Disney Movie Reflection: Beauty and the Beast

I didn't have my first kiss until I was 19. I don't talk much about that because people start to pity me and ask questions. I don't like girls and I have know that since I was really young so I never wanted to kiss one. The opportunity presented itself plenty of times but it never seemed worth it.

Then one day I met this guy at party. He was kind of cute and he clearly thought I was cute and I had come out about three days prior. I got him to come back to my room with me and we kissed. And then we made out. His name was Josh and he also worked at Disney as the costume assistant for the Beauty and the Beast stage show which was next door to the Tower of Terror. A few nights later, he invited me over to his place and he made me his mom's gumbo recipe from scratch and we made out some more. Aside from doing the cast members laundry at Beauty and the Beast, he was an aspiring dancer who also was the understudy for the Beast. He was sweet but we were by no means a match so I didn't accept the invite for a third date.

For my friends, Beauty and the Beast is close second for Favorite Disney movie to the Little Mermaid. The bold girls always like Ariel and the brainy girls side with Belle. It is a tale as old as time. I would always side with Belle's book smarts but my experience with Josh always colors this movie in different light. 

I went on to work at the Beauty and the Beast stage show to earn extra money when Tower of Terror was slow and never saw Josh. Part of my job was to arrange meet and greets between Belle and other cast members after the show for kids from Make-A-Wish and the like. These kids always got front row seats for the show and if Belle was nice enough or not hung over you could convince her to meet some of the kids and their families after the show and take some pictures. One Belle in particular was more accommodating than others and a family came through with a son with cerebral palsy. In high school, I tutored a kid in art with cerebral palsy so this hit a little close so I lined up the meet and greet and luckily nice Belle was working and agreed. Now the other Belle's could usually round up some other cast members for the meet and greets but not nice Belle. Nice Belle was maybe 18 and from the greater Orlando area and this was just a fun gig while she was off for the Summer. She was young but also realized this wasn't her ticket to Broadway and the other cast members hated that she didn't live in woo-woo land. Anyways, I knew she would be alone which was kind of a bummer because this kid was like 1 and the boys usually just wanted to high five the Beast or Lumiere. The show ended with the reprise of Be Our Guest or something and I got the family excited. It was mom, dad, the son and younger daughter who clearly knew that this was her brother's time to shine. My job was to hype them up about meeting Belle so they would get in, do the three minutes of talking and the 2 minutes of picture taking and get out. This boy was pretty far in so it was hard to gauge his excitement but he smiled and the family smiled and it was like 115 degrees with humidity. So I open the little gate to the secret courtyard to the left of the stage with the mural of the castle where Belle meets these special kids. As we round the corner Belle does he excited voice and says that I told her she had special visitors and the boy just lights up. I mean he is beaming and making noises which is really cool and then his mom just looses it. I mean she is bawling and Belle and I aren't ready because this is the 4th of 5 shows in long day and I mentioned it is 115 degrees. Mom tells Belle that she is her son's favorite princess and that when he watches Beauty and the Beast she can see that he is really in there because he lights up and she is just so happy to see him so happy in this moment. And I cry and dad cries and the little sister cries while Belle hugs her and Belle cries. 

From the moment I start this movie, I can't help but smile. I sit here and watch Belle sing her first song about the small, provincial town and I beam as she foreshadows our tale because I instantly recall these memories and they stick with me throughout the story. I think of Josh as the Beast and Belle dance. I think of the boy and his family as Belle throws snowballs at the Beast. While all of my friends recall nostalgia of being a kid and seeing this movie in the theater with mom around Christmas or in the white clamshell, I can't help but revisit two of my favorite memories of becoming and adult.