In order to get through the work day with our 17 month old, we have taken to watching @Disney’s cartoon Beauty & the Beast...sometimes 2x a day. Coming back to it as an adult, I’ve had many musings. Here’s a thread as I watch it for approximately the 20th time in 12 days...

What exactly makes Belle strange and odd to the townspeople? As far as I can tell, it’s because she reads books?? Does no one else in this town read?? Because there is a bookshop. If no one else reads, how does that bookshop stay afloat?

The first song uses the word “provincial” many times. I am certain that I did not know the meaning of this word when I was young. But also, just an interesting adjective choice, no?

We never hear anything about Belle’s mom, but considering that her dad is roughly 4 feet tall, her mother must have been super tall!

So there’s a giant castle that a prince used to live in, which has very suddenly fallen into malevolent disrepair, super close to this town and we’re supposed to believe that not a single townsperson has thought to investigate this until Belle’s dad gets lost in the woods??

No wonder they think Belle is weird for reading. These people suffer from a severe lack of curiosity.

Plus, when the witch turned the prince into the Beast, all the staff also turned into objects, so dozens of people (at least!) would have gone missing suddenly. Why was there not a public outcry??

I def did not realize how messed up the coerced marriage storyline is when I was a kid. Gaston is a sociopath!

Lumiere has a French accent, but Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts have British accents??? What’s up with that

What’s the day to day like in this castle? Like does Beast just walk around being a jerk to all the people who got turned into inanimate objects because he was an asshole??

Think for a second what it would be like to eat 5 dozen eggs for breakfast. That’s horrifying. And Gaston’s cholesterol would be through the roof.

”the girl has lost her father and her freedom all in one day” um, ya! Because of the Beast! It’s not like it was an unavoidable tragedy out of everyone’s hands! The Beast took her prisoner! He didn’t HAVE to!

When you think about it, it was pretty cool of that witch to leave an enchanted mirror for the Beast. But also like, messed up that the whole staff was held accountable for one douchey prince. They live in feudal France and were probably just trying to put food on the table!

Speaking of France at this time, what exactly was Beast previously the prince of...? No one in town seems to have any idea who he is.

“Be Our Guest” is still a banger and it holds up. Every time it ends, Grace claps and yells “yay!” Sometimes I join her.

If the Beast is THAT scary, why did it only take Belle approx 3 hours to defy his order and head straight up to the west wing? Bold.

How can it be that Belle starts falling for the Beast without asking him what his human name was/is? She still calls him the Beast. Not exactly the foundation of a lasting relationship.

For a dude who can’t use a spoon, the Beast is an excellent ballroom dancer.

When the Beast asks “Belle, are you happy here with me?” I want to yell SHE IS BEING HELD PRISONER IN A CASTLE, CLEARLY DEVELOPING STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, WHILE HER FATHER IS CLEARLY UNWELL AND THE ONLY THING THAT AWAITS HER AT HOME IS A SOCIOPATH INTENT ON FORCING HER INTO MARRIAGE.

“Happy” is sorta not a consideration at this point, Beast.

By the way, by my count—and I’ve thought about this a lot—this entire tale takes place over a span of two days. Let that sit for a second.

Why is no one, even her father really, bothered by the fact that Gaston is clearly a predator taking every possible opportunity to force Belle into marriage and having his children? #patriarchy

Beast has been chilling in that castle for 10 years but Gaston convinces an angry mob to lay siege on the castle—in the snow!—in like 5 minutes? Doesn’t jive with what we know about these very lame villagers.