THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
It was not just the movies I was in love with. It was the story in general. I was first introduced to it at my school library in 8th grade. I was at the highest level of reading, the white star books. There was a very limited selection of books in that category since not very many people can reach that level before high school. Anyways, I was supposed to pick a book for a reading log. I had never heard of any of the books in the white star section so I just closed my eyes and picked a random one. Of course, it was The Scarlet Pimpernel. I tried reading it, but I was so confused. The language was hard and the french words and names just made it worse. I couldn't get through the first chapter and I was tempted to put it back after over a week of trying. I finally asked my grandpa (since he knows literally EVERYTHING) if he knew what it was about. He gave me a brief outline of the plot and made sure I knew what the French Revolution was (which I did know a little about). Eventually I was hooked. I found a movie version made in 1982 that was absolute perfection! It was exactly how I pictured the book in my mind.
So that's how I was introduced, moving on. The whole point of the story is people (mainly a french actress married to an english aristocrat, Marguerite, and a citoyen of the Republic of France, Chauvelin) trying to figure out the identity of a man who rescues aristocrats from being executed at the guillotine. What does this have to do with looking beyond appearances? Well, the man, the Scarlet Pimpernel, is an English aristocratic fop, Sir Percival (Percy) Blakeney. And when I say fop, I mean FOP! He is like the biggest idiot ever, obsessed with fashion and making up poems. The book says that he would be abnormally handsome except for the lazy look in his eye. In the movie, he is constantly critiquing Chauvelin’s fashion sense. (In fact, one of my favorite scenes involves him completely dissing French fashion and politics. So funny!). However, despite what he appears to be, he is actually a highly intelligent, brave, and strategic man who always knows what’s up. But because of his persona of a lazy fop, no one suspects him of being the Scarlet Pimpernel, not even his wife.
DISNEY
I have divided this into three categories just because I love talking about Disney movies :P These are not the only examples, but they are the most obvious examples selected from my top five favorite Disney movies (5- Beauty and the Beast, 4- The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 3- Aladdin, 2- Tangled, 1- The Lion King).
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
This movie used to scare the bejeebers out of me when I was little (no, really. I would run out of the room crying). Not because of the beast, but because he gets stabbed at the end D: However, now that I’m older, it’s become one of my favorite Disney movies. The most obvious example of “it’s not what it seems” is the beast. He is viewed as a large, scary monster with a short temper. The first impression of him in the movie is his horned shadow looming over Maurice (Belle’s father, for those who are not clued in to this movie). Then he-- with his deep, scary voice-- threatens Maurice, telling him he’s unwelcome, and then throws him in the dungeon. Yeah, not someone you’d want to be best friends with right? Even Belle said so, “I don’t want to have anything to do with him”. Little did she know (or did we know) that he’s actually short-tempered and isolated because he is ashamed of his appearance.
I’ve also determined that he was eleven years old when he was transformed because he has until his 21st year to break the spell and Lumiere informs Belle in 'Be Our Guest' that “ten years we’ve been rusting”. This gives a reason for the beast’s lack of social skills. He grew up isolated from everyone and never really grew up, I think. This fact is further proven when he sulks about how he doesn’t know how to talk to Belle, he acts like a big baby when Belle is tending to his wounds, and he doesn’t know how to properly use silverware. In short, he is actually an insecure little boy hiding beneath his ferocious exterior. At the end of the movie, his true physical form is revealed as he is transformed into a “handsome” prince (I put quotation marks around handsome because I personally don’t think he’s that great. I think it's really the hair that ruins it for me, his face isn't so bad.)
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
Well... there was a whole lot I missed about this movie when I was younger. Lots of adult subjects in this one. I liked it as a kid, but it wasn’t really my favorite. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to really appreciate everything in it. The music is just epic, the animation is amazing, and the story has been cleaned up a lot from the original novel (believe it or not. The novel is TERRIBLE). The movie begins with Clopin (the jester guy. Nobody seems to know his name, which depresses me, because he is one of my favorite Disney characters) telling the story of the mysterious bell ringer to some children. He tells them to determine “who is the monster and who is the man”. Quasimodo is hidden away from the world because of his physical deformities. His guardian, Frollo, is constantly telling him that he is ugly and that he would never fit in with society. This is in fact proven true when Quasimodo does eventually venture out of the cathedral to attend a festival. He is tied up and pelted with fruit for having “the ugliest face in all of Paris”. I would always skip that part when I was younger, I hated seeing such cruelties to such a sweet man.
Even as a child I clearly saw that these people were stupid for thinking him a monster just because he was deformed. While he may be ugly, his heart is genuinely kind and full of love. He is extremely agile and athletic, spending a lot of time climbing over the roof and walls of Notre Dame. He also spend a lot of his time building a model of Paris and the people that live there. That shows a lot of talent right there. However, all his talent and potential is overlooked just because he is not physically appealing. Frollo, on the other hand, is a high official in Paris (respected? Most likely. Liked? Probably not). He kills Quasi’s mother and almost kills Quasi because he’s “a monster”. Then he literally burns down Paris, searching for Esmerelda because of his own stupid lustful desires. He sees evil in everything, but himself. By the end, Clopin’s question is answered. Just because Quasimodo is ugly doesn’t make him a monster and just because Frollo looks normal doesn’t make him a man.
