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This Movie Wasted An Opportunity With Gaston

posted 5 months ago by StrongRex (1319)
31 replies | jump to latest

The prince started out spoiled, selfish, and unkind. Thus, the Enchantress transformed him into a Beast.

In the opening music number, we are introduced to a character who paralleled the prince in being spoiled, selfish, and unkind. That character is Gaston.

The story was centered around a redemption arc for the prince who was turned into a Beast while at the same time showing us how similar Gaston was to the prince before the Enchantress showed and how much worse the prince could have turned out.

Sadly, it doesn't come full circle. The whole opening prologue could have been a chance for foreshadowing for Gaston's fate as well. Not only is Gaston conceited and cruel to others, but he is blessed with popularity, strength, and many impressive skills. The climax and Gaston's defeat could have involved the Enchantress making another appearance and cursing Gaston, taking all of those things away from him and giving him the same chance to learn the error of his ways and earn his body form back like she did with the prince.

Instead, Disney opted for the cliche "villain dies from falling off a cliff" trope with Gaston.

Beauty and the Beast is still one of the greatest Disney movies of all time, but how much more would it have stood out if Disney had followed through better on its foreshadowing and theme of redemption as well as at least tried to be more original when it came the fate of the antagonist?

[–] leader (1959) 5 months ago

You put more thought into it than the creators did.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14381) 5 months ago

I heard about a really good fanfiction that tells an alternate story about where Belle had him as the "Beast" character and she managed to reform him (impossible as that sounds). I also read a book (which probably would have translated to a Rated R film if it had gone to the big screen) called "The Book of G" that tells a redemption arc he had when he fell into the bottom of that moat and survived because a fairy took pity on him. However, he had serious amnesia and was badly scarred all over as a result.

However, I had zero interest in reading that fanfic, so I can't comment on its quality, and I didn't really enjoy "The Book of G" very much, but I'm sure someone did. He didn't get his memory back, but he got himself a rogue Fae princess as a love interest and a new life in Paris at the end.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

Both stories you mentioned sound really stupid in my opinion.

But since you brought up fanfiction, there are two stories that have explored this possibility. The first is called Just Rewards. Belle did not get to the castle in time to stop Gaston from killing the Beast. Gaston decides on his own to keep the Beast alive to a) use him as an attraction for their village so he can further show off his skills to "tame" the Beast and b) use the Beast to further blackmail Belle into marrying him. By the end of that story, the Enchantress does appear, free the Beast and castle servants/change them back, and curse Gaston. It's followed by a sequel called A Man of Stature, which follows Gaston's journey into getting rid of the curse.

Both stories are extremely well-written. Everyone from the movie is perfectly in character and you can practically hear them speak every line of dialogue. You can still find them and read them today. The author, in my opinion, should be writing for Disney or at least published fanfiction books for Disney. It's a shame they keep picking terrible ones.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14381) 5 months ago

Yeah, they both sounded stupid. Since I'm not a fan of Gaston, I'm not interested in any works that redeem him, and I only read "Book of G" out of sheer, morbid curiosity. It turned out just to be another "fight and outwit the Fae" kinda story. (You would not believe how many fantasy books for adults they have on the Fae out on the market, it's insane!)

Sounds like the author is impressive with her work. Too bad I don't like Gaston, or I might consider reading them.

In fact, I'm playing a very popular game on Steam called "Disney Dreamlight Valley," where you rule over a kingdom filled with Disney characters. The thing is, they also introduce villains to live in your kingdom, and I wasn't too happy about that. The moment they gave us the ability to banish any characters we wanted, I got rid of them really fast. And that includes Gaston from Eternity Isle.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

You don't know what you're missing. You should check it out anyway.

I'll check out that game sometime.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14381) 5 months ago

It's mostly just a cozy game, but sometimes it feels like there is peril and mystery involved. For now, they're mostly covering a few classic characters and many from the 90s and 2010s to keep people interested. It's weird, because it feels like a game that should be directed towards kids, and yet people my age are enjoying it far more, even when we have our kids play too. Every few months, they introduce one or two new characters to the Valley :)

Gaston is actually part of a DLC about a place called Eternity Isle, where you meet him, Rapunzel, and Eve, from Wall-E. Eternity Isle has a lot of time-travel distortion stuff going on, and has only added to the fun :)

[–] Stratego (30495) 5 months ago

Meh. I don't necessarily agree with Gaston being killed off, but he also got his potential redemption moment when the Beast decided to let him live. The point was that Gaston was unredeemable and therefore someone like the Enchantress would not even have given him a chance to change via a curse.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

I hold the same position on Gaston as I do with Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda.

