30 Days of Disney: Day 1: Favorite Character

[gryfndor_godess]

I keep trying to think of a clever way to begin this because I love Belle so much and she deserves only the very best accolades, but everything I think of sounds trite or cheesy. So here’s a list of adjectives that describe Belle, and if they don’t make you want to root for her, I have lost faith in humanity; we can’t be friends nothing will:

brave, kind, headstrong, stubborn, forgiving, loving, courageous, intelligent, curious, loyal, accepting, beautiful, imperfect.

And because I don’t know how to put it into one word, let me extrapolate on the trait that follows from ‘imperfect,’ which is that she’s willing to learn and grow. One of my counter-arguments to the ever annoying and only slightly valid “Beauty and the Beast is bad for little girls because it teaches them they can change jerks into nice guys” criticism is that both characters change. Yeah, the Beast certainly changes way more, but Belle also shows growth. After giving into her curiosity to explore the forbidden West Wing, she doesn’t abandon the injured Beast or pretend she had no fault in the argument.  By the end of the movie she has evolved from having a passive desire for a better life- and finding escape only in books- to actually fighting for the life she wants.  Both of those actions indicate maturity and self-reflection.  Belle is a role model, regardless of whether her love interest happens to start out as a jerk and evolve into a nice guy.

The other important reason for why Belle is my favorite, and the reason I fell in love with her as a child, is that I identify with her more than any other Disney character. When I was little reading was as natural as breathing, and I took refuge in fantasy books because we moved around so much. Though my life was certainly not provincial, and I didn’t dislike it, I can relate so much to Belle’s love for and escape into books. “Got anything new?”/”Not since yesterday!” and “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere” make me want to hug her because it’s like we’re the same person. I love her. I think when I was growing up I wanted to be her. One of my dearest wishes senior year was to wear a yellow dress like hers to prom; alas, once I found the perfect dress (seriously, similar shape, the exact right color), it was not in my size (I'll just have to get a Belle wedding dress). I still sort of want to be her.

Which brings me to a third reason she’s my favorite: out of all the Disney heroines I could wish to be, she has the most fun. Living in an enchanted castle with kind and hilarious animate objects? My own huge library, gorgeous gowns, and a fuzzy best friend who’s secretly a handsome prince? Sign me up!

So that’s why I love Belle. Now if only I could start a book club with her…

Who’s your favorite?