# Handsome and the female beast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616 "2017-02-12T02:20:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![escaped](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@escaped](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/escaped)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/1 "2017-02-12T02:20:41Z")
They are always making movies about beauty and the beast would it work if they reversed it? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/2 "2017-02-12T02:32:47Z")
Depends on exactly what angle the writer took, how skilled the writer was, and where and when it was set. A salient point is that the beast initially captured “Beauty’s” father, and she volunteered to take his place. She keeping a man prisoner isn’t out of the question, and the person who eventually falls for the beast is there semi-voluntarily. There sort of have been versions of it. _Shallow Hal_ was one, albeit, it focused on the transformation of Hal’s character, rather than his getting past what are pretty normal reactions to a hideous beast who devours raw meat like any lion or tiger, to see a human personality. _Shallow Hal_ was a slightly better than average script that was made into a pretty good movie by an excellent performance by Jack Black, and a decent performance by Gwyneth Paltrow. Find a writer who can do even better for your reverse version of “Dude and Beastette,” and it would probably be pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/3 "2017-02-12T02:40:46Z")
[Sir Gawain already managed it](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wedding_of_Sir_Gawain_and_Dame_Ragnelle). ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/4 "2017-02-12T02:48:57Z")
I think they tried to hint at it in ‘Love Potion No. 9’, but it was a Total Epic Fail because they chose… Sandra Bullock… :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/5 "2017-02-12T02:51:42Z")
Isn’t this the central theme of films like _She’s All That_? Handsome guy, cute girl made to look unattractive until she takes her glasses off? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/6 "2017-02-12T03:02:08Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > [Sir Gawain already managed it](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wedding_of_Sir_Gawain_and_Dame_Ragnelle). That’s really a parody of such stories, and even the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” doesn’t quite fit, due to the handsome guy being under punishment for being a rapist. But yes, the theme has been around for a while, both ways. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/7 "2017-02-12T03:18:14Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Isn’t this the central theme of films like _She’s All That_? Handsome guy, cute girl made to look unattractive until she takes her glasses off? No, that’s another knockoff of Pygmalion. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/8 "2017-02-12T03:39:18Z")
The guy wouldn’t care as long as she put out. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/9 "2017-02-12T03:58:33Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Isn’t this the central theme of films like _She’s All That_? Handsome guy, cute girl made to look unattractive until she takes her glasses off? [Rachael Leigh Cook as “the beast” in _She’s All That_.](http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/f9aaa34c-091e-4c6d-989d-e917f8220c59/104b4388-89fb-4209-8479-54b4a9a3b072.jpg) I’m thinking the guys who made this movie missed the point. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/10 "2017-02-12T04:44:11Z")
Stephen Sondheim’s [Passion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(musical)), and the works it was based on. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/11 "2017-02-12T06:54:37Z")
> [@escaped](#): > > They are always making movies about beauty and the beast would it work if they reversed it? It doesn’t work conceptually as handsome man and beast/ugly woman doesn’t really have the same dramatic tension as the reverse. The closest thing you see in TV or movies is Lena Dunham’s lumpy character in “Girls” who is getting action regularly by guys who would probably not (in real life) give her a second look. Plus good luck getting a current movie greenlight on anything that shames or denigrates a woman’s body or looks in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/12 "2017-02-12T06:59:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Rachael Leigh Cook as “the beast” in _She’s All That_.](http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/f9aaa34c-091e-4c6d-989d-e917f8220c59/104b4388-89fb-4209-8479-54b4a9a3b072.jpg) > > I’m thinking the guys who made this movie missed the point. Tell me about it. She’s one of my celebrity crushes, but most people I know don’t recognize her name. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/13 "2017-02-12T07:15:10Z")
It would work if the female were a literal beast, like the beast in “Beauty and the Beast.” It wouldn’t be about denigrating a woman’s body. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/14 "2017-02-12T10:33:40Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It would work if the female were a literal beast, like the beast in “Beauty and the Beast.” It wouldn’t be about denigrating a woman’s body. So why is it okay to denigrate the body of a man - as in the classic tale - but not that of a woman? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/15 "2017-02-12T10:51:53Z")
The thing about the Beast isn’t that he’s ugly, it’s that he’s scary and dangerous. The parallel here shouldn’t be handsome guy with outwardly plain girl, it should be handsome yet delicate guy with super-tough woman - a fierce, rugged warrior-woman type. A woman who could totally kick his ass, and looks like it. Can’t think of any examples, though. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/16 "2017-02-12T11:40:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The thing about the Beast isn’t that he’s ugly, it’s that he’s scary and dangerous. Isn’t that the Disney version? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/17 "2017-02-12T11:51:56Z")
If anything, Disney toned down the element of sexual threat. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/18 "2017-02-12T12:36:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The thing about the Beast isn’t that he’s ugly, it’s that he’s scary and dangerous. The parallel here shouldn’t be handsome guy with outwardly plain girl, it should be handsome yet delicate guy with super-tough woman - a fierce, rugged warrior-woman type. A woman who could totally kick his ass, and looks like it. Can’t think of any examples, though. Zoe and Wash from _Firefly/Serenity_? For certain values of handsome yet delicate. Certainly within the show it’s assumed she could totally kick his ass. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/19 "2017-02-12T13:43:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > If anything, Disney toned down the element of sexual threat. Maybe, but they gave the Beast nobility and a leonine handsomeness. He was by no means ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616/20 "2017-02-12T13:44:27Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Zoe and Wash from _Firefly/Serenity_? For certain values of handsome yet delicate. Certainly within the show it’s assumed she could totally kick his ass. I thought of that, but while I have huge amount of respect for Alan Tudyk, I’m not sure I’d call him a “beauty”. The ideal casting for this kind of thing would be something like, say, Ronda Rousey and Nicholas Hoult. Or Daniel Radcliffe and Gwendoline Christie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsome-and-the-female-beast/779616.md?page=2)