Disney Princess Article: Princess Analysis || Part 2: Belle

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posted by CRaZy_rawR

This is part two of my makala series, and we're moving onto Belle, who is ranked twelve in my vipendwa list.

Previous Parts:
link

My Original Thoughts

The first time I watched "Beauty and the Beast" was a loooong time ago. My mother loved, and still loves, that movie, along with my sister. Naturally, they made me watch it over.. and over.. and over. No matter what though, I never got a real opinion of Belle. She was just kind of there. At all my costume parties, and such, my mom and older sister always tried me to dress up in Belle attire for Halloween, but I left that for all the other girls. ;) I was just never a Belle fanatic.

My Thoughts Now

Some habits die hard, because I'm still not in the Belle fandom. (or "BatB" for that matter) And let me just say, I hate how some people find her the most intelligent! Her vocabulary is somewhat lengthy, but just because reads vitabu (which she specifically alisema she reads fiction) does not make her smart!

Okay, okay, rant mode off. Either way though, I don't upendo Belle, I don't really like Belle, but I don't dislike her. I upendo her bravery; I consider her one of the most brave selfless princesses, but I don't really like much else. I used to like Beast, the angry jerk. Then, he got Belle. After that, Beast goes all lovey-dovey like Belle and is ruined lolol.

Beauty

No doubt about it, Belle can be beautiful. The reason I say can is because I find her very inconsistent. Her ever-changing lip color gets on my nerves. And tbh, Belle's hair is super stringy and not my inayopendelewa color. Her eyes are really pretty, even though I usually don't like hazel-ish eyes. I upendo her skin tone and dayum I adore them cat nails! Overall, she ends up toward the high middle of my orodha for this.

Wardrobe

I don't hate Belle's wardrobe; it's just not my favorite.. A lot of it is just meh for me. The blue dress not that impressive, along with the green dress, and the cape (of which I hate that hideous pink-ish color.) I do somewhat like the yellow ballgown. My inayopendelewa of hers would have to be the pink dress Belle wears UNDER the ugly cape. Now that pink color suits her and it simply looks lovely.

Voices
Speaking

I don't particularly have a problem with Belle's speaking voice. It's nice, but I have no reason to upendo au hate it.

Singing

This is the one place where my opinion has changed vastly. I used to absolutely HATE Belle's annoying imba voice. Something about it almost made me cringe. Then, I really started to focus on the voice zaidi each time I watched "BatB." Turns out, I adore it now! It's beautiful, and it's almost hard to explain. :)

BATBfan4lief, elsafanatic115 and 5 others like this

MalloMar I agree with this article. I have little to no strong feelings on Belle or Beauty and the Beast. I didn't grow up with the movie, but it got so much praise that I assumed it was a must-see. It's an okay movie. Belle is certainly pretty, but her personality doesn't interest me very much. I admire her kindness. I actually love her speaking voice, not sure why. Her singing voice is nice, too. Overall, I don't dislike her, but I don't really love her either. *blushes* I got called a cutie... Nice article, Annika!

Swanpride Reading makes intelligent, even if you read "just" fiction (which we don't know for sure Belle does, she favour fiction, but the movie suggests that she is interested in everything she can read about). Because fiction is full of information. A better vocabulary is also a sign of intelligence. Reading (and education) aside: Belle shows her smarts in other ways, too. For example when Gaston corners her in her home and she decides to lure him to the door in order to throw him out. That is some really quick thinking. Later she recognises that cockworths is easy to sway with compliments and uses this to her advantage. Now, I am not saying that she is the smartest (Rapunzel and Mulan are both smarter than her) or the best educated (since Merida got formal schooling and she didn't). But she is certainly smart and various levels. And when she was created, she certainly was the smartest, because, well, the alternatives were the classic princesses who don't really display that much smarts, and Ariel, who tends to be downright stupid. Belle was the start of a string of princesses for which "she is smart" was considered an important character trait. There is no reason to be annoyed about it.

CRaZy_rawR When you explain it like that, yes! But that was more directed to the people who's say she is smart simply based on the fact she reads. ^^

shanyuisboss I really like this article! I like that you kept it short and simple but still fun to read. Although I disagree on one thing. First of all, Belle never said that all she reads is fiction. She said that she prefers fiction. I know a lot of people that prefer fiction but still read non fiction. I see that you acknowledged in the comments that you think she is intelligent, but what do you mean by people that say that simple because she reads? I don't think the people that say that mean it for the reason to be that simple. They just don't go into detail explaining why reading the amount she does usually makes you more intelligent. I don't really agree with you on everything in this article, because it is your opinion after all. I personally never found Belle to be as inconsistent as people make her out to be. Anyway, good job.

MaidofOrleans Nice job! Don't agree on everything (Belle is my number one haha) but I liked the article!

Silverrose1991 Lovely article. Belle is one of my favorite princesses: I like her relatively simple, soft personality combined with bravery, selflessness and depth (as in th opposite of being shallow and vapid). She inspires me to get back in touch with my inner bookworm. So I can't agree much, but it was an enjoyable read because you are a natural writer. Btw, I love the clean way you're organizing this series.

audreybrooke I also feel mostly ambivalent about Belle. Well done! :)

8804 Great article, and good analysis! I'm liking this series, CraZy_rawR!!!! I always considered Belle there...as a plot device. I mean, she's supposed to have the beast fall in love with her in order to "break the spell." And there wasn't as much dimension and verve to her personality ( striking out with her own ideas) as happened with other princesses. So, though I like her, it's only ever been "like." It's never been "love."

MadameLee there's a delete scene where she meets enchanted objects in the library,-a telescope, a globe, and a book stand. They all kind of talk her ear off in a sense (from what I saw of it).