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Look, before we get into this article it's important to clarify that we're not saying that we agree with the opinions shared in this presentation. We know how precious this couple is to the fandom, and we're not trying to mess with that. All we're saying is that when it comes to Belle, Beast, and Gaston, there's some information here that we had not considered in the past. When you add in the context of political climate and what we know about French history... it's *possible* that Belle *maybe* should have explored other options, up to and including staying single or choosing to marry Gaston even if it wasn't for love.
Los Angeles-based EW correspondent Dana Schwartz put together a 16-slide PowerPoint presentation about why Belle likely would have been better off in the long-run had she gone ahead and married Gaston. Now, we're not expecting die-hard Disney fans to love what they're about to read...but we urge you to come at this with an open mind.
This whole thing started with Dana putting up the following chart about Disney villains.
People couldn't help but notice that Gaston was rated as having, by far, the most valid point of view. That, of course, left people like:
But Dana wasn't fazed! Homegirl came ready to battle. In a series of tweets, she laid out her 16-page magnum opus in defense of the approximately-barge-sized Gaston.
Brace yourselves. We're going in.
Dana starts with the obvious selling points, like the fact that Gaston is a great hunter and that would make him an excellent provider in 18th century France. He's muscular, popular, and a good singer — all pluses! In contrast, Beast is grumpy, never sings, and only hangs out with people he pays.
These side-by-side slides happened:
Twitter
Twitter
Dana then hits you in the gut by establishing a timeline that shows Belle and the Beast, a.k.a. Prince Adam, were pretty likely to have gotten caught up in the French revolution. As a prince and princess, the pair would have been walking, talking targets. Had she married Gaston, it was more likely that Belle would have survived, and possibly been quite happy.
An artist's rendering:
Twitter
So, as expected, the die-hards were up in arms immediately:
But #TeamGaston had some pretty heavy hitters on their side:
And pretty soon it was a full-on fight:
In the end, people kind of landed on one undeniable truth: Belle should have just swerved on them both. #AllTheSingleLadies.