The Eye of the Beholder--Best One Yet!

I hope you are feeling better!! Maybe this will help...

Okay I have saved the best one for the last week. Please watch this video clip from Saturday Night Live. (There may be a ten second commercial at the beginning--I didn't know any way to fix that.) http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/beauty-and-the-beast/1167711/

This is the clip I hoped to show to the class but the semester became so busy and flew by. I loved this clip because it is very funny, but I think it also offers a deeper meaning that relates to part of what we talked about this semester. Who really is the beast? The fairy tales teach us that the character who does not live up to society's standards of physical attractiveness is a beast. Disney really furthers this belief by making all of its Princesses fit a predetermined standard of beauty, like we have discussed in class. The "beautiful" princesses are all very skinny, have long flowing hair, perfect skin, big doe eyes, and tiny little features. They also quite often have large breasts and low-cut tops. But in the SNL clip, the beast is not satisfied with the woman's looks and says, "Oh my darling, I can hardly wait for your transformation!" The look she gives him is priceless. He thinks that she is the beast, and she thinks that he's the beast. Since she is adhering to Disney's definition of beautiful, she can't believe that he thought she was the beast. I think SNL is making fun of Disney and their stereotypical princesses when the beast says, "Well, you're very slender and I like a big ol' ass." It's wonderful. I think most men agree with the beast on this subject, but our society tries to brainwash us all into thinking that women need to look like a Victoria's Secret model and be tall, thin, and busty. Who are we to say who is a beauty and who is a beast? We all look very different and should love and accept each other however we are. I'm working on this, too, and do not mean to suggest that I have arrived at a state of perfect love for all people, or anything like that. I admit I have alot of trouble with tongue rings--they tend to gross me out. But I can see that many people in the young generation think they are super attractive. Like the beast quoted in this SNL clip, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." 'Tis very true!