TANGLED
This wouldn’t be my blog without mentioning this movie :P This one has several examples of looking beyond appearances. Rapunzel seems to be a strange girl locked away in a tower, but she’s actually a lost princess. Gothel appears to be a loving mother, trying to protect her daughter from the dangerous world, but she’s actually a conniving and selfish woman who kidnaps Rapunzel for her own gain. The pub thugs appear to be violent, scary men, but they are friendly guys who like playing the piano, cooking, sewing, putting on puppet shows, and collecting ceramic unicorns XD. However, I am going to focus on my personal favorite “it’s not what it seems” scenario. Flynn Rider. I know what you’re thinking, “but Kelsi, he’s not ugly. He’s the handsomest leading man Disney’s ever had!” (OK, you probably weren’t thinking that, but I was :P).
Anyways, let me explain. From the very start, he seems to be a carefree, sarcastic, overconfident thief, whose only thoughts are on himself and getting himself richer. However, as the movie progresses, his true self begins to emerge. An orphan boy who turned to a life of thieving because he needed something to aspire to. Once he confesses his real name (Eugene Fitzherbert. XD poor guy) and life, we begin to see what he is really like. He’s kind of a sap and a sweetheart, trying to make Rapunzel’s birthday the best it can be even though it was going beyond their deal made at the beginning of the movie. So what seemed to be an egotistical liar turned out to be a sweet guy who was willing to give up his life for someone he cares about.MERLIN
Boredom can lead to great things as the story of how I discovered this awesome TV show proves. I was extremely bored over, I think it was, Winter Break. I was on my computer, hopelessly searching for something to do since I was home alone for the day and dead bored. I thought, “I should watch a Disney movie I haven’t seen in a while”. I went and found a list of all Disney movies on Wikipedia, hoping to find one that I could look up on Youtube or something. I clicked on Sword in the Stone, deciding that it was probably a good choice, but I decided I wanted to read about it... just because. It had other references at the bottom. One talked about a TV show about Merlin the wizard. I clicked on the link and I read about the show. My curiosity was piqued so I looked up one of the episodes on Youtube. The first one got my attention enough to want to watch the second. After that, I was hooked. I watched a good portion of the first season that day. Now I’m eagerly awaiting the fourth season to come out at the end of this year.
Anyways, moving on. Merlin is centered around, well... Merlin before King Arthur becomes king. Merlin is sent to Camelot by his mother as a young man because “he is special” (meaning he was born with powerful magic which is apparently unusual) and doesn’t fit in. Eventually, Merlin meets Prince Arthur, and although they hate each other at first, they become friends after Merlin is made his personal servant. There’s a catch though. Anyone caught using magic in Camelot is executed. (It’s a long story as to why this is. You find out as the series goes on, why King Uther has banned magic). So the concept of looking beyond appearances comes into play again. Merlin appears to everyone as Arthur’s bumbling idiot servant who can’t do anything right, when in fact Merlin is to one day become the most powerful wizard the world has ever known. Only a few know who Merlin really is (Gaius- the court physician and Merlin’s guardian/mentor, Lancelot, and the Great Dragon who is imprisoned under the castle). Lancelot even comments in the season 3 finale that Merlin is “the bravest of us all and [Arthur] doesn’t even know it”. Since magic is forbidden and even feared in Camelot, Merlin admits to feeling totally alone and almost frightened because of what he is. We all know though what he becomes. So what appears to be a bumbling idiot is actually a very special boy with a good heart and great bravery.So I shall be wrapping up my very long post post on looking beyond appearances with a point. I can’t pinpoint to why exactly I find this concept so appealing, but I do. I guess it’s the intrigue of what these characters really are. Like with Merlin, I know what he is supposed to become, but I wonder when Arthur will find out that he even has magic much less how powerful he is. Or with the Scarlet Pimpernel, I enjoy watching Marguerite realizing who her husband really is as much as I enjoy watching Chauvelin get outwitted by the same man he has declared an utter fool. Disney movies in general are just awesome for a number of reasons, but I’ve noticed that the moral to a lot of them is seeing inner beauty or discovering that it’s what’s inside that counts.
Remember that always. It’s what’s inside that counts. It doesn’t matter if you’re deformed like Quasimodo or have transformed into a hideous beast. You are special. Don’t struggle with your true self like Flynn/Eugene did and someday everyone will see that your special traits are not something to hide or scorn, but they actually make you special, just like Merlin. Everyone has worth. Everyone means something, especially in Heavenly Father’s eyes. Never, ever forget that :)
