The key thing that stops the relationship from being abusive and toxic (at least in the original film) is that Belle herself never makes it her mission to change or fix the Beast. She has an actual reason for becoming his prisoner (her father) and while she is treated as a prisoner she clearly couldn't be less interested in befriending or falling in love with him. And unlike in the remake, Belle herself is never actually told about the spell or the part she could play in breaking it, so her actions aren't motivated by it in any way, giving her even more agency in the story as a result. She's also never submissive to the Beast during his outbursts and rarely shows any fear of him at all, and on two separate occasions she's fully capable of putting him in his place and makes it clear that she is _not_ going to take his shit lying down. The one time he does genuinely overstep by losing his temper in the West Wing, she doesn't hesitate to bolt out of there with no plan of ever coming back, and only stays out of pity when he's injured saving her from the wolves. Belle doesn't intentionally _make_ the Beast change, the Beast himself learns to grow and becomes a better person due to her influence, and it's only after he's started to change (and clearly isn't going to revert back to who he was before) when they actually start to fall for each other.

Yeah it's not Stockholm syndrome people don't know what they are talking about

Ah the beauty of Stockholm syndrome. In all seriousness it's not as bad as people paint it to be. She's just a good person and helps him get better

My biggest thing was that Bell was never helpless. She was sad and scared but even then she snuck out of her room and went into the west wing and when he yelled at her after the wolves she yelled back. She never lost her will and she didn't warm up to the beast until he started treating her with kindness.

I thought the whole Stockholm thing was fairly ridiculous for pretty much the reasons you have already pointed out. A PRISONER cannot freely escape their confines. They are imprisoned. But, Belle had MULTIPLE opportunities to just leave, but she CHOSE to stay. She didn't have to, but she did. That's not at all the same as being an unwilling captive, so the theory is busted up right there. 🤷‍♀️

I think a detail that got overlooked in this video,and is just removed all together in the remake,is that you can tell that Beast instantly regrets his outburst in the west wing. You can see it in his body language and expression after she runs. He messed up really bad,and he knows he did

This movie isn't enforcing toxic masculinity nor it isn't sexist beyond any shape or form. This may be my nostalgia for someone who grew up with the classic Beauty and The Beast movie, that was part of my childhood, it stands out to be one of the best animated movies of the Disney Reinassance next to The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King. And it truly embraces the classic story with some minor changes to the source material, and it turn out to be a lot more better than we realize. And it handles the characters a lot more appropriately and doesn't demonize the one and not the other, in my opinion.... For example, The Prince is turned into a beast due to his selfishness and unkindness, and he has to find a true love in order for him to be turned back into a human again. Belle is a female protagonist that is not only independent but also strong minded and self-reliant despite what society says on the contrary. And she even helps and guides The Prince (as The Beast) to find true love and kindness. And when it is impossible for him, she is still kind and loving to him even though he is a hideous beast. And she teaches him how to read, be proper, and even shows him what it means to find true love. Gaston resembles what society prefers and doesn't see Belle as of true beauty nor doesn't give her any respect, but he sees her as his asset to embrace his bloated ego and narcissistic nature. The Beast didn't force Belle to fall in love with him nor did she. In fact, he frees her so she can find her father; and it was she that chose to go back cuz if even though he is a beast he was loving and kind to her. Whereas Gaston was handsome looking but was evil and ugly to Belle. Which the moral lesson of the story is no matter who we are: true beauty comes from our hearts, not appearances, and we can find true love if we allow love and kindness be in our hearts. So this movie, in my opinion, is amazing in both story and characters and uses good analogies and symbolism that are the highlight of the story itself.

The reason why Belle fell for the Beast isn't because of stockholm syndrome. The concept is that the victim fell for the abuser for abusing/manipulating them isn't the case at all.

