Film ► Beauty and the Beast - March 17th - "Be Our Guest"

[Chuman]

Ok, so let me be sure I got this straight...

This is a story that centers around the love that develops between a human girl and a hideous beast. Yes, said beast might've been human at one point, but regardless, the girl still falls in love with him even when he's still a wolf-bear-bull hybrid looking-thingy with horns and fangs and claws and a dickish attitude. Everyone's ok with this.

Then we have some vague implications of a homosexual relationship, and everyone loses their minds.

ironically a lot of the same people who don't think gay people should elope like to fuck animals

 

[Knuxpyro56]

Well, not everyone is fine with Belle and Beast's relationship. Some people went so far as to claim that Belle has Stockholm Syndrome and that Gaston is secretly the good guy since he tries to save her from captivity.

[video=youtube;8rAHX9czBMQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rAHX9czBMQ[/video]

good god. I cant stand Sarah, Leo or the rest of those guys (They remind me of those Disney Fans who think they know all but in reality you know alot more than they do).

Anyway back to Lefou, I always assumed to things with him. Either 1) He was Gay or 2) He was the victim of a abusive (give or take) relationship with his "best friend"

 

[Antifa Lockhart]

good god. I cant stand Sarah, Leo or the rest of those guys (They remind me of those Disney Fans who think they know all but in reality you know alot more than they do).

They're friends of mine, and I can assure you they're very kind and sweet. They're also, you know, people with feelings

 

[Lonbilly]

The whole "best friend of the villain being in love with them" trope is so overdone but not nearly as overdone as "unrequited homosexual love" trope for gay characters (mains or sides) that when you put them together and THAT is the first real, true, authentic gay representation we get in a main big Disney movie... honestly, it's just insulting tbh. This could have passed for "omg so heroic, so brave, such great representation" ten years ago and before, but nowadays it's so overdone and so quaint.

I'm not gonna say they shoulda just had another straight character in the movie, but I'm tired of big companies and big films taking "baby steps" with gay characters and doing the same shit we've seen over and over and over and over and over and over.

I apologize if I sound irate, but I'm tired of this trope. When the diddly am I just gonna get a damn big budget fantasy film where the two main queer characters are actually allowed to get a damn happily ever after and are actually the leads, not second fiddle characters?

It's like how there are four non-white actors in Cinderella, but three are literally just background characters and the other is supporting at best. Like yeah, thanks for making these movies have at least one less white and/or heterosexual character, but diddly, can you, ya know, actually do better and give some damn decent representation?

Am I still excited for this film? Sure. This also is not nearly as offensive or even homophobic as I've seen many other works or companies be currently - at the moment, at least - but that doesn't change the fact that this isn't any sort of representation to be praised.

But that's just my two cents

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

The whole "best friend of the villain being in love with them" trope is so overdone but not nearly as overdone as "unrequited homosexual love" trope for gay characters (mains or sides) that when you put them together and THAT is the first real, true, authentic gay representation we get in a main big Disney movie... honestly, it's just insulting tbh. This could have passed for "omg so heroic, so brave, such great representation" ten years ago and before, but nowadays it's so overdone and so quaint.

I'm not gonna say they shoulda just had another straight character in the movie, but I'm tired of big companies and big films taking "baby steps" with gay characters and doing the same shit we've seen over and over and over and over and over and over.

I apologize if I sound irate, but I'm tired of this trope. When the diddly am I just gonna get a damn big budget fantasy film where the two main queer characters are actually allowed to get a damn happily ever after and are actually the leads, not second fiddle characters?

It's like how there are four non-white actors in Cinderella, but three are literally just background characters and the other is supporting at best. Like yeah, thanks for making these movies have at least one less white and/or heterosexual character, but diddly, can you, ya know, actually do better and give some damn decent representation?

Am I still excited for this film? Sure. This also is not nearly as offensive or even homophobic as I've seen many other works or companies be currently - at the moment, at least - but that doesn't change the fact that this isn't any sort of representation to be praised.

But that's just my two cents

This is pretty much how I feel, but more eloquently put. I would have put it a bit more rage-y. Like...I want representation. I LOVE villains who are also gay because I love villains and I love representation.

It's not bad on its own, but it is bad when you realize that they are almost ALWAYS villains or tied to villains in these types of stories. They are almost always unrequited stories and to emotionally abusive people at that. How much longer must we wait? Baby steps was the past four decades for goodness sake.

Anybody who has an issue with LGBT+ representation in Disney films should have boycotted years ago since most of their favorite films had LGBT people working on them.

Okay. I'm done now.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

(spoiler warnings for both)

[video=youtube;UcsaqIsX-yk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcsaqIsX-yk[/video]

[video=youtube;axySrE0Kg6k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axySrE0Kg6k[/video]

 

[Lonbilly]

This is pretty much how I feel, but more eloquently put. I would have put it a bit more rage-y. Like...I want representation. I LOVE villains who are also gay because I love villains and I love representation.

