Do we like them?

Do we like Gaston?

A character from Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Our score: 1 out of 10. No. He's charming only to himself, and when he's refused he turns cruel and dangerous. Fun to sing about, but we wouldn't back him.

Gaston is the most admired man in Belle's small French village: strong, handsome, a famed hunter, and in love with his own reflection. He has decided that Belle, the town's most beautiful and bookish girl, will be his wife. Her opinion doesn't come into it.

Belle sees through him and turns him down flat. His bragging, his lack of curiosity and his sense that she owes him a yes show who he is. His sidekick LeFou cheers him on, and the townsfolk follow his lead, so his charm covers up how entitled he is.

That's why the score is so low. Gaston isn't a monster at the start, only a bully who is never told no. The story shows what he does with his pride once it's hurt: he gathers a crowd, makes up a threat, and chooses violence over accepting a refusal. The 2017 live-action version gives him a war-hero past and makes him a little more human, but he still ends up in the same place.