The Religious Significance of Beauty and the Beast

Meta
Title:	The Religious Significance of Beauty and the Beast
Creator:	Dot Sconzo
Date(s):	December 1991
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Topic:
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Religious Significance of Beauty and the Beast is a Beauty and the Beast (TV) essay by Dot Sconzo who was a Dominican nun.

It was printed in Beauty and the Beast Concordance.

Some Topics Discussed

• Christian symbolism in fairy tales, including the Beauty and the Beast fable, and specifically the Beauty and the Beast (TV) series
• mention and discussion of many literary books about fairy tales
• comparing the Tunnel World to the church of the Early Christians
• various themes and episodes and how they related to the Bible
• Christianity and Fandom|Christianity and fandom]]

From the Essay

In the spring of 1988, TV Guide’s “Grapevine” contained a quote by Ron Perlman that made a great deal of sense. Mr. Perlman states that, upon obtaining the role of Vincent, he felt it was so perfect that his reaction was “almost a religious one.” This reaction seems very appropriate to me. As the first two seasons progressed, week after week, I saw many Christian elements presented in each episode of B&B. I might add, I believe Ron Perlman’s portrayal of Vincent is in fact the result of God’s intervention.

I could be accused of taking great liberties with B&B, of “reading religion in” where its creator never meant for it to be. But I’m convinced that OUR Creator works that way. God uses whatever is available in today’s world to get His message across, a message of love and acceptance, of compassion and forgiveness. These are some of the messages we receive from B&B. This program is more than a modem-day fairy tale, just as the Bible is more than a work of literature.

I have tried to give some indication of the importance of a single story, as it has evolved throughout the years. One story, interpreted time and time again, is capable of giving us insight into our emotions, our history, our nature as human beings, in delightful and enchanting ways. The stories of the Bible are certainly examples of this. Jesus knew how important stories are, he told us many; as do Vincent and Father with the children.

I have discovered, with the help of my students, that by 9 PM every evening, we’ve seen..every Commandment broken without leaving our living room. Due to the myriads of poorly-done, yet mesmerizing shows, our children are absorbing these transgressions day after day, year after year. In many cases, there is no one who they can look to, to explain Truth to them and young people are growing up buying the myths as dictated by the media: its values, its heroes. As the queen substituted her lamp for the sun, as Elliott Burch tried to substitute his tower for the quality of people’s lives, our society is adept at substituting appearances for integrity and character. Once again, Vincent, himself a fabricated myth, brings us back to what is True. B&B is rejecting a made-up morality as it gives us our world through the eyes of the homeless, the handicapped and the vulnerable. Although I realize that this entire article may be rejected by those who created and produced the television series, I believe that God is using the program to help us in discarding the lies and in reminding us what it means to be Christian.

Other characters from B&B have much in common with Biblical figures. Perhaps the most obvious is Father. We can easily see him as God the Father, who created this “heavenly” place Below. There are certainly many attributes that Father shares with our Father in Heaven. A great distinction, I feel, is the way Father holds on to Vincent. In an attempt to protect him, he all but smothers him. We have come to feel that many of the fears he has for Vincent are unfounded and possibly detrimental. God the Father creates, then gives us free will, trusting and letting go. All creators have to know when to let go. (Ron Koslow, take note...)