It's not bad on its own, but it is bad when you realize that they are almost ALWAYS villains or tied to villains in these types of stories. They are almost always unrequited stories and to emotionally abusive people at that. How much longer must we wait? Baby steps was the past four decades for goodness sake.

Anybody who has an issue with LGBT+ representation in Disney films should have boycotted years ago since most of their favorite films had LGBT people working on them.

Okay. I'm done now.

I'm not even that upset that this rep. is for a villain (I love villains just as much as the next bloke), but that it's on such a throwaway character and in such a throwaway plot. That being said, having the first big Disney gay rep. in the films be a minor villain (but still a villain) def isn't really helping people's perception queer people.

I have not looked at any trailers yet (going in as blind as possible), but I'm willing to bet LeFou will probs have some "huge epiphany moment" where he betrays Gaston to save our mains but I'm still not gonna go gaga over that rep, Disney.

 

[alexis.anagram]

The whole "best friend of the villain being in love with them" trope is so overdone but not nearly as overdone as "unrequited homosexual love" trope for gay characters (mains or sides) that when you put them together and THAT is the first real, true, authentic gay representation we get in a main big Disney movie... honestly, it's just insulting tbh. This could have passed for "omg so heroic, so brave, such great representation" ten years ago and before, but nowadays it's so overdone and so quaint.

I'm not gonna say they shoulda just had another straight character in the movie, but I'm tired of big companies and big films taking "baby steps" with gay characters and doing the same shit we've seen over and over and over and over and over and over.

I apologize if I sound irate, but I'm tired of this trope. When the diddly am I just gonna get a damn big budget fantasy film where the two main queer characters are actually allowed to get a damn happily ever after and are actually the leads, not second fiddle characters?

It's like how there are four non-white actors in Cinderella, but three are literally just background characters and the other is supporting at best. Like yeah, thanks for making these movies have at least one less white and/or heterosexual character, but diddly, can you, ya know, actually do better and give some damn decent representation?

Am I still excited for this film? Sure. This also is not nearly as offensive or even homophobic as I've seen many other works or companies be currently - at the moment, at least - but that doesn't change the fact that this isn't any sort of representation to be praised.

But that's just my two cents

Agree with everything you said. It's just the same scraps that have been thrown our way for decades upon decades of mainstream film making: studios like to flirt with the perceived risk of acknowledging diversity by playing coy with "flamboyant" cliches and the like, but as Chaser mentioned above, the only time we ever get real commitment to telling our stories is when some straight dude gets engrossed in the torture porn trifecta of AIDS/Drug addiction/violent murder a la Boys Don't Cry, Dallas Buyer's Club, etc. and it's almost always as an award-winning vehicle for non-queer talent.

So in that sense I can see how this would feel refreshing by comparison.

But it's still scraps.

 

[Magnus]

The soundtrack has been uploaded on YouTube by Disney. I wish Gaston had a deeper voice, but at least Luke Evans can sing. Everyone else has been perfectly cast, except Emma Watson as Belle. Why? Sure, she looks the part. Hopefully her acting in this movie is good, because her singing sure ain't. She is more auto-tuned than Britney Spears. Yikes! Honestly, she ruins every single song she's in. Everyone else can sing but her, which is a bit surprising since per tradition it's almost always the Disney princess who has the best voice of them all.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

The soundtrack has been uploaded on YouTube by Disney. I wish Gaston had a deeper voice, but at least Luke Evans can sing. Everyone else has been perfectly cast, except Emma Watson as Belle. Why? Sure, she looks the part. Hopefully her acting in this movie is good, because her singing sure ain't. She is more auto-tuned than Britney Spears. Yikes! Honestly, she ruins every single song she's in. Everyone else can sing but her, which is a bit surprising since per tradition it's almost always the Disney princess who has the best voice of them all.

Apparently in the film the auto-tune isn't as horrifically obvious, so I'm assuming they managed to fix it in post-production but didn't switch the film version in for the soundtrack.

But I agree. I definitely expect Emma's acting to be great but they could have at least had a singer do her part kind of like how some of the animated Disney films approached it.

(And now it makes sense why the casting call for the live action Aladdin film specifically states the actors need to be able to sing)

 

[Magnus]

Good thing the Deluxe Edition of the OST includes the entire instrumental score for the movie! <3

I love the Dutch Belle from the original movie:

[video=youtube;PfnUfDsyqDE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfnUfDsyqDE[/video]

Such a lovely voice (even better than Paige O'Hara's). I wish they could have gotten someone like that to do the singing parts and just have Emma Watson pretend to be the one singing. I mean, it's not like this is a movie version of the Broadway edition.

 

[alexis.anagram]

The soundtrack has been uploaded on YouTube by Disney. I wish Gaston had a deeper voice, but at least Luke Evans can sing.

I'm nervous about trying out this soundtrack lol.
From what I've gathered reading reviews, Luke Evans seems like a divisive choice: maybe Disney felt he's fitting for a modern take on the character given his theatrical repertoire?
I'm sad because I really feel Brandon Jovanovich could have made a perfect Gaston. A tad aged maybe but c'mon: that voice, that build, that cleft chin!

