True As It Can Be

In celebration of the final Beauty and the Beast live action trailer, I have decided to finally post an update.

(You can see the first trailer here and the second one here.)

Yes, it took Belle to bring me back to this blog.

And I need to be one-hundred-percent honest here.

I adore Belle.

Yes, I know that this just leaves a door wide open for the “Stockholm Syndrome” argument, and “Gaston wasn’t really that bad”, or “The Enchantress is the real villain, who does that to a little boy?”

But let’s just put that aside for now.

I love Belle, the character. Some people have Superman, I have a girl who sings to teapots.

I know people around the world understand, and empathise, when I say I am obsessed with love Disney – but to me, Belle is different.

Growing up, my parents owned a Post Office. And every day, after coming back from school, my siblings and I had to sit at the back quietly and wait until 6 or 7, whist my parents checked the stock, counted the money, and worried over every penny that wasn’t there.

I was (at the time) the oldest of three. And even though my younger brother and sister understood that we couldn’t disturb them too much, they would get tired – or worse, bored.

“Tired” was infinitely preferable. Then they could just go to sleep.

“Bored” days were stressful. We had to think of games that utilised an awful lot of imagination, with the least amount of sound we could muster. We didn’t always succeed.

I pity both my parents and their employees to this day. It can’t have been easy to count thousands of pounds of money, whilst listening to our din. I can barely pay attention to myself.

But that brings me to Belle.

Fortunately, growing up, there was a very big (at least, so it seemed to me) library. Not only that, but it was one of those libraries that had an old-fashioned exterior, but with a more modern décor.

That place was my refuge. Whenever I could, and especially in the holidays, I would go to that library, dragging my somewhat reticent brother and sister behind me.

(Thankfully, they know better now.)

There’s that iconic scene in Beauty and The Beast, where the Beast surprises Belle with that beautiful library. I remember watching that scene for the first time, and feeling my heart ache.

And fortunately, that is what happens every time I walk into any library now.

I can’t quite describe it, but a library feels like home to me.

So although Belle may not be the only Disney Princess I love, she’s certainly very special to me. It was the first time that I wanted to be smart, that I wanted to do well – and she was the first character who understood the feeling of wanting to do more.

It was the first time that I told myself that it was okay to constantly be stuck in a book – as long as I didn’t fear the prospect of rising up to the challenge in reality as well.

That it was okay to be kind, and brave – but mostly that I needed to stop apologising for my interests.

So no matter what happens, come March, I will be in that line, waiting to watch Beauty and The Beast, and just hoping to relive that sense of wonder.

(Also, just LOOK at that cast. This film is going to be nothing short of phenomenal.)

Sahrish

Image taken from: http://www.1023jackfm.com/2016/11/02/belle-of-the-ball/