#stereotypical single man apartment daisy is so important to me

[eeveeights]

sorry my dasira headcanons are not cute and silly theyre all like this

[mermaidsirennikita]

Even though I was used to the melodramatic soap opera that is the Marguerite show my jaw dropped when they showed billy fully drinking in the finale lmao they truly missed the mark on almost every aspect of the book it’s almost impressive

I was... blown away by how rough those final episodes were. Biggest complaints, though I have many:

--The way Camila was just shuffled out of importance in the narrative is... staggering. And sad. This really was just Daisy and Billy Fanservice: The Show. Camila dies two decades earlier than she should, she has two fewer kids than she should, she's treated worse by Daisy and Billy yet tells them to get together, basically, and she loses one of her most powerful moments in the book. The moment where SHE tells Daisy that Billy is in love with her, and it doesn't matter, because nothing will tear Billy and Camila apart. Her ownership of that moment is given to Daisy, a woman who has been a piece of shit to her through the entire show, despite the fact that Camila has been nothing but kind and gracious to her. She's given one moment to tell Daisy what's up, and even that is muted (though I liked how Camila Morrone played it; she's one of the cast standouts for me).

The thing is that if you read interviews, they say they made these changes to give Daisy power, as if they're striking out on this feminist creed lmao, but in doing so they deprive Camila of all the power and agency she had in the book. And Daisy has power. She's single, she's independently wealthy, she's successful, she's adored, she's talented. Her biggest enemy is herself. Camila's power is meant to be this internal strength--despite on the surface seeming like a stereotypical housewife financially dependent on her man, she's got a willpower and a determination to not give up control of her life, and to not let Daisy and Billy and their bullshit wreck the life she wants. They absolutely took that away from her. I fucking hate it.

--By girlbossifying Daisy you basically undermine exactly how much of a mess she was. The show already portrays addiction in an extremely fluffy way. It's so dumb lmao. Have Riley Keough hop around in circles a lot, that is THE FACE OF ADDICTION. Have Sam Claflin be basically obnoxious, that is WHAT ADDICTION LOOKS LIKE. Give me a break. The fact that Daisy had to be shaken into recognizing how bad shit got by other people was... honestly? Kinda real in the book. Like, yeah, she made her final decision to leave, and that was the first step of her claiming power. But she basically had to be slapped into reality by Camila because she was unable to see clearly through this cloud of drugs, and also frankly a life in which, though she worked hard, she did often stumble into success and was born into money.

--Billy falling off the wagon... and not because Teddy died? Lmao? Was HILARIOUS. In the book Teddy dies and Billy I think like, sips a drink; he almost totally relapses, and then he doesn't, and it's very intense. Here, for some reason Teddy lives... The tension of which they totally undermined by showing that he was alive in the 80s, by the way, great writing choice there... and Billy falls off the wagon because his baby, who he previously seemed to give zero fucks about, left his ass. And then we see Sam Claflin give a truly... interesting... off the wagon performance. I say this as someone who thinks Sam CAN act--if I wanted to see a man demonstrate "I'm off the wagon and you can tell because I'm doing crazy eyes on stage", I would've watched Walk The Line.

Fuck, if I wanted to watch "two performers make eyes at each other while the wife glares in the audience", I would've watched Walk the Line. I have issues with Walk The Line, but for real, JUST WATCH WALK THE LINE. The music is much better and it won Reese Witherspoon an Oscar. (REESE. GIRL. WHAT EVEN WAS THIS SHOW. PUT THE NFTS DOWN SLOWLY.) Reese going "YOU CAN'T WALK NO DAMN LINE" in Walk The Line was 10000% more subtle and engaging than anything this show gave me, ever.

--Warren remains great. The standout of this show.

--Karen being all sads face about Graham I... Lol, the point in the book is that Karen looked back on that shit with some fond wistfulness but lived a banger of a life because she ultimately loved herself and her career more than she loved Graham, and she was mature enough to realize that and to realize that she and Graham could not POSSIBLY make each other happy. I just wish we could have a story about a woman who had an abortion and went "no regrets". Camila supporting her was lovely, but that was a blink and you miss it abortion story in a time where we need good abortion stories onscreen.

Maybe they would've had more time for it if we hadn't had as many shots of Daisy hopping around like an energizer bunny. DON'T DO DRUGS KIDS, YOU BECOME A POGO STICK.

"Let's be broken together" and then she realizes it's a bad relationship so she sloughs him back to his wife. Lol I can't.

[temeraaires-blog]

what is lefou's relationship to norms of masculinity? does he think of himself as masculine, or manly? does his attraction to other men factor into his self-image as masculine (or not)? or his role as a complementary personality (that is, a sidekick, a hype man), especially for gaston,?

Oh, my gosh, bless you so much. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to climb this soapbox till you suggested it!   

