EF, on "Beast I Have Become"

            In my fan video ‘Beast I Have Become’ featuring clips from Walt Disney’s classic Beauty and the Beast accompanied by Three Days Grace’s Animal I Have Become I explore the civil-bestial and good-evil dynamics of the human soul and the idea of religious dependence.  These possible dynamics have been explored in religion, in philosophy, in literature, and now in Disney, and the idea of religious dependence is taught in many religious schools and leaks into Disney’s film.
            In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast we are given a prince who is turned into a vicious monster by a witch, fairy, goddess, or some other feminine higher power. He cannot control this involuntary change and becomes increasingly violent and bestial until he is absolutely unrecognizable. However, just as in the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll our composite soul is now almost entirely evil but there’s a desperate struggle by the good portion to break free of the curse.
His only way to break free of said curse is to fall in love with a beautiful princess and make her fall in love with him as well. At first glance this seems to be a typical fairy tale scenario but upon closer inspection we see something deeper and more religious.
Consider this. Our hero has strayed from the path of good and, as a consequence, become something vile and unlikeable. In order to return to his former state he has to gain acceptance and love from a being completely outside his world. He has no say in what happens to him and only her acceptance, which he has no way of measuring, can make things better.
In my video I explore the desperation and frustration one experiences when they have fallen from grace (God’s or otherwise) and are trying to become a better person, be it for unselfish reasons (perhaps love) or entirely selfish reasons (to return to being a human or to confirm one’s acceptance from the divine in order to secure a spot in Heaven).