Tbh I don’t think it’s “toxic”, or “abusive”, the beast never harmed Belle, and Belle isn’t falling in love with the beast out of obligation, hence why in the OG film she was never told about the spell that has been cast, the beast genuinely changed and he and Belle genuinely fell for each other, Beast never abused Belle and she could have Jeff but stayed because she genuinely fell gif him, I love this movie ❤️

I never saw this relationship as abusive/toxic or as Stockholm syndrome. Moreso, I just saw it as Belle coming out as a furry

It'd be Stockholm Syndrome if Belle was kept in the tower the whole movie. She can leave any time she pleases. And she *does*, and comes back because her life was saved. A key tenet of Stockholm is mistaking the slightest bit of mercy for a huge kindness. Gratitude for your life being saved is *not* that. And she leaves *again*, and isn't begged to come back, she comes back of her own free will. Belle saves the Beast with her love in much the same way as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty's princes saved them, but people are so dedicated to this faux edgy Stockholm Syndrome jag they can't see the subversiveness. Grinds my gears something horrible.

Beauty And The Beast was one of my favorite childhood movies.

the straight to dvd sequels paint them as more toxic than they seem in my opinion.

6:04 I think Belle stayed at the Beast’s castle for a few weeks at least (that’s the amount of time implied to me in the montage of them getting to know each other) but yeah, still didn’t feel like Stockholm Syndrome to me.

This is such a common criticism of the story. If the remake changed ANYTHING, they could've had Belle return home much earlier and make secret ocassional trips back without the townspeople knowing.

I definitely don’t think it’s Stockholm syndrome but you’re underplaying the time she spent there. It was a few months at least

These are all such great points. Some other things I’d like to add is the family dynamic he’s had growing up. By the looks of it, his parents were dead by the time he was 11, and it seems as though cogsworth, lumiere and Mrs. Potts had to stand in as parental figures. And look at what happened to them. There’s also the fact that when Belle and Maurice show up, by that point the beast hasn’t interacted with anyone in their human form for 10 years, that has to take a toll. There’s also just the simple fact that sometimes, trauma and mental health problems make us behave badly towards other people. It seems to be a topic avoided when discussing supporting people with mental health problems, but it’s not uncommon at all for people going through shit to lash out on the people closest to them. The whole point of the story is that people are able to change, and move past their trauma and ptsd, and that’s what beast was able to do. Belle brought something to him that he thought was impossible, she brought him love and showed him that he could be seen as human (in the literal sense, but also on an emotional level). I feel like atp the Stockholm syndrome argument is a bit of a cop out, there isn’t really a whole lot of genuine evidence in the movie to support that argument.

Beauty and the Beast has, and forever will be my favourite Disney movie. My only ever problem with it was that they made the Beast (Adam) blonde 😢

People who honestly think this was are the ultimate example of "tell me you haven't seen this movie without telling me you haven't seen this movie." This ain't toxic, y'all are just mean.

Love that you show a pic of cinema therapy, I was just thinking abt that video. That said as someone else point it out it could be more than one day or two where she stays at the castle with the beast, but even if that's the case it doesn't change the fact that she start to feel something for him after the whole run away and wolves. And that's when he start to treat her better than before, because yeah ofc we all agree that his behavior at the beginning was not okay at all, but she didn't fall in love with him then (and def she didn't find in him humanity bc you can see how she hates him)

I love that Alan Menken said when he wrote the mob song it was meant to be allegorical for the gay community and how people with aids were treated

He literally saved her life.

