I enjoyed your review Kate.  Considering where Disney was, and where they are now, the progress is significant.

Beauty and the Beast is as contrary as I've always found it.  On the one hand, the escapist fantasy aspect is thrilling, with dark woods, a fantasy castle, and a love story at the center.  But is the movie a double-standard that says it's OK for a man to look (and act) like a Beast but a woman must be beautiful (Belle) or she is not a worthy heroine?

I was somewhat taken aback by your video game comment.  While women surely dislike stereotypes directed at them, surely you do not believe all young men are violent people in need of repair?  I sometimes wonder what goes through the minds of critics who seem liberal in thought towards part of the population while openly disdainful of another.  Constant contact with today's youth reveals to me that young boys are much as they ever were, just more computer-literate.