Yep , Gaston ’ s Gay 143
once the party is over ? His mother reassures him that it will all be all right , but Chip is wiser . He has been told throughout the movie that he is too young to understand certain things , but Chip has learned . And so he thinks for a moment , ponders the implications of this sad ending for himself and for us all , and asks his mother a final question : “ Do I still have to sleep in the cupboard ?”
It is a light moment on the surface , but a troubling query at heart . Chip is unsure of his identity , how society sees him , what is expected of him , who he is and what he may be or be thought to be . If the supposedly happy ending is one in which the Beast goes into the closet and dresses like a prince , will Chip have to go into his cupboard at some point as well ? The film thus ends with Chip ’ s final question up in the air and unanswered , with the possibility of closets and cupboards and mobs gathering again at a moment ’ s notice when anyone dares step out . It ends tragically , yet honestly , with the possibility of an unhappilyever-after unless new action is taken , for no one , it turned out , could be brought to love — truly love — a beast . Though the beast was made and unmade by us all .
But once upon a time there was a man named Gaston . He could have loved a beast , could have loved himself , could have shown us all about a love bereft of any adjectives , restrictions , or curses . He could have been a fully realized hero . And this is his story .
DePaul University H . Peter Steeves
Notes ‘ The actual introduction to Walt Disney ’ s animated film Beauty and the Beast ( 1991 ) is as follows :
Once upon a time in far away land , a young prince lived in a shining castle . Although he had everything his heart desired , the prince was spoiled , selfish , and unkind . But then one winter ’ s night an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold . Repulsed by her haggard appearance , the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away . But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances for beauty is found within . And when he dismissed her again , the old woman ’ s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress . The prince tried to apologize but it was too late , for she had seen that there was no love in his heart . And as punishment , she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there . Ashamed of his monstrous form , the Beast concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world . The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose which would bloom until his twenty-first year . If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell , then the curse would be broken . If not , he would be