I just hope that in the movie of Shrek 5, once Disney buys DreamWorks, all The Official Disney Princes and all The Official Disney Princesses appear, especially the most important character in the movie of The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, Melody, The Daughter of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel, with her best friends Zephyr, Tip, Dash, Kiera and Catalina, and besides, they will be the new main characters of the movie of Shrek 5 so that they help Shrek, Princess Fiona, Donkey, Dragon, Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, Perrito, Dulcinea, The Three Diablos, Goldilocks, The Three Bears, Prince Lancelot, Princess Tiffany, King Artie, Princess Guinevere, The Children of Shrek and Princess Fiona: Fergus, Farkle and Felicia, The Children of Donkey and Dragon: Bananas, Parfait, Peanut, Eclair, Coco and Debbie and The Others to defeat Rumpelstiltskin, Death, Drizella Tremaine, all The Official Villains of Disney and all The Official Villains of DreamWorks, as Queen Grimhilde, Lady Tremaine, Captain Hook, Hades, Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, Marina del Rey, Ursula, Gaston LeGume, Jafar, John Ratcliffe, Shan Yu, Yzma, Dr. Facilier, Zhan Tiri, Judge Claude Frollo, Mother Gothel, Tamatoa, Drago Bludvist, Grimmel The Grisly, Mor'du, King Runeard, Prince Hans, Pitch Black, Dr. Zara, Queen Nerissa, King Magnifico, Rapunzel (Shrek) and Morgana, and to prevent Rumpelstiltskin, Death, all The Official Villains of Disney and all The Official Villains of DreamWorks from ruling and destroying all The Multiverse Forever, especially The Kingdom of Far Far Away, Shrek along with his wife named Princess Fiona will need help from their new friends which are all The Official Disney Princes and all The Official Disney Princesses, as Prince Florian, Princess Snow White, Prince Charming, Princess Cinderella, The Baker, Anastasia Tremaine, Prince Philip, Princess Aurora, Prince Eric, Princess Ariel, Prince Adam, Princess Belle, Prince Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, Prince John Smith, Princess Pocahontas, Prince Li Shang, Princess Fa Mulan, Prince Naveen, Princess Tiana, Prince Flynn Rider, Princess Rapunzel, Varian, Cassandra, Maui, Queen Moana Waialiki, Hiccup Haddock, Princess Merida, Kristoff Bjorgman, Queen Anna, Jack Frost, Princess Elsa, Miguel Rivera, Princess Raya, Walter Beckett, Princess Mirabel Madrigal, Jin, Yi, Connor, Ruby Gillman, Starboy, Princess Asha, Mateo, Queen Elena, Prince Desmond, Princess Amber, Prince James, Princess Isabel, Prince Hugo, Princess Sofia, Namaari, The Futuristic Four, The Other Six Princesses of The Kingdom of Atlantica and Melody, but actually, Melody is The First and Only that she is not a True Official Disney Princess, because Melody made her debut in the movie of The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea and it is also because she is The First and Only Daughter of an Official Disney Princess, but Shrek, Princess Fiona, Donkey, Dragon, Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, Perrito, Dulcinea, The Three Diablos, Goldilocks, The Three Bears, Prince Lancelot, Princess Tiffany, King Artie, Princess Guinevere, The Children of Shrek and Princess Fiona: Fergus, Farkle and Felicia, The Children of Donkey and Dragon: Bananas, Parfait, Peanut, Eclair, Coco and Debbie and The Others also need Melody's help to protect and save all The Multiverse, especially Their Kingdom of Far Far Away away from Rumpelstiltskin, Death, all The Official Villains of Disney and all The Official Villains of DreamWorks, because Melody is The Daughter of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel, but also The Death of Queen Lillian, because since her husband named King Harold passed away in the movie of Shrek 3, she has felt heartbroken and that caused her own death in her Kingdom of Far Far Away, and all The Inhabitants of The Kingdom of Far Far Away are saddened by The Death of Queen Lillian, because now she is with her husband named King Harold in heaven, and now they have lost their queen, that means now The Kingdom of Far Far Away needs a new queen and King Artie said that his love interest, girlfriend, fiancée and former classmate from Worcestershire school called Princess Guinevere would be the one to be The New Queen of Far Far Away, so King Artie decided to return to his old school called Worcestershire along with Shrek, with his older cousin Princess Fiona, with Donkey, with Dragon, with Puss in Boots, with Kitty Softpaws, with Perrito, with Dulcinea, with The Three Diablos, with Goldilocks, with The Three Bears, with The Children of Shrek and Princess Fiona: Fergus, Farkle and Felicia, with The Children of Donkey and Dragon: Bananas, Parfait, Peanut, Eclair, Coco and Debbie and with the Others to meet again with their friends from their school who are actually Prince Lancelot, Princess Tiffany and his love