A yellow dress and some voice lessons would not have stood in the way of Emma Watson teaching woman of all ages what it means to be both strong and elegant'; however, it did help keep the attention of our future woman leaders under the age of 11.
"Beauty and The Beast" is ranked number one in the box for two weeks in a row. With a weekend gross income of $90,426,717 and a total gross income of $319,032,604, it's become the year's top opening so far, a new best for March releases, AND it ranks seventh for all time. "Beauty and the Beast" is foreseen to follow in the footsteps of its Oscar-winning Disney counterparts.
Even the trailer of the movie has set records for the most views in 24-hours.
With 27.6 million views in its first 24 hours, it is clear that Emma Watson's strong female lead takes major responsibility for these accomplishments.
As many people agreed, director Bill Condon could not have picked a better actress to play Belle. Watson herself promotes the role of an equally classy and strong woman.
Which is why she initially turned down the role of Cinderella.
“[Belle] manages to keep her integrity and have a completely independent point of view. She's not easily swayed by other people's perspective — not swayed by fear-mongering or scapegoating"
Watson explained that Cinderella was simply too passive of a character, while book-loving Belle was a heroine that resonated with her.
"I love that [Belle] is an activist within her own community. We had her teaching another young girl in the streets to read and that's wonderful. I felt like her protector more than anything else," Watson says. "It was all there to begin with, I had nothing to fix, I just had to keep her pure.
Watson is frequently seen by the media outwardly speaking of the feminist movement, so it is no surprise that Belle quite vividly teaches children important messages about being a woman.
"There's this kind of outsider quality that Belle had, and the fact she had this really empowering defiance of what was expected of her.”
She even went ahead and added some detail to her character to make the audience understand where Belle gets her brilliance, compassion, and determination to create her own destiny.
Watson, who is known and commended for playing strong female characters, believes that the roles she portrays often shape who she is as a person. She is unafraid to turn down a role if she feels that she (and her fans) will not learn something meaningful from her character.
That being said, it is no surprise that themes such as independence, courage, and freedom of thought were stressed by the character Belle’s actions as a lesson to be learned by the young girls who are now planning their "Beauty and the Beast" costumes for this Halloween.
"In a strange way, she challenges the status quo of the place she lives in, and I found that really inspiring." - Emma Watson
Watson took on the lead character of Belle who, throughout the movie, does not succumb to the typical “damsel in distress” that many other Disney princesses illustrate. Belle is the most relevant and admirable Disney princess, able to teach females of all ages the art of being a fierce yet elegant woman.
