MovieChat Forums > Beauty and the Beast (2017) Discussion > The prince's backstory

The prince's backstory

posted 7 years ago by sarahb2 (69)
8 replies | jump to latest

So, having seen the new BatB, I did have to wonder: why did they give him such a horrible backstory?

I mean, did he really need to have a crappy childhood to make the more relatable? Apparently his mother died when he was young, and his father was a "cruel, twisted" person (I think that's what Mrs. Potts says). This isn't really elaborated on but geez, the mind boggles.

Of course, I'm sure a ton of fanfic will spring up detailing just what an abusive jerk the prince's father was, but part of me is wondering if this kind of horrific backstory was necessary. Can't the prince just be a spoiled brat? It was good enough for the 1991 film. Why did they feel the need to add a layer of child abuse to the story? I mean, if you introduce a concept like, "The prince used to be a nice little boy, but then his mother died and his father was a sadistic, twisted b**stard and ended up twisting his son into his own lousy image"...criminy, we're talking about the Godfather saga, not a Disney film! It just seemed unnecessary and too dark for what the film needed to tell the story.

Anybody else have thoughts? Did you think the backstory worked?

[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 7 years ago

I think the backstory worked very well to make him more sympathetic. I really believe that behavior is learned from good role models. If his father was a sick, twisted jerk, well, there you have a bad role model.

Belle, in addition to be a love interest, was also a role model for him. So,yes, it did work for me.

[–] LeiaOfLothlorien (1980) 7 years ago

I think it was good. I mean, someone can be a spoiled brat, but not necessarily cruel. It never explicitly said child abuse, either, just that his father was evil and twisted his son to be just like him. The compounds the Beast persona and explains some of the tantrums. It also seems like the Beast didn't really want to be that kind of person, though, and Belle helped him change for the better.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (6929) 7 years ago

How horrible could the father have really have been, though? All the people that were part of his father's life when the cruelty was taking place are still in his life, before and after the enchantment is broken, and none seemed much changed by it. That was my thinking anyway. Plus, what was so twisted about the dad? He liked extravagant parties?

[–] Johanesse (431) 7 years ago

No, it's certainly not as elaborated, but at least the backstory is a leap for Disney. It's rarely that you'll see parents who are outright cruel to their kids, especially the protagonists. Though I personally considered the backstory to be contrived and derivative, at least it gave Beast a legitimate reason for being malicious.

However, there were some prequel comics by Marvel of the story released. And they did portray some backstory about the Beast, though I haven't read them and I'm oblivious about how much of his parents is known.

[–] babadook (51) 7 years ago

Honestly, the prince's backstory seemed lazy to me. Parental issues have been used for quick character development since the dawn of time. And really, it makes no difference how the prince got that way in the first place, especially since it's never brought up again.

[–] CraigJamesReview (1460) 7 years ago

This seems to be a thing that Disney just keeps falling back on. In the Alice in Wonderland sequel they did the same thing, making the Mad Hatter have some parental issue with his father. In Maleficent, she got the way she is because of a husband. It's all so silly.

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[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 7 years ago

The Godfather saga? Have you seen the trilogy?

[–] JohnnyCastle (393) 7 years ago

I think it worked and was absolutely awesome. I also know theres been many versions of this story and I figured that might've been from one of them that just wasn't included in the original.

When they show the family portrait the beast had scratched out the picture of him and his father, leaving only his mother. I'm not sure if it was that way in the original I tried to find it bbut cant find the scene to compare.