I have noticed that one of the characters in your Disney movies may be in distress. She is showing signs of mental and physical abuse at the hands of her partner.
I would first like to bring to your attention the signs of physical and mental abuse as they are described by HelpGuide.Org (2011). Please read below:
SIGNS THAT YOU’RE IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
Do you:
1. Feel afraid of your partner much of the time?
2. Avoid certain topics out of fear of angering your partner?
3. Feel that you can’t do anything right for your partner?
4. Believe that you deserve to be hurt or mistreated?
5. Wonder if you’re the one who is crazy?
6. Feel emotionally numb or helpless?
Does your partner:
7. Humiliate or yell at you?
8. Criticize you and put you down?
9. Treat you so badly that you’re embarrassed for your friends or family to see?
10. Ignore or put down your opinions or accomplishments?
11. Blame you for their own abusive behavior?
12. See you as property or a sex object, rather than as a person?
(2011).
The character in question is Belle from Beauty and the Beast. The alleged partner in question is of course her beast of a mate. I would first like to discuss the signs that Belle is being abused:
Item 1 - It is obvious during the movie that Belle is afraid of “the Beast”. She cowers when he enters a room. She fears him. When she gets the courage to rebel and yell back at him, she immediately retreats likely in fear of being struck.
Item 2 – when Belle decided that she was going to ‘fix’ the Beast and wanted to find his kind side, she made sure to choose her words and actions carefully in order to avoid a possible violent confrontation.
Item 4 and 5 – Belle expressed that maybe the Beast was treating her in this hurtful and rude manner because he was just a hurt soul himself. She begins to believe that it may not be his fault that he is acting this way. Belle begins to empathize with his behavior and decided that maybe her actions are causing the bad behavior. She feels she needs to change her ways in order to change him. Now she is thinking, is this abuse that I am receiving all my fault?
Item 6 – Feeling helpless? Being locked in a cellar seems pretty helpless to me.
Item 7 – I cannot count how many times that the Beast yelled, growled, towered over, raised his arms above, and generally intimidated Belle by his sheer size and monster like demeanor. He made it quite obvious that he was bigger and stronger and could hurt her if he so chose.
Item 11 - Beast didn’t have to blame Belle for his behavior. She took upon herself to do so.
Item 12 – Locking Belle in the cellar in order to get her to bend to his will is a sure sign of Beast treating Belle as a piece of property. He even denied her food unless she did as he demanded.
Mr. Disney, taking these serious issues into consideration, I strongly suggest that you look into the abusive relationship between these two characters.
While we all know that the happy ending of the movie indicated that the couple had resolved their issues we have not seen a follow-up. Was the happy couple behavior just a façade to make the public believe that the abuse had ended? We have not heard from Belle since the movie ended. Did the couple seek counseling? Has the beast reverted to his old ways? Has Belle’s stronger demeanor been a catalyst for further or worsening abuse? It is imperative that you look in these issues.
The characters in question are role models in the community and having young children view this behavior could be detrimental to an entire society. We are teaching our little boys that it is ok to intimidate the ones we love simply because they are bigger and stronger. They are being taught that they can push someone else around because they were pushed around by someone else. They are being taught that if we want someone to do something for us and they don’t want to we can lock them in basement until they are submissive.
Our little girls are being taught that they are the reason that their mate is so angry. They are being taught that they should change their ways to appease their mate. They are being taught that it is normal for a bigger stronger person to take advantage of our smaller size.
Mr. Disney, I have taken the responsibility to speak up since I have seen these signs of domestic abuse. It is now your turn to take some action. Please check this website to get guidelines on the necessary steps you should take to assist Belle and Beast in continuing a safe, happy and loving relationship, if this is in fact what Belle wants.
You should read the entire website and any related websites. However a good place to start would be under the article, “Speak up if you suspect domestic violence or abuse.”
Thank you for your time and consideration in this serious matter.
Mrs. Kimberly Owens
References:
HelpGuide.Org (2011). Signs That You Are in an Abusive Relationship. Retrieved online from: http://helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm
I agree with you on how this movie can portray an abusive relationship for the children but, out of this movie was a good more moral as well which was, Don't judge a person by how they look but take time to know a person before deciding on how you feel about them because of their appearance. And in the end she helped change his ways and anger, as far as we know. So is it safe to say that there is a good and bad side to at least this movie?
ReplyDeleteAusha, there is absolutlely a good message throughout the movie. That message is that we should not judge people by outward appearences. However, does the end justify the means. Should we be telling our little girls that they should deal with the abuse until her man changes? Should we tell our little girls that it is her responsibility to help someone change their ways.
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it, it is a dangerous prospect to think that you can change someone else. If he/she does not want to change, there is nothing that you can do to make a permanent change in anyone. I included the link to the site for recognizing abusive relationships. It is very eye opening. One of the things that happens in abusive relationships is assigning blame. The abuser blames their partner for pushing them too hard or not pushing enough for doing things that make them mad and that gives them reason to hit or abuse. These are people who dont take blame for their actions. Disney has a pattern of use and abuse of women in his movies. Another example of a women being used is in the Little Mermaid. Ariel has to give up her voice for her man. Think about Ariels decion in a non literal sense. It is about a woman giving up her identity, who she is. Her ability to speak up and be heard is being handed over for someone else to control. Walt Disney sees women as objects to be used. They hold no value to him other than that of an object to be used for the betterment of man. They/we are invisible, silent, maleable pawns.