LeFou


Honestly, I really loved the way they did LeFou in the live action remake. They gave him more dimensions than he had in the animated film, so he's more three dimensional. His redemption at the climax was one of my favorite parts. As Mrs. Potts says, he's too good for Gaston.

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It helps that Josh Gad is a three dimensional actor. Annoying? Yes. Grating? Indubitably. Looks like Rainn Wilson ate Jonah Hill? Sure, when viewed from most angles. But he definitely rounds out that third dimension (with extra ranch dressing).

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Too bad they couldn't make Belle three dimensional. It's pretty pathetic when your lead actress is so bland that the villain's sidekick steals the spotlight.

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Excuse me, sir. Belle did get some dimension to her compared to the animated film. Belle came from a large city Paris, but she and her father had to move to the small village Villenueve, because of the plague that killed her mom. Belle's father was so wracked with grief and guilt for leaving his wife there to die (even though its what she wanted, because she didn't want him and Belle to catch the plague), that he couldn't bring himself to tell Belle what happened to her mother. Also Belle is noted to be a girl who is ahead of her time and different from the village, (examples being reading, and creating the washing machine to help with laundry), which is why the village dislike her since they are so small-minded. Not to mention, Belle is kind to everyone (and animals) despite the fact that everyone is being hostile to her, like Jean and Pere Robert. Also she's very friendly to children, and Belle does not say she wanted to teach a girl to read. She says child. Even though it is plainly clear that only boys go to school in this town. Because the child’s gender does not matter, what matters is that the child is being denied an education. She is not greedy, and asks only for a rose from her father after he asks her what he can bring her from the market. Also, it is blatantly obvious that the “provincial” town is actually a patriarchal town that she does not fit into because she does not subscribe to patriarchal ideas. Now onto Gaston, he is basically patriarchy as a person. For a start, he says at the beginning, “Belle is the most beautiful girl in town, that makes her the best.” Secondly,  He pretends to show an interest in what Belle cares about (books) but when pressed, he cannot say a single book he’s read. This makes it clear he does not actually care about her as a person. Thirdly, he seeks out Belle because it’s “hero time”. Not because he cares about the injustice of her laundry being trashed.

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Fourthly, after Belle gets in trouble with the headmaster for teaching a girl to read, he says "The only children you should concern yourself with are your own" after she said all she wanted was to teach a child to read. In a town like Villenueve, women function as baby makers, especially at the time this film was placed in. Fifthly, Gaston does not take no for an answer. To him, a woman that says no does not actually mean no, she means yes. Finally, after she repeatedly turns him down, he essentially threatens her into a relationship by saying she will end up an spinster begging for scraps that the town will ostracize.

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I also liked how LeFou was given more dimensions in this version too. Including a conscious about Maurice's well-being and redemption.

Although I don't really get the big hoopla that Disney had to make about his character being gay. [spoiler]LeFou is just briefly seen dancing with another man in the end from switching dance partners.[/spoiler] Had the press not mention anything, no one would've thought twice about his character or that moment at all.

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