| − | On the other hand, there were also several surprisingly Conservative messages in the film, significantly more than in the 1991 version. Namely, Christianity is treated in a far more positive light in this film than in the 1991 version as one of the few friends Belle has in this version is the village Chaplain named Pere Robert who is shown to be sympathetic to her bibliophilic nature and also attempts to prevent Maurice from being sent to the Asylum, and later is shown to be horrified at the formation of the mob against the Beast (it is to be noted that in the original 1991 film, the character in question was merely a bookseller, not a priest, and most of the villagers, implied to be devout Christians, were demonized in the film), which was also surprisingly accurate to history despite the aforementioned changing of history in the film (in real history, Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, actively encouraged literacy, writing, and arithmetic among both genders, with girls being taught in convents or at the home.). In addition, Maurice actually is shown to be more proactive in this film, such as directly refusing Gaston's attempt at marrying Belle and even attempting to expose Gaston as an attempted murderer and psychopath, and also plays a direct role in saving Belle and himself from the paddywagon after she exposes Beast to the villagers (in the original film, although he does set out to try and find Belle and save her after trying to get the villagers to help failed, he ultimately required saving by her due to catching an illness during his trek, and ultimately needed saving alongside Belle via Chip). In addition, Lumiere as well as the featherduster (named Plumette in this version) are shown to be an actual loving couple (in the original film, it is heavily implied that Lumiere was a frequent womanizer and that the featherduster was also sexually loose), and the remake also doesn't demonize traditional marriage nearly as much as in the 1991 version (notably, the remake cut out Gaston's wedding proposal as well as Belle shoving Gaston into mud in front of attendees). The forgiveness and redemption theme was also significantly more emphasized in the remake, due to Beast ultimately forgiving Maurice after learning why he had tried to steal the rose and even allowing Belle to save Maurice specifically to make up for his past behavior, with Maurice also forgiving Beast upon Belle showing him the baby rattle (originally, Maurice was a bit more hesitant to forgive the Beast). It is also shown to be significantly more pro-family as well, as not only is Belle shown to be loyal to her father like in the 1991 original, but as noted above, Maurice himself took measures to protect Belle and notably agreed with Belle that Gaston would not have worked out for her (originally, Maurice also thought Gaston was alright for her), and he also was shown to be very protective of Belle after his wife had died from the plague, with Belle's mom specifically sacrificing herself by telling them to leave her behind to allow Belle a healthy life. In addition, the triplets (renamed to "Village Lasses") in the remake were depicted as having haughtiness, arrogance, being jealous of Belle, as well as overall being nasty people, including briefly smirking at Belle when she was locked up in the paddywagon as well as being actively involved in the arrest of Maurice as well as the later attack on Beast's castle (in the original film, the triplets were not shown to have any negative behavior to them besides their crushing on Gaston [not participating in the later arrest of Maurice, let alone the attack on Beast's castle shortly afterward during the climax, and also implying at one point that they were willing to give their blessing to Gaston marrying Belle when Belle refused him in the beginning of the film, and while they were present during the final lyrics for the Gaston reprise where Gaston explicitly divulged key details for his blackmail plan, the way it was framed could easily be interpreted as the triplets genuinely not knowing about the plan due to their absence from Maurice's arrival up to the scene where Gaston whispers the plan to LeFou.], and it is also heavily implied that they supported traditional marriage and were demeaned in the film by being referred to in the script as The Bimbettes and treated as dumb blondes for this reason). In addition, according to the film's director Bill Condon as well as one of the triplets' actresses, Rafaelle Cohen, the reason the triplets were intensely jealous and spiteful of Belle was because their mother neglected them while doting on Belle, showcasing the dangers of parental neglect. | + | On the other hand, there were also several surprisingly Conservative messages in the film, significantly more than in the 1991 version. Namely, Christianity is treated in a far more positive light in this film than in the 1991 version as one of the few friends Belle has in this