Everyone else has been perfectly cast, except Emma Watson as Belle. Why? Sure, she looks the part. Hopefully her acting in this movie is good, because her singing sure ain't. She is more auto-tuned than Britney Spears. Yikes! Honestly, she ruins every single song she's in.

I don't have faith that Emma Watson can make this part work from any angle: it sounds like they've scripted the role in an even more saintly light than her animated counterpart. If her skills as an actor are to be admired, first they have to be put on display, and this role is not playing to a single one of her strengths.

The thing is, her lacking musical chops notwithstanding, I can see why they tapped her. The role of Belle is desperately in need of an update and Watson has a way of engaging her parts which could be considered energizing and directive. I'm just sorry this production might actually fail to deliver on that because it's the only rationalization for this remake in my mind.

Everyone else can sing but her, which is a bit surprising since per tradition it's almost always the Disney princess who has the best voice of them all.

There's a reason the part of "lead soprano" is esteemed throughout musical theater. People go to (i.e. pay to attend) musicals to hear the music rendered with aplomb and to be moved by it in turn. Taking these kinds of short-cuts and copping out of that contract between entertainer and audience really goes against the spirit of the thing imo.

(And now it makes sense why the casting call for the live action Aladdin film specifically states the actors need to be able to sing)

So I had to actually Google this to reassure myself they were specifying the call to Middle Eastern/Arab actors. We live in a sad world.

I love the Dutch Belle from the original movie:

Such a lovely voice (even better than Paige O'Hara's).

Beautiful rendition! She really sores through the heavier bits of the score. Nothing beats the warmth and punch of O'Hara's Belle for me but I love hearing different approaches to the same material. Literally every ensemble piece in Japan's Beauty and the Beast sparkles and resonates in a special way I just can't put my finger on. Part of it is the pure, frenetic energy of the adapted lyrics, I think. x'D

I wish they could have gotten someone like that to do the singing parts and just have Emma Watson pretend to be the one singing. I mean, it's not like this is a movie version of the Broadway edition.

If not that, they could have just allowed her to use her natural voice and let the performance stand as is, so that we could at least be permitted to honor her commitment. As it stands, they've signaled a vote of no confidence in their leading lady. It's shameful.

 

[Magnus]

This is the Belle I grew up with. She sounds so vibrant and energetic. The direct opposite of Emma Watson's performance.

 

[alexis.anagram]

^ Yeah, I took a crack at the soundtrack and, well...
I guess they thought it would be easiest to just have Watson drift through the score at a breathy low-to-mid register? It's actually a fine place for her to live if that's the best she can do: her voice is not grating or horrendous or anything, but then the use of auto-tune is counter intuitive. Because her vocal range is limited (can she even belt?) she has to really reach to make those higher notes resonate. It doesn't sound like she was instructed on how to properly close her vocals, either; she wastes a lot of breath and the few held notes she risks come out thin and unsupported (and probably quite flat), so the pitch correction takes over and vocaloids her natural timbre. They really didn't need to tamper with her voice to make it work in my opinion. Just teach the girl to breathe FFS.

Other weird stuff:
McGregor's Lumiere has got to have the most distracting accent I've heard in a while, drunkenly careening between Joel Grey and Tommy Wiseau.
Emma Thompson is great and totally nails her audition to play lead in that inevitable Angela Lansbury biopic. (Sorry Streep.)
There are apparently two (two!!!!) women of color in the cast and they're playing...servants who are house decorations for 90% of the film. Oh, the era of progress.
2017 Le Fou still not as gay as Japanese Le Fou.

 

[Magnus]

The closet has her own Aria though (she's one of the black characters). And it's awesome.

 

[alexis.anagram]

The closet has her own Aria though (she's one of the black characters). And it's awesome.

Audra McDonald is love and I know 40 second is all she needs to absolutely demolish the competition but...
They actually titled the track "Aria" and it's just really cute.

 

[Muke]

[video=youtube;wwu8XNTGX5o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwu8XNTGX5o[/video]

 

[rac7d]

I'm not even that upset that this rep. is for a villain (I love villains just as much as the next bloke), but that it's on such a throwaway character and in such a throwaway plot. That being said, having the first big Disney gay rep. in the films be a minor villain (but still a villain) def isn't really helping people's perception queer people.

I have not looked at any trailers yet (going in as blind as possible), but I'm willing to bet LeFou will probs have some "huge epiphany moment" where he betrays Gaston to save our mains but I'm still not gonna go gaga over that rep, Disney.

He is not just a minor villain he is a subservient little man troll. And over the years some have infered him to have more then just admiration for Gaston. I cant believe this gonna stop people from seeing the movie. They proably should have kept it secret, till we saw the movie. if the tone of the batman lego movie was given away before lauch i bet i would never see the light of day in many countries

 

[Caxinuld]

Apparently, Emma Watson was given complete control over the design of the yellow dress, which is why it looks nothing like the original dress from the animated film.

 

[gosoxtim]

Saw the movie pretty good