Belle is an anime movie that came out way back in 2021. For those of you who are unfamiliar, ANIME is defined as “a style of Japanese film and television animation, typically aimed at adults as well as children.”
Belle is a modern reimagining of the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. And rather than magic, technology is the tool at play. Specifically, a virtual reality social media platform, like facebook, where people connect with the world through a cyber lounge that mimics the world with vivid fantasy imagery..
The story centers around a teenage girl named Suzu (or “Bell” in English) who has never recovered from the loss of her mother, a woman who died saving another woman’s child during a sudden flood. Suzu was named for an instrument of sound, because music was important to her mother. But she has lost her ability to sing because of the grief and emptiness she lives with in her heart. And it is this void that keeps her seperated from her father and surrounding community, which is constantly working in the background to bring Suzu back to life, so she can move forward again.
Where as the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast focusses on romance, and how love can restore the humanity of the Beast, this story focusses much more on healing journeys, confronting injustice, and the power of virtue- finding the will to stand up for those who have no voice and to become that voice.
There are extremely beautiful songs but this is not a musical. They come about as Suzu herself dons the name, Belle, and begins to reclaim her ability to sing before an auduence in the virtual world. She is disguised and hidden by a beautiful avatar instead of showing her own true face. Not for vanity’s sake, as ithe image was chosen for her by a program. But because she is not ready to be seen and heard. And more songs come as she begins to use her voice, not for validation or fame, but to help others.
And immediately we are confronted with themes of suface beauty versus true inner beauty, having to examine for ouselves what true beauty is. We see people acting as judges for this false world, who punish social offenders by stripping them of anonymity and throwing them out.
And the story really kicks off when the Beast appears, a violent trouble making dragon that stirs social ire.
This is no Woke retelling.about inclusiveness and choosing personal power over relationahip, while some elements of that are present but not preached. In fact, Relationship is key to the story as everything hinges on the bond we share with each other, and what those bonds lead us to do.
This is a dark story that delves into themes of child abuse and neglect, not romance. And it is about how love spurs us on to step beyond ourselves to help others in crisis. Even to sacrifice our lives for another. It is about a true community that comes together to help their own. It is about embracing the love and legacy of those who have shaped our lives, and embodying that love after they have passed.
No, the Name of Christ is not spoken once in the movie. Though neither is God in the book of Esther. There is only an expectation of Christmas coming in the horizon. But I believe that there are some valuable lessons here in a world that, like that virtual world, has lost sight of some much needed depth. And Truth.
I only watched this movie in English. The English cast perfectly embody their characters. Nothing is lost in translation. And there is a bit of a miracle at play in the casting, as the two Actresses who play Suzu in English and Japanese are so perfectly matched that you might think it was the same girl. But they are not. In a similar fashion, the story itself resonates with a heart that crosses all cultural divides.
