It’s a Pity and a Sin’:Images of Disability, Trauma and Subverted Power in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
It’s a Pity and a Sin’: Images of Disability, Trauma and Subverted Power in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Summary/Abstract: This article explores parallels between society’s treatment of those with disabilities and the characters in Disney’s 1991 and 2017 versions of Beauty and the Beast. By comparing Gabrielle de Villenueve’s text with the films, I will highlight where they deviate from the text in order to connect with a disability stereotype. With a focus on the perceived connection between moral character and physical appearance, my article will analyse how the character of The Beast perpetuates the idea that only those with moral deficiencies become disabled. Employing Wolf Wolfensberger’s classifications of deviancy and disability, such as the eternal child, the sub-human organism and others, the article seeks to prove that Disney continues to promote pejorative images of the disabled body. Using trauma theory, I will illustrate how the curse of the Beast is a source of trauma. Lastly, this article analyses Foucault’s principle of subject and object, focusing on how the most recent film versions of Beauty and the Beast posits able-bodied characters as subjects over the disabled ones.

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