Beauty and The Beast is Contemporary

There have been many versions of Beauty and The Beast throughout the years, but one motif/theme that is constant is the idea of stereotypical beauty. In Maria Tartar’s version and in the Disney version, Belle/Beauty is a beautiful girl, who is also kind; beautiful on inside and out, and the beast is ugly and cruel and mean (in the beginning at least). The beast falls in love with Belle because she is beautiful (of course because of her kind heart as-well), but there is an emphasis on her beauty among the other characters in the story. This concept of stereotypical and ‘superficial’ beauty is prominent in modern times because of social media. In a modern aspect, social media is all about beauty and looks, and doesn’t take into account personality, and kindness. In relation to the fairy tale, the beast is depicted as very ugly, and social media would see him as such. And in a similar regard, Belle is beautiful, and would have been praised on social media, where as the beast would have been dismissed, and maybe even looked down upon.  After further reading, of course, we learn that the beast actually does have a good heart, regardless of his looks, and Belle falls in love with his heart. Social media, in the modern world, would not have gotten to know the beast’s heart because his looks weren’t good to start with. In the fairy tale, when Belle falls in love with the beast, he turns into a handsome prince, to demonstrate the concept of beauty on the outside and the inside. Now with this idea, he would be accepted at first glance on social media because of his looks. Social media plays on this idea of beauty, just as the fairy tale does.