A Biblical Basis for Why Belle's the Best ~ By Triniti

     I recently learned from a good friend of our family that the true definition of wisdom is "seeing life through God's point of view." We should look at all things the way that God would look at them. That includes, but is not limited to, the movies that we watch, the books that we read, and the things that we do.


     I was thinking about that as I was mopping the floor. As I was thinking about that, I started thinking about why my favorite Disney Princess was Belle. She always had been, for as long as I could remember. I tried to think of reasons, Biblically, that showed that she was a good character to like.

     Before I continue, I would like to point out that I do not think that people should use frivolous fictional characters as role models. There are a few fictional characters that would be good role models, but most, including Disney Characters, do not fit into that category. 

     As I thought and thought I realized that she has good qualities, but also bad ones. I'll start with her good qualities, then list her bad ones.

     Good Qualities:

• She doesn't look at the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7)
• Gaston is considered handsome by all of the townsfolk. He is an amazing hunter, and everyone adores him. Everyone, that is, except for Belle. Her father, who doesn't get around much, wanting to know if she had met anyone that was kind or that she would be interested in marrying, asks, "What about that Gaston fellow? He's handsome, isn't he?" To which she replies, "He's handsome alright, and rude and conceited..."
• The Beast is very ferocious looking. He is large and domineering, and anyone who looked at him would be scared of him. But after learning more about him, she realizes that he's not a monster, he just looks like one. And this brings us to our next point.
• She is willing to "give up her life for her friends." (John 15:13)
• When Belle comes to find her father, she meets the Beast. In order to release her father, who is deathly ill, she makes a deal with the Beast. "I will take my father's place." Even after she sees what he looks like, she is still more willing to live in a dungeon than she is to let her father do so. 
• She honors her father. (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:2)
• The same reasoning applies from the above. Added here though, after she begins to fall in love with the Beast, she returns to her ill father rather than stay with the Beast. 
• She searches out knowledge and discernment. (Proverbs 8:10-11)
• She reads all the time. Granted, this knowledge is apart from God and therefore means nothing, but no-one else in the village reads anything. Even Gaston comments on this, saying, "It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas....thinking....." 

     Bad Qualities:

• She is not content. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)
• The entire first song is about how she isn't content with where she is in life ("There must be more than this provincial life"). This is a recurring theme in this movie. 
• The knowledge and discernment that she searches out are not from God. 
• Knowledge apart from God is worthless. If you don't seek out God's understanding, then you might as well know nothing. It doesn't matter how many backstories of fictional characters that you know, or how far you have your multiplication memorized. If you don't have a knowledge that is from God, then you have nothing. If you don't know God's plan for salvation through Jesus and understand that you have sinned, then you have nothing. 

     Like I said at the beginning of this post, we cannot go about taking our morals from any frivolous movies. We can, however, judge our movies based off of the Bible. In order to have wisdom we must look at life from God's point of view and that includes what we watch and read. I am not saying not to watch movies with your family. I wrote down some things that are good and bad in one of my all time favorite movies. I'm just saying that we need to be wise in everything that we do, not only in "important" things. Everything that you do is important (1 Corinthians 10:31), and you need to make sure that it is all done "to the glory of God." Otherwise it is purposeless. 

     Thank you for reading! I hope you learned something and are now encouraged to try harder to see life from God's point of view. Look at everything the way that He would. He tells us what to do in His word, the Bible. We just need to take the time to listen.