Popular Culture Review Vol. 10, No. 2, August 1999 | Page 87

Disney and Leadership

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character depiction, and the main insights on leadership, occur in the lives of
Belle and Gaston.
The audience first meets Belle as she goes to town to borrow yet another
book. She reads voraciously; but instead of enlightening her, her reading iso
lates her. As she walks into town, she says, “Little town, it’s a quiet village, every
day like the one before; little town full of little people....” She finds the social
and intellectual stimulation available unfulfilling, for she says, “there must be
more than this provincial life!” Likewise, the townsfolk are not enamored with
Belle. They describe her as strange, dazed, distracted, peculiar, and odd. Their
biggest concern is that she challenges the social norms of small village life. They
explain: “...she’s rather odd. Very different from the rest of us. She’s nothing
like the rest of us.”
In contrast, Gaston does fit in: he is the town idol. Honored primarily
for his hunting expertise, a skill much valued by the townsfolk, he earns constant
praise from the village residents for his skill and physique. He is extolled as
slick, quick, thick-necked, a good fighter and wrestler, burly, brawny, and hairy.
Gaston even says of himself, “I’m especially good at expectorating!”
The intellectually refined and literate Belle is readily contrasted with
the illiterate and crude Gaston. The townsfolk do not value Belle’s intellect or
book-learned expertise and thus do not afford her respect. According to French
and Raven in “The Bases of Social Power,” expert power is a basis of power from
which to lead and influence others, but only if the followers can envision a way in
which the expertise or learning can be of benefit to them. In the case of Belle, no
power is gleaned from her vast learning. Her learning is neither shared with nor
valued by the village because they can see no meaningful application of “booklearning” to their daily lives. Instead of being a role model. Belle is an outcast
with whom the village cannot identify.
In contrast, Gaston gamers great respect. A member of the community
tells Gaston, “There’s no man in town as admired as you, you’re everyone’s fa
vorite guy. Everyone’s awed and inspired by you....” Because he exhibits the
valued traits of manliness—^brawn, strength, handsomeness, and hunting skills—
he has crowd appeal and the masses follow him. He relies on referent power, the
power held by a leader based on the subordinates’ desire to emulate his attributes
or achievements (French and Raven). Under ideal circumstances, subordinates
aspire to emulate the uplifting and edifying attributes of a leader, but history is
full of examples where less admirable traits were the objects of admiration. Gang
leadership often is bestowed on the member who has the most criminal convic
tions, the deadliest weapon, or other signs of “valor.” Additionally, Gaston relies
on coercive power, the power a leader has to punish, threaten, or control his
subordinates (French and Raven). Frequently throu ghout the film, Gaston punches.