It was in the moment of emotional rage or hurt.

[–] Stratego (30495) 5 months ago

His entire behavior throughout the movie?

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

No. This scene.

You're missing the point of my entire post. You're looking at that one moment of high emotions and saying "oh, he's entirely unredeemable" and not even considering other possibilities (and in my mind, the scene would have gone a different direction several minutes earlier so it wouldn't have gotten to this point anyway).

I'm saying it would have been a much more satisfying conclusion for Gaston if he suffered the same fate the Beast did since he paralleled him so much in this movie. It would have been up to him from that point if he wanted to redeem himself or not, and it would have been up to the audience to draw their own conclusions on where he went from there.

[–] Tina (725) 5 months ago

"You're missing the point of my entire post. You're looking at that one moment of high emotions and saying "oh, he's entirely unredeemable" and not even considering other possibilities (and in my mind, the scene would have gone a different direction several minutes earlier so it wouldn't have gotten to this point anyway)."

I think Stratego was addressing the part in your OP that said Disney decided to go with villain dies by falling.

It wasn't that simple. Good story telling puts the main characters in situations where there is an obstacle to overcome.

The Gaston character served his purpose in the story. The moral of the story is that some people can change while others cannot.

Gaston was given mercy by Beast. The Beast would have killed him but he gained control of his anger. That was a mistake because Gaston didn't deserve mercy even after Gaston begs for his life and then in a jealous rage after seeing Belle and the Beast in love, he attacks Beast. Beast dies of his injuries.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

I think it's more simple than you think.

How many times have you seen the antagonist meet their defeat by falling off a high object?

Most likely countless.

It's been done before so many times that it's long lost the initial impact it first had. The story still doesn't completely follow through on the parallels drawn between Gaston and the prince.

If this scene had been written a completely different way, and actually have Gaston meet a much more shameful defeat that is even more humiliating for him, that would have made it much more satisfying and have the themes of the story ring even more true.

[–] Stratego (30495) 5 months ago

"You're looking at that one moment of high emotions and saying "oh, he's entirely unredeemable" and not even considering other possibilities"

We're not talking about a real person here, okay? It's obvious that Disney is making the point that when the Beast lets Gaston live after he attacked his home and tried to kill him, Gaston refuses to be humble and accept he was in the wrong. In their eyes, he was unredeemable.

And it's not one moment. Like I said, did you miss his behavior throughout the entire movie? I'm really not missing your point, I think you are rather missing the point. To me it's crystal clear what Disney is trying to say with this character, regardless of whether he deserved a cliché death. He's unredeemable.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

Who is to say the prince wouldn't have done any of that or worse had the Enchantress not intervened?

I did not miss his behavior at all. I'm saying the movie didn't go far enough in having him punished.

You are indeed missing my point and missing it on purpose because you are so damn closed-minded on what Disney puts in front of you.

Also, artists are not always right about their work. Disney is especially not in a position where you can say they are right about their own work.

[–] Stratego (30495) 5 months ago

"Who is to say the prince wouldn't have done any of that or worse had the Enchantress not intervened?"

Because the movie makes a point to show Gaston is much more cruel and conceited than the Beast. The worst punishment for that would be a painful death caused by his own actions. It's also more practible, because if Gaston was also cursed, it would've taken a whole other movie to show he was not redeemable. Frankly, your idea, to use your own words, "sounds really stupid, in my opinion".

"You are indeed missing my point and missing it on purpose because you are so damn closed-minded on what Disney puts in front of you."

My my, Aspie much? No, sweetie, I'm not missing your point just because I disagree with you. If anyone is close-minded it's you. Everybody in this thread disagrees with you, but you aren't open to what they say at all. You can't even leave it as a different point of view, you just dismiss them as being close-minded and simply wrong. It's obvious you only started this thread because you wanted people to agree with you.

"Also, artists are not always right about their work."

Viewers are not always right either...

[–] Evoken (1402) 5 months ago

Nah, redeeming Gaston would have lowered the character and he wouldn’t be such a great iconic villain as a result. Gaston being unapologetically HIM and having a massive ego is what makes the character great.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14381) 5 months ago

Yeah, why can't villains just be bad? Why can't they have an epic death to seal their legend? Why do we always have to redeem them and sympathize with them these days? Particularly the female ones?

