intellectually-elite

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#dark academia

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💯

i go into trying new things thinking, “this will be fun :) i am going to do this for fun :) i don’t have to be good at it :) i am just going to relax :)”. and then four days later i resurface from what feels like a fever dream after having driven myself to the brink of obsessive insanity with 37 google tabs open on how to do it perfectly with dark circles under my eyes and a list of unopened worried texts asking where i vanished to and I’m like “wow :) that was so fun :) i needed this :)”

#so true

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Eid Mubarak, I love you all, may we witness a free Palestine within our lifetimes inshallah

#eid mubarak

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eid mubarak to everyone who celebrates!! may it fill your hearts with joy and peace 🤍🤍🤍

#eid mubarak

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I think kafka’s diaries are the strongest evidence that journaling is not necessarily good for your mental health

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#pride and prejudice

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The sass going on the last GIF 😆😆

"How's the dog show going?"

Brooklyn Nine Nine 4.07 “Mr. Santiago"

#brooklyn nine nine

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y'all are always complaining about how gay rep has to be perfect and unproblematic like speak for yourself i personally love it when they try to murder each other

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#it is what it is

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Your fifth most recent emoji is what your soulmate thinks about you

#🥹 #ooh that's nice

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We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[intellectually-elite]

Beauty and the Beast: You Can’t Save Someone from Themselves

The Disney version of Beauty and the Beast from 1991 is my favourite movie and I must have watched it twenty-five times, if not more.

But when you watch a piece of media so often, you naturally discover inconsistencies in the plot, or simply details that you don’t understand or don’t quite like.

For me, I was critical for a long time about how naïve Belle is: she never knows the nature of the spell the Beast’s castle is under, she never asks and no one tells her. My point about this was that she remained oblivious to the things going on around her, trying to make the best of a situation that was out of the ordinary but never quite knowing why. I found that this detail somewhat made Belle look like a fool.

Looking back now, I see things differently. The fact that Belle is not aware of the enchantresses’ spell is a major plot point and one of the most interesting and positive characteristics of the story’s heroine.

Women often believe they can or must “fix” a guy who’s in some kind of trouble, with their love, their wisdom etc. And it never works. If a person has some problem that needs to be fixed, they must do so themselves willingly; someone else can only be by their side.

We learn early on that the Beast / Prince is not actually evil, but “selfish, spoilt and unkind”. Belle is the antithesis to this, being generous, altruistic and kind. Most of all, she’s not scheming.

Belle never tries to redeem the Beast. At first, she fears and resents him; then, seeing that he’s making an effort, she gives him a second chance. The actual change comes from the Beast himself, who is well-aware that it is in his hands to break the spell, for himself and also for the people who live with him and depend on him.

For all her maturity and independence, Bell is an innocent girl. She does not imagine that the Beast is a prince, and that he might actually be the right partner for her.

That is why their relationship develops in a natural way: the Beast at first tries to control their relationship and fails, and Belle never tries to control it. She does not search for self-validation by trying to influence someone who obviously has a long way to go. Belle never feels superior to the Beast; when she resents him it’s a pure act of self-protection, untainted by any attitude of the kind “I know better than he does”.

Beauty and the Beast contains a lot of beautiful messages, and this is maybe the most important one if you’re a female watching it: don’t ever try to change a man, or anyone else for that matter. Loving someone means being ready to forgive and giving them a second chance; wanting to “fix” someone is an act of power.

Love and power are opposite to one another. If one partner controls or tries to control the relationship, it’s doomed.

That is why the story of Beauty and the Beast feels so genuine: it’s pure and untainted by the unnecessary drama that is part of so many stories which are allegedly about “love” but lack the most important essence of any healthy relationship: trust.

#disney #beauty and the beast

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SIMONE ASHLEY as KATE SHARMA in BRIDGERTON: 2x08 — The Viscount Who Loved Me

#bridgerton #kate sharma #simone ashley