Re-watching the Disney Princess films for this project has been so eye-opening for me. My perspective has changed so much in the ten-plus years since I've viewed the films. Though my favorite as a child was definitely The Little Mermaid, my favorite as an adult is Beauty and the Beast, the film I just watched. I attribute this mainly to the fact that I find the Belle and Beast love story to be the most realistic of the Princess movies. I know that this seems a silly observation of an animated film (or not, I guess, since we're living in the era of Avatar), but I think it's true. Belle and the Beast fall in love fairly slowly, after a rocky start when he takes her prisoner. Belle is not immediately fawning over the Beast, nor is she hot to give her entire life away to this new man like Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora or Ariel. I found the ball scene to be sweet, the concept of a gala event for just one couple very romantic, but not over-the-top (with the obvious exceptions of the gorgeous palace and eager-to-please staff of talking household items). The culmination of the story is refreshing in that, though it is an implied union, it's a sentimental rush of Belle "finally" (by Disney standards) saying "I love you" to the Beast, not necessarily ready to walk down the aisle. The transition from ignorance and misunderstanding to love is also displayed in scenes in the movie, like the bird feeding/breakfast scene during the "Something There that wasn't there Before" song.
In her book, Good Girls and Wicked Witches: Women in Disney's Feature Animation, Amy Davis writes that Belle is the stereotypical "good daughter" character. Her father leads her into harm's way through his own naivete, which allows her to show her devotion in sacrificing her safety or freedom for his good. Davis describes at length how Belle fits this stereotype by twice trying to help her father, first by accepting his "sentence" in the Beast's dungeon and second by rushing to his aid after realizing he's sick and lost. What I don't understand about this characterization of Belle is, does Davis find "the good daughter" to be a harmful role for women, or is it simply a useful description?
In the intro to the chapter which discusses Belle's character, "The Eisner Era", Davis argues that, while gender roles in the Disney films had branched out somewhat from doting homemaker or damsel in distress, they still portrayed 80's-90's era female characters as "respectable" women. This is different than the idealized womanhood of the early princess films, these "Disney Renaissance" princesses (Ariel to present) portray modern womanhood, the "I can have it all" ideal of career ambitions, or at least intellectual ambitions, and family. Belle portrays this by avoiding Gaston's advances and rolling her eyes at her father's suggestions to settle down. In the end of the film, Belle has a first lady-esque role as the new princess of the castle, not really independent, but not entirely devoid of her own purpose and opinions (one can only assume this by watching the original release film, but the straight-to-video sequels support it). While I don't find Belle to be the most independent of all of the princesses, she certainly couldn't easily be cast aside as a poor role model.
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