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

You're speaking as if this can't work for any villain.

The problem with Hollywood is that they do this wrong. Especially Disney. Disney does it by not doing it (i.e. Maleficent and Cruella).

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14381) 5 months ago

I blame the post-modernism BS that's popular in story-telling right now.

I didn't realize when I was watching films going from the mid-2000s onward that the writers were using something called "deconstruction" in taking apart traditionally heroic characters and making them seem less awesome than they originally were; while analyzing the bad guys and making them more sympathetic. You can't redeem every bad guy, and people don't like it when their heroes are made to look bad or stupid, I'm sorry. It makes the story less fun and makes people dislike the studio who did it.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

For most of the movie, yes.

Then he would have gotten cursed at the end just like the prince did.

Much more satisfying consequence in my opinion.

[–] Tina (725) 5 months ago

I liked Gaston as a villain.

However I understood that Gaston deserved to die. He was a narcissistic asshole that didn't understand boundaries. He practically wanted to force Belle into marrying him without her consent. He had to die. Nobody except you wants to see Gaston become a good guy.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

"He was a narcissistic asshole that didn't understand boundaries"

And the prince wasn't? Heck, even the Beast wasn't?

"He practically wanted to force Belle into marrying him without her consent."

And you think the prince wouldn't have done a similar thing had the Enchantress not intervened? Or something equally as bad or worse?

"Nobody except you"

This is how I know you are closed-minded and don't want to explore other possibilities except what Disney has put in front of you. Using an appeal to the majority argument (as if that works on me).

And by the way, no I'm not the only one who sees how this could have played differently. Take it up with this person who wrote this story.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1889152/1/Just-Rewards

[–] Tina (725) 5 months ago

I'm fairly certain that if the movie played the way you wanted it, it would not have been the success that it was.

The movie is loosely based upon a fairy tale written by written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins.

In that fairy tale there is no Gaston. So you're lucky to have Gaston as a villain in the first place.

You don't think that the writers of the film Beauty and the Beast thought about having a different fate for Gaston? Writers toss ideas around with each other.

In the end, we got what we got. Your version would not have been as popular.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

How do you know that? You can't.

And it's not my version, genius. Way to ignore my last post.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

I'm fully aware of the original story and how it played out.

"Lucky" to have Gaston as a villain? Your passive-aggressiveness is so misdirected. I wouldn't consider him one of my FAVORITE villains. I just find his case fascinating and I can't help but think about other possibilities. Something you have no concept of.

If they did, I never saw any alternate endings or storyboards for it. They also had Linda Woolverton on the writing team and she's known for being a flaming FemiNazi.

Your condescending know-it-all attitude says way more about you than it does me.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 5 months ago

Your post makes me think of a version of the story I read that didn''t have Gaston in it. It was similar to Cinderella where Belle lives with her father and 3 spoiled lazy Stepsisters. After falling in love with the Beast and thereby breaking the curse, he uses magic he has to turn Belle's spoiled step sisters into stone statues which he puts in his garden. Such a comupence would be pretty fit for Gaston.

[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 5 months ago

That would be a really interesting arc for the character and a good final punishment. Although, it would inevitably have opened itself up to a direct-to-video sequel that would have probably been too slipshod to really capitalise on the concept.

But your concept is a really good one.

Also, while it would be interesting, there is something to having Gaston show what a beast a person can become. This is the cautionary tale, the reason why the Enchantress isn't just a sadist - she's burning away the Beast's vileness to get at something good.

Still, one wonders why she wouldn't offer this chance of redemption to Gaston... Maybe she's just a royalist faerie?

[–] Patman111196 (1775) 5 months ago

I don't think Gaston was really capable of changing for the greater good anyway. He was too much of a psycho to see himself in a different light.

[–] StrongRex (1319) 5 months ago

Then cursing him and him refusing to change would have been his just reward.

[–] Joogle83 (4472) 5 months ago

nah Gatson got what he deserved

[–] pioneergrrrl (2408) 7 days ago

Have to agree. The prince originally was Gaston--handsome but spoiled and selfish. Through the curse and breaking it, he learned to not be like that.

Gaston never had an enchantress visit and curse him. He attacks the Beast in the end after the Beast spares his life. He was human but had no soul. He only thought about himself and what he could get for himself.