I totally get where you're coming from. It's beautiful to see a story where the ugly/monstrous person is shown they're actually beautiful in their own way and they don't need to change, like in Shrek. I love those stories too.
But if the message is that Belle loves Beast no matter what he looks like, it also shouldn't matter if he looks like a normal dude.
Which means the "better" appearance and identity comes down to the identity that the Prince himself wants to have.
He changes to human because that's what he wants to look like.
He has become good and thus deserves to have the body he wants, not the body that Belle wants, or the audience wants, or anyone else. He didn't like being a beast. He wants to be a man. That's his true identity. That's his happy ending that he has earned.
I'm sure that most of us on here, with all we know about body-related dysphoria, would never suggest that he should be stuck in a body that doesn't feel like himself just because the rest of us think that other body is hotter.
When he was beautiful on the outside, he acted beastly, and was cursed to have his appearance match his behavior. When he changes his behavior to be beautiful, the magic again makes his exterior match that.
This is different than the point Shrek is trying to make. Shrek is a story about accepting yourself as you are, not about changing yourself. Fiona doesn't need to change her behavior, just her mindset, because she is already good and deserving of love.
Self-acceptance is not what Beauty and the Beast is about, nor is it about Belle learning to accept him. Beast doesn't need to accept himself—he needs to change himself. The ending reflects this symbolically. The story wouldn't work without his appearance changing to reflect his internal change.
So on one hand, Beauty and the Beast is the complete opposite message of Shrek: change, don't accept. That's why it has a completely opposite ending. They both perfectly encapsulate the opposite points they're trying to make.
On the other hand, they're both about the same point: become who you truly are. Fiona stays an ogre because that is who she truly is—even in her princess form, she acted like an ogre. Her body matches her true identity. Same thing with Beast changing into the Prince. He's acting princely in his beast body and so his body changes to match his true identity.
So I have to disagree that him changing into a man undermines the story. It seals the story.
romaincrisis
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