interest, girlfriend and fiancée Princess Guinevere to take them back to his Kingdom of Far Far Away, and also The Romance of all The Official Disney Princes and all The Official Disney Princesses, especially The Romance of Maui and Queen Moana Waialiki, The Romance of Hiccup Haddock and Princess Merida, The Romance of Jack Frost and Princess Elsa, The Romance of Varian and Cassandra, The Romance of Starboy and Princess Asha, The Romance of Prince Lancelot and Princess Tiffany and The Romance of King Artie and Princess Guinevere, because I think that Maui will be Queen Moana Waialiki's love interest, boyfriend and fiancé, while Hiccup Haddock will be Princess Merida's love interest and boyfriend, Princess Tiffany will be Prince Lancelot's love interest, girlfriend and fiancée and Princess Guinevere will be King Artie's love interest, girlfriend and fiancée, because Queen Moana Waialiki is going to fall in love with Maui, Princess Merida is going to fall in love Hiccup Haddock, Princess Tiffany is going to fall in love with Prince Lancelot and Princess Guinevere is going to fall in love with King Artie, but they don't know how to tell them their feelings towards them and neither how to win their hearts, because every time Queen Moana Waialiki gets too close to Maui when it comes to true love, she gets very nervous with him, while which in the case of Princess Merida is also the same, because whenever Princess Merida gets too close to Hiccup Haddock when it comes to true love, she also gets very nervous with him, in the case of Princess Tiffany it is also the same, because whenever Princess Tiffany gets too close to Prince Lancelot when it comes to true love, she also gets very nervous around him, and in the case of Princess Guinevere too, because every time Princess Guinevere gets too close to King Artie when it comes to true love, she also gets very nervous around him, but luckily for them, Princess Fiona will help Queen Moana Waialiki to win The Heart of Maui, also Princess Merida to win The Heart of Hiccup Haddock, also Princess Tiffany to win The Heart of Prince Lancelot and also Princess Guinevere to win The Heart of King Artie, and I also want that Jack Frost will be Princess Elsa's love interest and boyfriend and Varian will be Cassandra's love interest and boyfriend, because Jack Frost leaves fall in love with Princess Elsa, but he doesn't know how to tell her his feelings and how to win her heart, because every time Jack Frost gets too close to Princess Elsa when it comes to true love, he gets very nervous with her, because Varian leaves fall in love with Cassandra, but he doesn't know how to tell her his feelings and how to win her heart, because every time Varian gets too close to Cassandra when it comes to true love, he gets very nervous with her, but fortunately for they, Shrek will help Jack Frost to win The Heart of Princess Elsa and also Varian to win The Heart of Cassandra, except Melody, The Daughter of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel, because she doesn't need a love interest, but also The Rivalry of King Artie and Queen Anna because they both want to compete in a challenge to see who is The Best Ruler of a Kingdom, because both want to do what is best for Their Own Kingdom, because King Artie wants to do the best for his Kingdom of Far Far Away because now he is The New King of Far Far Away and Queen Anna wants to do the best for her Kingdom of Arendelle because now she is The New Queen of Arendelle, but at the end, King Artie and Queen Anna become best friends in the world, because at the end, they both learned from their mistakes that they have made since their challenge to compete to see who is the best ruler of a Kingdom, and that at the end, King Artie and Princess Guinevere see their first true love kiss and that they become a romantic couple, just like Prince Lancelot and Princess Tiffany, and also that at the end of the movie of Shrek 5, Shrek becomes The New Leader of The Official Disney Princes and Maui, Hiccup Haddock, Kristoff Bjorgman, Jack Frost, Varian, Jin, Connor, The Baker, Starboy, Mateo, Prince Desmond, Prince James, Prince Hugo, Prince Lancelot and King Artie become The New Official Members of The Official Disney Princes, while Princess Fiona becomes The New Leader of The Official Disney Princesses and Queen Anna, Princess Elsa, Cassandra, Yi, Ruby Gillman, Anastasia Tremaine, Princess Asha, Queen Elena, Princess Amber, Princess Isabel, Princess Sofia, Goldilocks, Namaari, The Other Six Princesses of The Kingdom of Atlantica, Princess Tiffany and Princess Guinevere become The New Official Members of The Official Disney Princesses and that one day, Princess Tiffany will be The Wife of Prince Lancelot and that they have a family in the future, and that also Princess Guinevere is The Wife of King Artie, that they also have a family and that she becomes The New Queen of Far Far Away in The Future.