Edit: Now with screencaps in the analysis under the cut!

Masculine Norms & LeFou

For reference, I’ll be using this handy little definition from the Wikipedia article about masculinity:

 Masculine norms, as described in Ronald F. Levant’s Masculinity Reconstructed, are “avoidance of femininity; restricted emotions; sex disconnected from intimacy; pursuit of achievement and status; self-reliance; strength and aggression, and homophobia.”

Let’s deconstruct that a little in terms of LeFou.

Avoidance of femininity.

On the contrary, he actually seems to embrace his more (quote, unquote) “effemenate” tendencies, or at least doesn’t try to censor them. 

Example: the way he dresses, his cadence, his gestures while talking, etc.

Restricted emotions

Again. Nope. Even though he’s wont to snap back fairly quickly, and will cover up things like embarrassment (clip; deleted scene spoiler), he isn’t afraid to wear his emotions on his puffy little sleeve.

(gosh, where to begin: “It’s never gonna happen, ladies,”  the lip bite followed by the near eye-roll during the “And what does Belle say?” with Gaston, LeFou’s super guilty face after saying that Gaston didn’t try to kill Maurice, I could link or take screenshots but it’ll pretty much sum up to every time LeFou’s on screen.)

 Sex disconnected from intimacy

 I don’t have any definite canon examples for this. But I have to give this one a big fat ‘no’ too. If I have to, I’ll make a big case for reading into the “I’ve been told I’m clingy, but I really don’t get it” line. Simply put: he reads as the type who gets attached.

 Pursuit of achievement & status

Not for himself. I can’t think of a single example in the movie with him going there.

 Self-reliance

This one’s a bit trickier. My favorite definition of self-reliance is  “ the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow their own instincts and ideas.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

So, I’d say we have one! Sure, LeFou can conform a bit but he’s always shown to behave in a way that’s true to himself, and at least suggest that he’s going to get to a place where he will follow his own instincts and ideas, once he’s out from Gaston’s shadow. Even when he’s under Gaston’s thumb, after all, he still suggests his own thoughts - tries to bring Gaston down, offers alternatives, etc. He’s not fully self-actualized on this front at the time of the film, but there’s a case to be made that it’s there.

Strength  & Aggression

Strength? Well, I mean. Not inordinately so. He’s got to be strong enough to be alive and to fight back in the battle, but for obvious reasons, it’s not strength that’s a noticeable thing in him. 

Aggression? The closest we see as passive-aggressiveness in the “I used to be on Gaston’s side but we are so in a bad place right now” or when he’s fighting back at the final battle, but even that’s a little…sunshine-and-daisies cartoonery for me to consider that aggression. 

Homophobia

He’s closeted, but nothing about the performance makes me think he has a lot of homophobia (internalized or otherwise) going down so, nah. If anything,  he’s probably just secretive about it because it’s eighteenth century France.

 So, LeFou’s final score on the norms of masculinity litmus test are: 1/7. A whopping 14%.

So how does this color how he looks at the world around him - or more specifically - himself?

(This is 5 pages long. We’re doing a read-more. Sorry. I hate them in meta too.) 

LeFou and these Standards as Shown In The Film 

Just because LeFou is fairly self-aware and even confident in himself, it doesn’t mean he’s free from the baggage of the society he lives in.

 To reiterate: No, he’s not masculine or manly. Yes, he knows he’s not. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t WANT to be [masculine].

Where’s my evidence?

Consider the following scenes and how LeFou imitates Gaston in posture and action. You could argue a few things about that, but…I mean, we get it straight from the director. 

“LeFou is someone who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston.”

As I watch the movie and focus on LeFou, I have to say that in every instance that I can place into the former category (wanting to be Gaston as opposed to wanting to kiss him) it comes at a time where he’s trying to imitate Gaston in ways that fit a few of the aforementioned norms of masculinity –

The scene where Gaston’s looking in the mirror, and LeFou goes to find him. Cumulating in the “I’m not finished with you yet,” “Me neither” into the mirror. 

You can see LeFou adopting Gaston’s posture, facial expression, and of course, behavior. He very literally assumes the space that Gaston had previously been occupying.

This relates to: 

☑ Avoidance of Femininity☑ Pursuit of Achievement & Status ☑ Self-Reliance☑ Strength & Aggression

The scene right after Gaston says that Belle’s disinterest in him is “outrageously attractive” cutting right to the triplets giggling and beckoning Gaston over. 

Gaston gives a little ‘hmm,’ ticks his head and saunters over. Immediately after, LeFou gives a little ‘hmm,’ ticks his head and saunters over. Edit: Both, might I add, with what I’d call a mild disinterest on their faces.

