I'mma let you finish, but Gaston from Beauty and the Beast is a freaking mastermind
So I apologize for this OOC rant out of nowhere but I watched through Beauty and the Beast and I realized something. Gaston is actually so incredibly brilliant, it’s terrifying. Wait, you say, seriously? Gaston? This Gaston?
Yes, hear me out. On the surface of the smart-girl-dumb-boy narrative, he’s the obvious brainless hunk. But if you step back and look at it, Gaston’s pretty damn clever.
For starters, he’s a massively successful entrepreneur. He owns the pub his titular musical number takes place in, and that pub is obviously very successful. I’d even go so far as to call it the cultural center of the town. On top of that he’s clearly a skilled enough hunter to use antlers in all of his decorating, and later shows that his tracking skills are anything but superficial, but more on that later.
Another really big indicator is how impressive his vocabulary is. “Expectorating” anyone? At one point during the Mob Song he says the words “Screw your courage to the sticking place.” That’s right. Gaston is quoting Macbeth.
On that same note, when he asks her “How can you read this, there’s no pictures!” Who’s to say he doesn’t mean “How can YOU read this without the aid of pictures, you sheltered little dumbass?”
Moving on, he’s a master manipulator, strategist, and leader. Anyone who’s ever been in charge of anything knows it takes intellect to whip a crowd into a fear-frenzy and bend them to your every word. And Gaston does it marvelously. Watch his face as he stalks around making sure the right message is getting around. He’s conniving as all get out.
Then you get to the actual execution of his plan. In his last hours he demonstrates damn brilliant tracking, strategy, and military leadership. Not to mention, he actually manages to fully strike his much larger, superhuman enemy down in single combat. Not many villains can boast that claim. So yeah. Gaston is damn smart.
Fucking amazing hand-eye coordination too.
When he tells Lefou “I’m afraid I’ve been thinking,” and Lefou comments that it’s “a dangerous pastime,” he’s RIGHT. Because when Gaston thinks, he concocts some scary, brilliant, impressive shit.
