Popular Culture Review Vol. 16, No. 1, Spring 2005 | Page 145

Yep, Gaston’s Gay
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Gaston over the edge of the roof and the open ravine below. Gaston is done. His
face is a mix of confusion and sorrow, fear and repugnance. He is lost—
vulnerable and despondent. It is the most exposed Gaston has ever been. “Don’t
hurt me,” he cries with only the Beast able to hear. “I’ll do anything. Anything!”
And with this offer, an offer that is at its heart an admission, the Beast
recognizes who Gaston is and what he is hiding. But more than this, the Beast
knows, too, that he is Gaston, one possible version of Gaston, a monster about to
become Gaston if all goes as planned with Belle. The Beast’s face changes. His
rage melts; his eyes turn sad and understanding. He places Gaston back on the
roof, releases him, and utters his final request so that only Gaston can hear it. It
is something other than a demand. It is said in a soft yet firm whisper. It is a
solicitation as much as an imperative, spoken in hope that Gaston will heed its
advice and rescue both himself and the Beast as well. It is, in the end, a simple
yet impossible prescription in a world of mobs and despair and a Belle draw