La belle et la bête, pourquoi Gaston n'arrive pas draguer Belle ?

Some argue that Gaston leading the villagers toward the Beast's castle was coming from a noble intention, against what he saw as a threat for the village. It could have been understood if the Beast harmed innocent villagers but that was not the case. And that was not Gaston's original plans. The original plan was born from something irrationnal and selfish. His refusals to acknowledge Belle's refusals. His actual plan involves bribery to commit Belle's father to an insane asylum unless Belle agrees to marry him. Because Maurice is a bit different than the rest of the town, Gaston takes assumption that Maurice is not very sane. Gaston sees him as an easy mark and a expeditious way to marry Belle. The bribed asylum overseer is not an upstanding citizen. He knows Maurice is harmless but cannot resist the deplorable plot of Gaston. He admits it " Maurice is harmless ". But he says that he loved Gaston's plot. He knows it's wrong but he loves it for that reason. Asylums, especially the older ones, were notorious for experimenting and torturing their patients. It could be impossible to get them out of facility. People that were saw as not fit to society were frequently put in because people didn't want to deal with them. People could either be committed here for serious mental illness either for no serious reason at all. These supposed places of healing were overcrowded jails essentially with an extra perk of care mostly consisting of torture in the form of " experimental treatments ", and other forms of control. Sanitization was not a priority. And Gaston thinks this would be a fitting fate for his would be father in law. French asylums seem a bit different than American sanitoriums, having been rreated during the french revolution as a place for citizens " to get rationnal again ". Basically to vote rationally. Some were ok but other private ones were for past nobility paying lavishly to stay out of political prison and execution. Then there were the overcrowded asylums with all the complications Upset to see that Maurice was not at his home, that he couldn't arrest him to make him go to asylum, Gaston forces his closest friend to freeze in cold for days while keeping watch outside. Gaston convinces the people of the town that his future father in law, harmless, eccentric was a danger to them all and that their only choice was to lock him up far away. This whole blackmail attempted on Belle looks like the dilemma Belle faced at the beginning of the movie but rather than mellowing out and learning love like the beast does, Gaston only heats up more and and more into dangerous violence. The Beast lets Belle go to her father because he loves her. Gaston in the other hand will lock her father up in asylum to force Belle to marry him. When Bell still refuses the marriage, Gaston says " She is as crazy as the old man " which is super dangerous to say in a crowd that already locked Maurice up and ready to be put away forever. They could as easily be moved to throw Belle in there with him. The only reason this doesn't work out is that Belle defends his father's sanity by showing proof ot the Beast, sad and in pain for losing her. But that's not even the spark that ignites the " kill the beast " movement. The townsfolk is stunned to find that raving Maurice wasn't so disillusioned sure, but it's not until Gaston realizes Belle " has feelings ' for the Beast that he becomes enraged and enters his own true " beast mode ". All because the prince Beast has won Belle's heart while Gaston could not. Gaston then ignites the crowd with his own anger and rage to hunt the Beast. He overplays every citizen's concern to his own end, manipulating the villagers into thinking that the Beast will come for their childrens.
Ironically, no one listened to Maurice when he was a " lunatic raving about a beast ". But now with crazy old Maurice took away everyone is on board with the Beast's existence because of Gaston's stark raving rage fueled insistence that the Beast is a menace despite Belle's protestations. The townsfolk are also not blameless. The line of the song they sing on their way to the castle say it all :" We don't like what we don't understand. " " We will save our village and our lives ". " We will kill the Beast ". Rather than trying to understand something a little different, the villagers ironically resort to mass hysteria and mob mentality with a single purpose : kill the beast. Maybe they are the ones that should be taken to the asylum after all. As for Gaston, he strokes their fears, builds upon them and exegerrates them until everyone can only act with hatred and fear. he is a mouthpiece for the little sleepy town. And he has no limits. He didn't have to twist anyone's arm to show up menacingly and carry weapons to capture Maurice. But he will make sure they are used. All it took was to switch their attention from being frightened by the Beast to end the Beast by playing into their darkest fears and exagerrating them. He knew what he was doing and he did it well. The town had a voice to give them permission to act on their fear and and lock the eccentic inventor and his " nothing like the rest of us " daughter in a cellar. Now in his element of power with his new quarry, Gaston throws away Belle like she was nothing, telling " If you are not with us, you are against you. " She was only a mean to an end : the prettiest couple in the village. Gaston couldn't bear anyone but him having the prettiest bride even if he is not really into her for what she is. He actually made her public enemy number 1 ( or 2 with the Beast on top spot ) so he can only distance himself from her, discard her.
The only ending for Gaston was what he got. He took too much pleasure in his single sided fighting with the Beast. When the Beast fights back, we see him lose all his confidence, and ultimatly on the verge of death : Let me go. Please don't hurt me. I will do anything. Anything. " He doesn't want competition. He wants to be the best, whatever that is and whatever cost including being a sneaky backstabbing worm. The reason Gaston worked so well as a villain is that he has no limits. Then he shows us just hos depraved he is. And the town has readily delegated him as their mouthpiece. Their voice of hatred that they don't dare to say themselves. Gaston is too eager to sacrifice a harmless old man to torture, kill the Beast with his back turned and incite a whole village to violence all of this because he doesn't get this way. And the village was eager to follow. If Belle didn't try to proof Maurice's sanity with the magic mirror by showing the Beast, who knows where that mob's angry, violent energy would have been directed at. Probably on Belle herself and on Maurice's cottage and inventions. Gastond didn't care where the crowd's anger was directed at. belle just rejected him again so she was on his list too. I don't think Gaston even knows what he wants and he might not even know himself beyond what that little town society expects from him. He is like a black hole never filled because he will never be happy, because he will never know what actually make him happy. That would take some soul searching and brutal honesty with himself which I don't see Gaston caring one hoot about. He collect things, animal trophies, the prettiest girl, the town's admiration all to be the best, not necessarly human but the best. The movie does the beast / best, who is really human dance very well. The Beast has control and limits while Gaston doesn't. Gaston feels like a real world villain because he is.

L'op qui n'a jamais pris la dogpill