  - FilmSchoolRejects
"Forget Disney’s recent reiteration of the classic fairy tale and instead look back at where the tale’s magic began on film, with Jean Cocteau." This essentially explains why Disney's classic BatB as well as the new one still don't eclipse Cocteau's film - and why people will continue to return to it. Comparisons to the 2017 film are used but not dwelt on, for good reason, as you will read in the article.

FELT PRESENCE
Eliza Ivanova

'Beauty And The Beast' Follows A Tradition Of Animal-Human Love Stories - NPR with Maria Tatar (audio)
Transcript included. "TATAR: One reason that we relate to this story, we love it so much, we embrace it as our cultural story is that it tells us about the other - about the other who can seem beastly and terrible. And it proposes that we make a move in the direction of empathy and understanding, rather than revulsion and horror and fear."

BELLE VISITS THE WEST WING (FRAMED)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)

'Beauty and the Beast'-Lord Voldemort Mash-up - PistolShrimp comic video. It's said that "Harry Potter fans are guaranteed to hate this", but we disagree. We think, although done for comic effect, it perfectly illustrates some of the issues people are concerned about. And it's funny.

ENCHANTED WINTER
Alina Chau

Why Belle Should Have Chosen Gaston - Observer.com - Belle will definitely have been sent to the guillotine with the beast.

This article comes to a different conclusion about Belle and the Beast during the French Revolution - with good reason. Broken down into easy-to-digest Power Point presentation pages, this one is being circulated by well known scholars. Both hilarious and excellent, it attempts to get the facts straight (and extrapolate about likely story development 'after the movie' for various characters) about the time period, including what choosing the Beast over Gaston would have resulted in. Reading this made us not want Belle to choose Gaston, but find some other way to be truly feminist and make her own destiny, rather than getting embroiled in the likely futures of either Gaston or the Beast as the story currently stands. (Note; we're not saying she couldn't have ended up with the Beast - just that more change is needed there if she/they are to survive the inevitable future of the Revolution.)

A PECULIAR GIRL
Grace Kum

Gaston Arrogant Villain or Misunderstood Hero? -  Gradient.is
A roundtable with men arguing both sides, which although done in humor and a little parody here and there, hits close to home for today's males.

MORNING LIGHT IN THE PALACE (FRAMED)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)

"Beauty and the Beast" is a pretty film disguising the ugly beast of misogyny - qz.com
"Stop calling this a feminist movie." Worth reading for a discussion of what can be called 'half-hearted feminism' in society today, including Hollywoods's current efforts in filmmaking, casting and storytelling, and the disquieting image of Ivanka Trump's supposed feminism as she works in her father's White House/office.

DANCE
Alina Chau

Indian Artisans behind 'Beauty and the Beast' dress revealed - by Manveena Suri, CNN Threadwork of Belle costume has roots in Gujarat. The unreported stories of the Indian influence on designing Belle's wardrobe, as well as a look at the process it took to create an ethical and eco-friendly, sustainable costume. That the workers themselves haven't been reported and credited except by local press is ironic - though this isn't commented on with regard to the messages of the movie. There's an unwritten story in Belle's costumes waiting to be told... this article doesn't delve into that side, but it does raise awareness of some of the "little people" (as Belle would call them) who were involved in the film.

               

Why Is Belle Indecent? - DocInBoots
The animated film was not, needless to say, historically accurate and there’s no reason for the (current) film to be so. However, the film does reproduce the intricacies of eighteenth century fashion, so Belle’s fashion choices do strike me as overtly anachronistic. No wonder the villagers thought she was odd!
... One of the things that struck me in the (2017) film was that Belle was often running about with her underwear showing! How embarrassing! This was, of course, an effort to create a more ‘feminist’ wardrobe for the active heroine, but for a viewer familiar with fashion history, it could be perplexing. There were a flurry of articles about Emma Watson not wearing a corset, ascribing this to her desire for Belle to be unimpeded and active. However, corsets of the time were designed to support women’s activity and… basically… to support their bosoms! There were no bras. Corsets helped prevent painful bouncing situations.

SOME LIGHT READING
Katie Huon

Getting Gaston Right - DocInBoots
Gaston's popularity isn't something we realized until we saw the lines to meet the character at Disneyland. What is it about such an obviously-despicable character that has women (for the most part) dreaming about him? (And what does this say about women today?)

