A lot of people are disappointed when the Beast changes back. And, okay, a fair amount of that disappointment is because they think the Beast is hot. But it’s not typically why I’m disappointed, and I think a lot of other people are in the same boat.
Beauty is beautiful and kind and perfect. The prince is beautiful and perfect. The Beast is relatable. He’s strange and different and lonely. He’s an outsider, and in my experience just about everyone feels like an outsider, no matter how far inside they are.
Everyone who feels different—which is everyone who exists—can see themselves in the Beast. And a lot of them can’t see themselves anymore in the prince.
If it’s not handled well, watching the Beast become a prince can feel a lot like watching a character magically recover from a disability in the final pages. Like it’s saying the only way you can be happy is to get rid of something that real people can’t or don’t want to get rid of.
I don’t want a happy ending that takes away the part of me that doesn’t fit. I want a happy ending for all of me. I want someone to love me with all of my issues. And I don’t want to see love chase those issues away, because it doesn’t in real life. Sometimes seeing a cure in fiction is wish fulfillment, but other times it feels like a rejection.
I’ve written a lot of retellings of both Beauty and the Beast specifically and other enchanted bridegroom stories. Sometimes I’ve changed him back, and sometimes I haven’t. But I’ve never changed him back at the end of the story. I think if someone suddenly becomes beautiful and perfect and different, we need to spend enough time with him to be sure that he’s still him—that he’s still ours.
Order my Beauty and the Beast retelling, To Be Loved, at waxheartpress.com!
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