With a star-studded cast including Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke, Evans, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, and so many others, the live-action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (2017) was received relatively well compared to other recent live-action remakes of classic favorites.
Among dazzling sets and beautifully-executed musical numbers, we saw new diversity in the supporting cast, clarification on what some would consider plot holes, and a few explanations for curious conundrums. My personal favorite additions are the build-out of Belle’s mother to round-out her character a bit and the explanation of the magical amnesia that caused the whole town to forget a prince and a castle in the nearby woods.
Additionally, some of the classic characters of our fairy tale experienced a bit of a shift in temperament. Belle and the Beast are, of course, fairly consistent, as is Maurice and our gang of castle servants. But others are a bit more realistic. Even our villain’s sidekick LeFou, literally “the fool” in French, is less a punchline and more moral compass. Not to mention, Josh Gad. But his fearless leader takes a sinister turn from arrogant and closed-minded to narcissistic and murderous.
Gaston’s character develops in several key, gruesome ways that take the original character from self-centered, dangerous villain to a devious, calculated predator.
Okay, let’s say this upfront: the original representation of Gaston is problematic; he has several alarming lyrics that are maintained in both versions and his primary actions (relentless pursuit of Belle, conspiracy to remove Maurice from the picture, and general fearmongering within the town to incite a mob) remain crucial to the plot. But despite the dashing creature that is Luke Evans, Gaston’s character develops in several key, gruesome ways that take the original character from self-centered, dangerous villain to a devious, calculated predator.
Second, let’s acknowledge the world has changed in many ways since the original animated film was released in 1991 and Gaston has not aged well. Now, part of this shift in character perception is the world after #MeToo and the refusal to excuse harmful behavior and another part is truly the ability for a live-action actor to inflect emotions where an animation may not have range to capture it. Either way, the crux is Belle gives Gaston clear indication that she is not interested and he continues to pursue her aggressively.
How pursuit becomes hunting
In general, the film makes a point of consistently comparing Gaston’s un-reciprocated pursuit of Belle to hunting. He corners her on more than one occasion, follows her through the market, and gets a door slammed in his face because he cannot take a hint. But Gaston also makes oblique references to his pursuit as a hunt and Belle as prey. This echoes the medieval Romantic literary tradition of depicting the pursuit women as a hunt, often in pursuit of a deer, or hart. Gaston’s obsession with hunting (“I use antlers in all of my decorating.”) also appears to represent his veracious appetite for women in general. This is reflected in his language in discussing Belle with LaFou in multiple scenes.
In the first scene in the market, after chasing her down, shoving flowers in her face, and attempting to invite himself to dinner, Belle leaves him and he says to LeFou, “It’ the ones who play hard to get that are always the sweetest prey.” Later, in the tavern scene, Gaston is pouting over Belle’s rejection and he tells LeFou in response to his encouragement to look to other admirers, “A great hunter doesn’t waste his time with rabbits.” He then throws his knife at an artistic depiction of a deer on the wall, hitting it in the heart. Heavy-handed imagery, to say the least.
War hero turned homicidal
In the tavern scene, we see a glimpse of the town’s esteem for Gaston. He is a military veteran from an unspecified war, with paintings depicting his victories. The sequence even has a group of villagers acting out battles. Gaston yearns for his days as an undisputed hero. In fact, he says “It’s hero time” verbatim at least twice. But he is also not used to be being rejected or withheld anything he desires.
In perhaps the most shocking divergence from the original film, Gaston gets physical with Maurice, Belle’s father, when he refuses to give his approval of Gaston’s marriage to Belle. During the scene Gaston strangles, punches, and then attempts to passively murder Maurice by leaving him unconscious, tied to a tree. Perhaps most damning is his comment to LeFou: “If Maurice won’t give me his blessing, then he’s in my way. Once the wolves are finished with him, Belle will have no one to take care of her but me.”
This is also where LeFou begins to diverge from his “yes man” model. He is concerned about the morality of Gaston’s actions, challenging this particular incident by posing the question, “For the sake of exhausting all of our options, do we maybe want to consider a slightly less gruesome alternative?” Later, during the mob storming, LeFou has a line in the song (not in the original song) where he voices his concerns with Gaston’s behavior: “There’s a beast running wild, there’s no question, but I fear the wrong monster’s released.” He ultimately switches sides during the castle siege.
Upping his game with psychological manipulation
While the original character hit the same broad strokes with the psychological manipulation, including gaslighting, our new iteration has mastered it. He flips like a switch in several key instances and leans into his status as village hero to fearmonger.
In an early scene with Belle, following the incident with the clothes washer, Gaston presses the question about Belle marrying and having children. He quickly flips from lovesick suitor to threatening predator. In response to Belle’s outright decline (“Gaston, we could never make each other happy.”), he says, “Oh, Belle. Do you know what happens to spinsters in this village after their fathers die? They beg for scrapes…” while grabbing Belle’s skirts as she backs away from him. When she closes the door in his face, unaffected by his attempt to scare her, he takes a deep breath, glances to make sure no one say the rejection, and chuckles as he walks back toward town.
Later, he manipulates LeFou to lie in front of the village about his attempt to murder Maurice and then quickly turns the tables so that the village is questioning Maurice’s sanity altogether. He introduces the idea that Maurice should be sent to an asylum, a death sentence in 18th century France. As Maurice is sitting in the wagon to be taken away, Gaston bargains with him: “You ever seen the inside of a mad house, Maurice? Just give me your daughter’s hand and I’ll set you free.” Unsuccessful, he prepares to send Maurice off when Belle returns and entreats him to help her father. Laughably, he says to her, “You know how loyal I am to your family…” and then precedes to talk about his “mad ravings.” The malice in each of these moments far exceeds the original character, but definitely fits with the new persona.
In his final act of manipulation, which mirrors the animated film, he pleads for his life when the Beast has the upper hand during their battle and then immediately tries to murder him again. In both versions, Gaston’s death is an accident that cannot be blamed on the Beast to retain his purity as our hero.
All this said, Luke Evans is masterful in his portrayal of Gaston’s mental state, while injecting humor along the way. His facial expressions add to the illusion of Gaston flipping between his “nice” persona and his overbearing persona. The way he moves in scenes with Belle mirrors a predator approaching wounded prey and he nails the general air of arrogance.
A villain for our times indeed.
The Character of a Happy Life 