version is the village Chaplain named Pere Robert who is shown to be sympathetic to her bibliophilic nature and also attempts to prevent Maurice from being sent to the Asylum, and later is shown to be horrified at the formation of the mob against the Beast (it is to be noted that in the original 1991 film, the character in question was merely a bookseller, not a priest, and most of the villagers, implied to be devout Christians, were demonized in the film), which was also surprisingly accurate to history despite the aforementioned changing of history in the film (in real history, Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, actively encouraged literacy, writing, and arithmetic among both genders, with girls being taught in convents or at the home.). In addition, Maurice actually is shown to be more proactive in this film, such as directly refusing Gaston's attempt at marrying Belle and even attempting to expose Gaston as an attempted murderer and psychopath, and also plays a direct role in saving Belle and himself from the paddywagon after she exposes Beast to the villagers (in the original film, although he does set out to try and find Belle and save her after trying to get the villagers to help failed, he ultimately required saving by her due to catching an illness during his trek, and ultimately needed saving alongside Belle via Chip). In addition, Lumiere as well as the featherduster (named Plumette in this version) are shown to be an actual loving couple (in the original film, it is heavily implied that Lumiere was a frequent womanizer and that the featherduster was also sexually loose), and the remake also doesn't demonize traditional marriage nearly as much as in the 1991 version (notably, the remake cut out Gaston's wedding proposal as well as Belle shoving Gaston into mud in front of attendees). The forgiveness and redemption theme was also significantly more emphasized in the remake, due to Beast ultimately forgiving Maurice after learning why he had tried to steal the rose and even allowing Belle to save Maurice specifically to make up for his past behavior, with Maurice also forgiving Beast upon Belle showing him the baby rattle (originally, Maurice was a bit more hesitant to forgive the Beast). It is also shown to be significantly more pro-family as well, as not only is Belle shown to be loyal to her father like in the 1991 original, but as noted above, Maurice himself took measures to protect Belle and notably agreed with Belle that Gaston would not have worked out for her (originally, Maurice also thought Gaston was alright for her), and he also was shown to be very protective of Belle after his wife had died from the plague, with Belle's mom specifically sacrificing herself by telling them to leave her behind to allow Belle a healthy life. In addition, the triplets (renamed to "Village Lasses") in the remake were depicted as having haughtiness, arrogance, being jealous of Belle, as well as overall being nasty people, including briefly smirking at Belle when she was locked up in the paddywagon as well as being actively involved in the arrest of Maurice as well as the later attack on Beast's castle (in the original film, the triplets were not shown to have any negative behavior to them besides their crushing on Gaston [not participating in the later arrest of Maurice, let alone the attack on Beast's castle shortly afterward during the climax, and also implying at one point that they were willing to give their blessing to Gaston marrying Belle when Belle refused him in the beginning of the film, and while they were present during the final lyrics for the Gaston reprise where Gaston explicitly divulged key details for his blackmail plan, the way it was framed could easily be interpreted as the triplets genuinely not knowing about the plan due to their absence from Maurice's arrival up to the scene where Gaston whispers the plan to LeFou.], and it is also heavily implied that they supported traditional marriage and were demeaned in the film by being referred to in the script as The Bimbettes and treated as dumb blondes for this reason). In addition, according to the film's director Bill Condon as well as one of the triplets' actresses, Rafaelle Cohen, the reason the triplets were intensely jealous and spiteful of Belle was because their mother neglected them while doting on Belle, showcasing the dangers of parental neglect. In addition, at least regarding Maurice, the villagers' actions to him were toned down, where their arresting him was simply due to their being tricked by Gaston into thinking he was a dangerous madman and not out of malicious intent (in the original film, it is heavily implied via the Gaston reprise that most, if not all of the villagers were in fact fully aware that Gaston knew, as did themselves, that Maurice was not actually dangerous and that Gaston was having him arrested specifically to blackmail Belle into marrying him and gave full support to the plan.). |