I rarely feel more competent than when I'm watching "Beauty and the Beast" with my daughter. Her questions are straightforward:
Q. Is Monsieur D'Arque a zombie?
A. Not literally. His pallor is symbolic--it's meant to suggest the *moral* rot within his soul.
Q. Why does Belle hide during the snowball fight?
A. It's just a strategic move. She wants to win. She is no longer scared of the Beast--because the Beast magically became nice during the "wolf" interlude (in the middle of Act Two).
Q. Why does the Beast say, STUPID?
A. He feels that the bows in his hair are not a reflection of his true self. You may disagree. But there is nothing really scandalous about using the word "stupid" in this context. He is just talking about a style--not making a judgment about his own intellect.
I'd love to add that Monsieur D'Arque seems to be an allusion to "Sweeney Todd"--to the asylum sequence in the Second Act. Additionally, Sondheim was a champion of Howard Ashman's--there is a famous letter that Sondheim sent to Ashman. It's a letter in which Sondheim (correctly) notes that the original off-Broadway production of "Little Shop of Horrors" is a brilliant achievement. I keep all of this to myself.
As of now, "Beauty and the Beast" remains the only film that my daughter will fully tolerate--beginning to end.
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