Rewrites with Rachel: Belle
Today's movie of choice is Belle. It's a 2021 musical anime with stunning visuals and beautiful songs. I saw the trailer and thought it looked awesome. Sadly, the movie was kind of disappointing. So let's look at ways it could have been better.
If you haven't seen the movie, here's the Google synopsis: A high school student becomes a globally beloved singer after entering a fantastic virtual world. She soon embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of a mysterious beast who's on the run from ruthless vigilantes.
Spoilers ahead!
Big Changes
#1: Remove a storyline
There are two major storylines in the movie. 1) Suzu learning to overcome her mother's death. 2) Beauty and the Beast. If you can't tell already, the two did not mesh well. It gave the whole movie tonal whiplash as we swerved from real world emotional growth to VR Beauty and the Beast.
The biggest change I would make is removing one of those storylines entirely. And based on what was in the movie, I'd removed the Beauty and the Beast one. First off, it totally ripped off the Disney version. Some shots were almost identical. Secondly, it didn't bring anything fresh as a retelling except it was in a VR world.
You could still have the VR aspect with the other storyline. Suzu could still use the world as a way to sing again and grow as a character to the point where she doesn't need it anymore. Classic, but powerful when done right.
#2: Improve the theme
The theme of this movie was (I believe) standing up for others when no one else will. That's a great theme. I just think it was handled poorly. The theme is foreshadowed when Suzu's mom dies by saving a child from a flooded river. Which might be okay if there wasn't a literal beach full of people just standing there and doing nothing to help save the child or her mom. Even the men.
The theme continues when Suzu discovers the "beast" she's falling in love with is a boy with an abusive father trying to protect his younger (and probably autistic) brother. So Suzu goes off to confront his father alone, who may I repeat, is proven to be PHYSICALLY ABUSIVE. And her friends and father are all okay with this. He even hurts Suzu and no one does anything about it. This has problems on so many levels.
So yes, I'd change all of that so it's way less problematic. Of course, that theme doesn't work as well without the Beauty and the Beast storyline, so it would have to be changed entirely. I'd probably go with a theme about growing through grief or something like that.
Small Changes
#1: Explain more
A vast majority of the movie takes place inside a VR world where your avatar is designed based around what they learn from linking to your brain. (Yes, it is creepy.) But that is pretty all they tell you. The VR world is beautiful, but I don't understand how it works. It left me very confused a lot of the movie. A few simple bits of exposition, maybe when she arrives the first time, would be great.
#2: Change the romance
Suzu falling for the beast in this story just didn't work for me. Mostly because she didn't know the kid in real life. I thought he'd be revealed as the cute boy she goes to school with that's been taking care of her since her mom died, and it wasn't. I think he'd be a much better match for her. Also, the "beast" boy is younger than her, if I remember correctly.
(There also was a point where I questioned if the "beast" was her father, acting out of grief at his wife's death and his daughter's distance, but then realized they were setting up a romance and that would be weird. Although without the romance part, that could be pretty cool.)
I'm still sad this movie disappointed, because it had so much potential. Again, it was so beautiful to look at, but the plot was lackluster, confusing, and problematic at times with a letdown of a climax. I would recommend checking out the soundtrack though, it's very pretty.
Have you seen Belle? What are your thoughts on it? Tell me in the comments.
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