"It’s difficult to pin down why Gaston is such an attractive figure, despite being completely awful, malicious, and terrifying. I remember speaking to one actor who had played Gaston and he professed to being very confused about the women who gathered at the stage door to see him! Yet, there it is. "

WHAT A GUY, THAT GASTON
Julieta Colas

Beauty and the Beast Time Loop Theory - from Reddit, one for the fans.
Perhaps the village is stuck in their own mid-18th century Groundhog Day... The theory neatly ties up  few odd issues, even while it brings other questions to the fore.

ENCHANTED
Janice Chu

Let's talk about the weird psychosexual energy in Beauty and the Beast - TheWeek

"...the original (Disney movie) was built around distortions of masculinity that are tough to replicate live — from a rakish talking candelabra to a literal sexy beast to a man who ate 48 eggs every morning to help him get large. It takes secondary sex characteristics to a truly troubling extreme, sexualizing feather dusters and repeatedly showcasing the contrast between tiny-waisted Belle and her giant-biceped muscle-suitors. It asks you to regard inter-species love as redemptive while begging you not to think too hard about it, and tricks you into kind of hating that redemption when the poor castle servants recover their former shapes. (I'm sorry, but human Mrs. Potts isn't half as charming without her teapot face...)

But by acknowledging the stranger aspects of the original, Bill Condon's live-action adaptation is an appropriately uncomfortable delight. "

HER JOURNEY
Milsae Kim

Belle's Tax-Funded Fairy Tale Life - FEE Foundations of Economic Education
Another great article looking at practicalities of the setting. Turns out the "little people" in Belle's town are anything but rustic, backward and ignorant. They're actually very successful business folks and specialists in their thriving trades (so much commerce and produce for one little town!) The 'boujee' castle (ie. elite) and court of the Prince/Beast is contrasted with the town and one begins to wonder if the town wasn't better off with a Beast instead of a Prince. But Belle's aptitude for invention may be the way forward... A well researched and entertaining read.

WOLVES IN WINTER
Sara Kipin

In Fairy Tales, Less Is More - The Straits Times Culture Vulture Column
The problem of getting too specific in a classic tale is both the number of details required for it to make sense (and the inevitable issues that don't) but even worse is that the sense of adaptable magic - magic that has its own form for anyone who hears or reads the tale - is in danger of being lost because of the specificity. The magic of the story, and therefore its resonance, is no longer as accessible to as wide an audience.

"Spelling things out for the audience can cause stories to lose their magic.

Not too long ago, I revisited an illustrated book of fairy tales I used to love reading when I was a kid. Leafing through its dog-eared pages, I was struck by how sparse, nondescript, the illustrations were compared to how I'd remembered them.
A sketchy rendering of anything - a rose, a water pump, a library - can expand into something larger than life if it captures a child's imagination.
But do films with such high-definition and sweeping cinematography give children the same scope for imagination that more "primitive" mediums such as books, cartoons or even older films used to offer?"

PROVINCIAL TOWN
Celine Kim

The Feminist Message of the New Beauty and the Beast Has Always Been Part of the Story - Time.com
“... ever since its first publication in 1740, the story has had another, perhaps even deeper takeaway: the importance of a woman's right to choose her own husband.

"... It’s a story written and published by a woman, with a strong female character at its lead, who is very reflective and intelligent and she makes her own choices, which is not something you saw in French literature or in French society at the time,” says Paul Young, associate French professor at Georgetown, who teaches a course on 17th and 18th century French literature."

SOIS NOTRE INVITÉ
Tiffany Le

What 'Beauty And The Beast' Teaches Us About Girls' Education - MoviePilot

"... having the release of Beauty and the Beast at this particular point in history brings the focus back onto the subject, particularly at a time where there are calls to make mainstream feminism more intersectional and address issues that women in minority groups face. It infers to us, the audience, that the disapproving glances Belle receives on her daily trips to the library can manifest in far more aggressive ways for many girls across the world who don't have access to primary or secondary education. This could be through violence or an arranged marriage. But, this can be changed if they are sent to school, and consequently given the opportunity to decide what they want to do with their own future."

THE BEAST
Grace Kum

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