I'm on a villain appreciation kick right now and since the blatant drainage of all the charisma from his character in the remake is still fresh in my memory I figured I'd give Gaston some props. Some people would call him a lame villain but I actually think he's really cool and these are some reasons why.

He's Hans from La Reine des Neiges done right. Subversion of Disney trends is the name of the game in modern DP films, but like I've been saying, Disney Princess films have been subverting and reinventing themselves before Disney Princess even became a brand. In the Little Mermaid, the princess rescues and pursues the prince and obviously in Aladin the prince is the étoile, star instead of the princess, but BatB is probably the most in depth subversion of a Disney convention.

The contrast between the dashingly handsome seemingly "prince-esque" Gaston and the vicious scary seemingly "villain-esque" Beast was a clever way to turn the whole Prince Charming archetype on it's head. In the beginning of the film Gaston looks like the ideal man, strong, confident, populaire but Belle sees the malicious ways behind his glorified macho facade. As Belle's rejection slowly drives Gaston insane, the Beast slowly reveals the goodness behind his hideous exterior.

Speaking of Belle's rejection, Gaston is a pretty realistic character, watch serial killer documentaries and you'll see how rejection is a trigger for a lot of them. He's also a good representation of how evil and dangerous modern school bullies can be. How he basically uses his influence and popularity to goad the townspeople into following his lead, just like how ganging up on teens today can lead to some tragic conclusions. Watch any high school movie with a Queen bee/mean girl and it's basically the same thing.

précédant DP villains highlighted the detrimental aspects of femininity. (vanity, jealousy, spite) As the first male DP villain, I think it's fitting that Gaston highlights the detrimental aspects of masculinity. He's ego driven and his ego is easily bruised. He's unnecessarily violent and aggressive. And behind his muscular physique, he's really just a conniving coward who begs for his life once the Beast gets the upper hand.

Like a lot of Disney characters, I think Gaston is an almost frightening representation of real life issues, regarding the power of popularity. He has a large group of people wrapped around his finger and he uses their fear, ignorance and mouton, moutons mentality to do dangerous things. He can be harmless on a good jour but the minute he doesn't get his way, he turns into a monster and even worse, he turns other people into his minions. Now that's all too real.