Its right up there when they say it's Bestiality

The idea that the relationship was toxic is largely due to the case that in the sequel, the Beast puts Belle in prison twice and at Christmas time. But it was about a manipulative giant organ that led Beast astray because he didn't want the curse to be broken and communication problems because Belle didn't know and understand why Beast hated Christmas and had banned it in the castle. And the reason that the Beast banned Christmas was that the fairy had cursed the prince on Christmas night, on the prince's 11th birthday, which is why the Christmas celebration hurt the Beast so much. However, the time that Belle was in prison is not a sufficient time to develop Stockholm syndrome, especially when she was not alone but with the caste staff. Pluss Belle was in the castle about half a year anyway, especially if you include the canonical animation series Belle's Magical World (or a miniseries when there were only a few episodes).

Interesting opinions, but I do feel like the relationship is a little toxic. Because the Beast did yell at her, I know it’s only like 3 times and once saved he starting to change. But that’s only like in a day or so 💀

Don't you dare ruin my childhood like that! 😠

You should consider rexploring a lot of criticisms of other Disney's films.

Thank you for this!! Totally agree! ❤

Fair points. I do feel like it is a little overblown too, i wonder how it started?

Joining in the discussion, I like to point out that people pointed that out Belle has Stockholm syndrome, but the criteria doesn't meet in Belle and Beast's case. She becomes a prisoner to save her father, yes, but then she leaves willingly. Twice. First becase of her trespassing and the Beast lashing out on her, and second because she had to save her father. Her father was a significant priority of hers and if he is in danger, she is willing to go out and help him. And the Beast knows this, because Belle exchanged herself to set him free and she begged him let her go so she can save him. It may have toxic elements, but the Beast actively tries his best to improve himself and does his best to provide what Belle needs in her stay. And even if he tried to break the curse with Belle, he lets her go out love, him prioritizing Belle's happiness over his own. Most discussions forget to include Gaston in this, who is really toxic. He likes Belle, but at heart he isn't genuine and try to force her to marry him, they treat her family as outcasts, especially her father. They are bribing someone, and he's trying to coerce Belle into marrying him unsuccessfully and also successfully rises a mob to kill the beast. He also has a big ego and supposed to point out inner beauty. The beast is well- a beast, but he actively pursues to improve himself and become better, while Gaston's ego is constantly fed by the village, praising his good looks and muscles and no one is willing to point out that Gaston is going too far with his advances. Tdrl: The Beauty and the Beast is misunderstood movie and Gaston should be called out more often.

2:25 I guess the lion king is more loved than the Beaty and the beast.

Smarty Pants you nailed it!

I always wondered why Beast's servants couldn't bring her father to the castle... Yeah... He needed to officially break her from being his prisoner, but she could also visit him or have them there... Beast needed company after all those years...

The joke was funny when i was 13. 10+ years later, it's just annoying

I think you should compare: Would Bell honestly have been better off marrying Gaston?

I should rewatch this movie someday because I haven’t seen this movie in at least 3 years

OH MY GAWD, I had a whole discussion with some guy on Facebook about this. The guy started asking me what country I was from. 🤣🤣 What an idiot.

The movie is not divisive at all. It's generally loved by Disney fans and movie lovers in general.

I think the toxic part of it is staying with a man because u think u can change the ass he is. The hope that he will eventually be better because of u and your efforts. We, women are NOT rehabilitation centers u all. We shouldnt have the goal of making someone better or helping fucking everyone who has a problem. The message for women and YOUNG girls here is that love can change a broken and asshole man into a prince, and lets be honest, this isnt real or anything any girl/woman is suposse to belive in. Pd: maybe I have sound a bit harsh there but this is something very personal to me and so many girls I have met, bad boys might never change and we are the ones paying for it.

People are really worried about Stockholm syndrome over the concept of Beastiality

when will people realize that fiction are for the things that doesn't work in real life?

Yeah it is toxic, but not Stockholm syndrome, now that I think about it.

V for Vendetta was more stockholm syndrome than this movie

No. It's not a toxic.

No, Belle DOES NOT suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, she voluntarily gave up her freedom in exchange for her father's being let out of prison!

You are not right.