Okay so hear me out on this one.

Anyone who is over the age of two has most likely seen the movie "Beauty and the Beast," a touching love story about a beautiful girl who falls in love with a hideous beast because true love is blind. If you know this much then you probably also are aware of the villain of this movie, Gaston. But here's the thing, I don't think that Gaston is that bad of a guy at all. In fact, I am convinced that he is the hero of this classic story.

Now don't get me wrong, I agree that he is extremely arrogant and thinks highly of himself, but let's be real so many famous heroes are the same way. "Iron Man," Prince Naveen from "Princess and the Frog," and Flynn Rider from "Tangled" are all loved heroes, who also have quite the ego.

Also, let's just take a moment to think about the base of the entire plot of "Beauty and the Beast." None of it would have ever happened if the Beast as a young adult wasn't so spoiled and cruel to the witch. So what I'm understanding is that the Beast can get away with that and be a protagonist but when Gaston has an ego he is a villain? I'm just not buying it.

Some people might argue that Gaston is evil because the only reason that he wanted to marry Belle was because she was the most beautiful girl in town, but then if you take some time to think about it, what were the Beast's motives? He needed someone to fall in love with him so the curse that he was under could be lifted. It was clear that he was running out of time and Belle was the only human female option he had. Now maybe it's just me but I would rather be desired by someone who thought I was extraordinarily beautiful than by someone who had basically no other choice than to love me and convince me to love him in return.

Others think that the evilest thing that Gaston did was call Maurice, Belle's father, a lunatic and threaten to throw him in an insane asylum. Yes, from our point of view that seems rather harsh for him to say, but if you put yourself in that situation you would probably do the same thing. Maurice had always been and outsider in the town. Suddenly he is freaking out and claiming that a beast that is not known to exist and no one has ever seen, lives a few miles away and kidnapped his daughter. I think anyone would be a little skeptical. When Maurice finally proves that there is a beast by showing the townspeople the image of him in the mirror they quickly go off to find him. This brings me to my next point.

Gaston hears that the girl that he wished to marry is in severe danger and bravely goes to fight the monster and save the girl. Doesn't this sound familiar? In "Sleeping Beauty," when Prince Phillip fights the dragon and saves the girl he is the hero. In "Hercules," when Hercules saves Megara from the Centaur he is the hero. In "Star Wars," when Luke Skywalker saves Leia from a hideous beast who has enslaved her he is the hero. The list could go on and on.

Yeah, Belle claims that she loves the Beast, but how would you respond to someone who had been kidnaped by a literal animal claiming they had fallen in love with them. You would either think they were lying or they were crazy. Here Gaston is playing the role of the iconic hero and risking his life, yet he is still labeled as the bad guy. Dude can't catch a break.

So there it is. That's why I believe that Gaston really isn't that bad of a guy at all. He, as all characters have flaws but overall I think that he presents himself as a good leader of the town and brave when it comes to fighting for what he cares about.

Do you still think Gaston is a villain? Leave your thoughts below!