This relates to: 

☑ Sex Disconnected from Intimacy (or, at least, the implication thereof) ☑ Self-Reliance,☑ Strength & Aggression

(And MAYBE Restricted Emotions. Though I’d hazard to guess the disdain/coolness in his face comes from something different than trying to imitate Gaston in this instance.) 

I could talk for hours just on the Gaston scene, but the biggest part I see where LeFou is imitating Gaston would have to be that super-macho pose we see in the trailer: where Gaston takes on the posture of the tapestry behind him: sword up in victory, legs apart and staring upwards. Right afterwards, during “Who has brains [like Gaston]? Entertains [like Gaston]?” LeFou adopts a similar posture, although he is positioned lower in the frame his arm is less strong with the sword in the air, and he is pushed away by the very man he’s imitating. 

(film nerd alert: interestingly, they’re both technically two-shots, but the framing of the first shot would hardly have you see that and the framing of the second doesn’t let you ignore it.)

Nevertheless, this relates to: 

☑ Avoidance of Femininity☑ Pursuit of Achievement & Status ☑ Self-Reliance☑ Strength & Aggression

So what?

This creates a bit of an interesting contradiction. LeFou’s suddenly someone who a) isn’t masculine by the normal standard b) knows it c) is somehow fine with it but also wants to appear more typically masculine.

I’d stock that desire more to the time and place he lives in and the people he spends time around than anything else. He’s shown to be aware of other people and consequences, and so I don’t think it’s too much of a leap to assume it’s transitive to his behaviors where it pertains to the masculine/emasculine. It doesn’t eliminate his sense of self, but it probably helps to explain why he, occasionally, attempts to force machismo.

I could also go on about the differences between the experiential, public, and private selves and how they can be different and contradict. Blah, blah, blah, Rogerian filters, blah blah blah, Freudian filters, blah blah blah, more psychology mumbo jumbo that I lowkey-highkey want to talk about but this post is long enough as it is.

My point is that LeFou’s feelings around masculinity and his behaviors are complicated, contradictory, and largely reside on the consequence of living where he does in the time that he does. Note: I’m not 200% confident in this section. Retraction or reconsideration may come up at some point.

Attraction to Other Men and Sense of Masculinity

OR: how does masculinity relate to the “want to kiss” bit?

I doubt he’d see his attraction to men as an emasculating thing. This is 18th century France, so his desires for men aren’t equated in his head with being feminine. It’s a stereotype that’s only just beginning to exist in his world. 

If anything, I think it’d manifest itself with a fixation on the masculine. He’s clearly attracted to the hyper-masculine (“whose neck’s as incredibly thick as Gaston,” “…who breaks hearts like Gaston?” “Who’s a man among men?” ). If there’s an element of “I want to be that” to his approach to the masculine, there’s certainly seems to be an element of “I want that” along with it too.

Examples of the “I want that” include the lip-bite after Gaston’s “my love massaging my feet,” and potentially even “Who needs her when you’ve got us?” 

Although, as you suggested with your question, it’s interesting to try and puzzle through this considering his role as a complementary personality. LeFou was originally written to be a foil for Gaston, to be small and silly to contrast Gaston’s…barge-ness. But the remake does a damn good job adding nuance to the characters and their situations 

So how does this carry over into the 2017 film in terms of masculinity? 

I think it’s important to mention that LeFou isn’t about to jump on the Hype Man Train for everyone. He shown to care about people (Gaston being the most obvious but also that he doesn’t laugh when Maurice comes into the tavern raving about the beast ((he does however scoff privately to himself. More on that in another meta, probably)), and also his guilt and attempt to keep Maurice from an untimely death in the forest). But he’s shown being a little…shall we say, SELECTIVE about going all out for showing that he cares. 

For reference, consider how he’s just paying everybody in the tavern, how he just grabs that guy’s head without prompting (on “whose neck’s as incredibly thick” ) or how he physically grabs or slaps heads with Tom, Dick, and Stanley. How he just grabs either Tom or Dick’s face to climb onto the table at the end. He’s not quite as careful or tactful as he can be with everyone he’s around (understandable. It’d be a bit difficult to be at your very best all the time with everyone, after all.)

BUT I don’t want to imply that he’s got nothing in terms of other people. It definitely seems like he does. Consider his one interaction with Mrs. Potts, that he’s the final decider among the villagers on if they’d believe that Gaston tried to kill Maurice, that he’s at the ball in the end. He’s got interpersonal relationship (and interpersonal relationship skills) outside of the complementary personality. 

But, I mean, there is quite a bit of hero-worship that deals with the hyper-masculine, again boiling down to what I’d consider a mix of idolization and attraction 

TL: DR – or, Damn it, Kay, get to the point already: 

He isn’t stereotypically masculine, is aware he isn’t, but there are signs that show that he WANTS to be. &&  His attraction to men does relate to his thoughts on masculinity, but not so much in a comparative way.

I…uhh…hope I sufficiently answered this. c: