Pricess Development: Belle is Boss

I wanted to touch on the princess culture and how everyone believes that all of the classic princesses are helpless, pathertic nit-wits that don't do anything for themselves. I have a coutner arguement. Belle.
Belle is the classic Disney princess for Beauty and the Beast. It just so happens that she is my favorite Disney character of all time, not to mention my favorite princess, and comes from my favorite movie. So yes, this arguement may be biased but I honestly believe it has some fair points. So please bear with me.

I want to start out by saying the predecessing princesses to Belle bore me. They are in fact helpless. pathetic nit-wits that do NOT help themselves out of their predicaments. The reason why I like Belle so much is because she was a character I could identify with. She's a nerd. A total book worm. She doesn't have any friends and she constantly feels as if she doesn't belong but believed their was more to life than just her every day routines and life. This was me as a kid. I was never popular. I had two friends growing up as a kid. I was shy and reserved and hid behind books. I was the girl constantly reading sitting in the back of the room reading during class and I NEVER felt that i fit in with my peers.

I would like to argue that she may in fact be the first Disney princess that took a step towards feminism. Here is Gaston, this supposedly hunky guy that every girl, in town, is in love with and who's popular. And this supposed "male perfection" persona wants this nerdy girl. But! She isn't gonna fall for a total tool like Gaston. He's dumb and conceded and rude. She displays self respect and doesn't take this type of man seriously. Just because he's "handsome" and "popular" doesn't make him desireable to a woman with standards.

Lastly, my man reason for liking Belle so much, is because she doesn't take other people's crap. My favorite scene in the entire movie is after she is attacked by wolves and the beast saves her. He was injured in the scrap and she is trying to help heal his wounds. But it hurts so he yells at her for it. It's my favorite part because she yells right back at him. Then he fires back but so does she. This goes back and forth until she finally gets the last word in. And she's right. She wins the arguement. I believe she was the first princess to actually display real anger but even better, she stands up for herself. She doesn't just sit back and take the verbal abuse. She fires back and evens the playing field which again may be the first sign of gender equality in a Dinsey princess movie.

So, thos are my arguements defending Belle. I feel it is a pretty solid platform and I stand by it. I think she is one of the few classic Disney princesses that a little girl could look up to and actually get a positive learning experiene from her. I did. At least those are the things I learned from her. It's ok to be the nerdy bookworm. Have some self respect when it comes to guys. Stand up for yourself. Thanks Belle!