Erin Lodes

So I know I’m a bit late to this bandwagon, and I did see the movie when it came out months ago, but my love for the new adaption of Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson was renewed now that it came to Netflix and I was able to watch it again.

There are many reasons why I love this adaption (one of them being that Emma Watson — maybe better known as Hermoine — is playing another patron saint of misfit bookworms, a cast I count myself firmly a part of) but I’m just going to focus on the one moment here.

Emma and other members of the cast have talked about the efforts that were made to make Belle, already a fairly forward role model for the times, into a better character for the current times. And there is no moment that better outlines this for me than the moment Belle and Beast first meet. I’m all about symbols, as are — I suspect — most writers. And this moment just symbolizes all the efforts made by those involved in this adaption to adapt Belle’s character without completely changing the movie.

In the original animated movie, Belle asks him to “come into the light” and he does. In the new adaption (SPOILERS), he doesn’t, so she grabs a light and takes two steps forward to light his face herself. Then, admittedly, she shrinks back in fear as most likely all people would.

I recently read an article that talked about moments from the original that were missing from the adaption, and this moment was mentioned as something the writer thought they’d messed up. Having Belle move forward instead of waiting took “some of the thrill” out of the moment for them.

But that moment, which takes about a second of movie time, makes my insides well up with all sorts of feminist and writerly oh-I-see-what-you-did-there-and-I-think-it’s-awesome-ness. With that one small change, that one small action, Belle takes back the control. She isn’t waiting for him to make the move, she’s taking charge and making the move herself. They transformed her from passive to active, with just that small adjustment and damn if I’m not impressed.

Anyway, that just happens to be how I feel about it. What do you think?