EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnEDITORIAL ASSISTANTrnChristine HaynesrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrn]ohn W. Aldridge, Harold O.J.rnBrown, Katherine Dalton, SamuelrnFrancis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnJohn Shelton Reed, David R. SlavittrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLearn DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnCOMPOSITION MANAGERrnAnita FedorarnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn934 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 6U03,rnEditorial Phone: (815)964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (815)964-5811.rnSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800,rnMount Mom.s,IL 61054. Gall 1-800-877-5459.rnFor information on advertising in Chronicles,rnplease call Rochelle Frank at (815) 964-5811.rnU.S.A. Newsstand Distribution by Eastern NewsrnDistributors, Inc., 1130 Cleveland Road,rnSandusky, OH 44870.rnCopyright © 1993 by The Rockford Institute.rnAll rights reserved.rnChronicles (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishedrnmonthly for $24 per year by The Rockfordrnlnstitite, 934 North Main Street, Rockford,rnIL 61103-7061. Second-class postage paidrnat Rockford, IL and additional mailing offices.rnPOSTMASTER: Send address changes tornChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morris,rnIL 61054.rnThe views expressed in Chronicles are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe views of The Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot bernreturned unless accompanied by a self-addre.ssedrnstamped envelope.rnChroniclesrnVol, 17, No. 8 August 1993rnPrinted in the United States of AmericarnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn ‘Beauty andrnthe Beast’rnWhen I took my daughter Lauren to seernWalt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, likerneveryone else in the audience I was overwhelmed.rnDisney, producer of SnowrnWhite and other films that have longrnbeen part of our very heritage, was back.rnThe animation is stupendous, as arernthe orchestration and lyrics to the songs.rnThe barroom scene where Gaston showsrnoff his high-octane testosterone and herculeanrnbrawn, as well as the sequence inrnwhich the personified candlestick, Lumiere,rnsings “Be Our Guest,” are two ofrnthe most captivating moments I’ve everrnseen on film.rnThat’s why ] read with interest Maryrnand Leon Podles’ article on the film inrnChronicles (March 1993). In the secondrnparagraph they write, “Disney is fullrnof attacks upon the sensibilities of thernpolitically correct,” noting that Beautyrnand the Beast “perpetrates the mostrnharmful of sex-role caricatures . . . thernmen in [Belle’s] life are a non-nurturingrnchauvinist lot: an absentminded professor,rna macho jock, his Best Buddy, andrnthe Beast, who is, of course, a beast.”rnI don’t know anything about JeanrnCocteau’s version of the film or understandrnthe other mumbo-jumbo theyrnwrote about, but I do know they’re offrnthe mark in their analysis of the film’srnstereotypes. A third or fourth viewing ofrnthe film (my daughters have the videotape)rnshows that Disney produced a filmrnwhose subtext is unequivocally politicallyrncorrect.rnFor instance, the antagonist in thernfilm, Gaston, is, as they say, a “machornjock.” But that’s not all. True, he isrnquite large, “as big as a barge,” he sings,rnbut he also hunts, wants a passel of kids,rnand expects Belle to be the traditionalrnhousewife, all of which, in this day andrnage, are verboten views. As was amplyrndemonstrated by Belle herself. WhenrnGaston stomps into her house to proposernmatrimony, telling her exactly whatrnhe expects of a wife—the kids, the cooking,rnthe housecleaning—Belle rolls herrneyes and says something like, “Yeah,rnright. What planet are you from?”rnBy contrast, the only three women inrntown who admire Gaston’s manly virtuesrnare stereotypical, dizzy-blonde tripletsrnwho swoon and flutter their eyes whenrnthe musky fellow ambles by in town.rnGet it? Stupid women like men such asrnGaston. Intelligent women, those whornread lots of books like Belle, do not.rnDisney makes this subtle yet profoundrnpoint at the end of the film, too. WhenrnBelle finally tells the Beast she loves him,rnwhich turns him back into a human being,rnthe result is a very effeminate-ookingrnfellow. Unlike Gaston, with his boomingrnvoice, chiseled face, and towering muscularrnpresence, the newly spawnedrnPrince speaks softly and has downy features,rna normal if not endomorphic AlanrnAlda look. The sensitive Prince winsrnBelle’s affection with tenderness, whereasrnthe Neanderthal’s unsuccessful courtshiprnwas the metaphorical equivalent ofrnknocking her on the bean with the thighrnbone of a dinosaur.rnThese characterizations aren’t all thatrnsurprising when you look at the peoplernwho animated and scored the filin. Thernprogram 20/20 gave viewers a behindthe-rnscenes look at the inaking of thernfilm. Again, it was amazing, showingrnbona fide creative genius at work. But arnquick glance at the physical characteristicsrnand mannerisms of the crew shedsrnlight on the qualities of the charactersrnthey created. Not one of the aniinatorsrnor directors, most of whom were men,rnwas what I would call a tower of masculinity.rnQuite frankly, the head honchornwas a wispy little pencil-neck—the kid inrngrade school who couldn’t hold on tornhis lunch money.rnMostly they looked like a bunch ofrnpansies to me, and reporter Bob Brownrninadvertently let the cat out of the bag,rnat least for diose of us on the lookout forrninovies and television prograins with unsavoryrnor sinister messages aimed at ourrnchildren: “The inusic [of the themernsong] has an emotional pull beyondrnwhat’s on screen because of a tragedyrnthat occurred since we were last here.rnOn March 14, 1991, the song’s AcademyrnAward-winning lyricist… died of AIDSrnat the age of 40.”rnIf all this sounds a little farfetched,rntry the following experiment, especiallyrnyou parents who bought The Little Mermaid,rnwhich was produced by the samerncrowd who gave us Beauty and the Beast.rnTake a look at the castle on the frontrn4/CHRONICLESrnrnrn