Belle

[obisgirl]

I think the problem with Belle is how much the writers have really isolated her from everyone else. In the span of the show we know that she has had at least three meaningful friendships outside of Rumple : with Grumpy, Red and Ariel.

We havent seen Grumpy try and hang out with Belle much in Storybrooke; the friendship with Red lasted about two episodes and then there was no resolution to it after Belle lost her memories but no mention of after she recovered them. Ariel’s on an island somewhere without a cellphone or even Skype.

Like, I always thought it would be interesting if Belle and Tink became friends. I feel like they’d get along well. And Belle reconciling with Moe off screen always felt odd to me. Like the writers didn’t feel like the viewers cared to see what really happened there though I suspect Moe wasn’t enthusiastic about his daughter marrying the Dark One.

I do feel like with Rumple’s betrayal, it’s a good opportunity for Belle to develop away from Rumple. I hope the writers actually spend time, letting us see Belle go through the motions and talk to different people about what she should do. Belle needs a confidant outside of Rumple (also her father; who I feel would only shove it in her face that her true love hasn’t changed).

[PriceofMagic]

Belle’s role has expanded in 3B. In season 2, her story revolved around Rumple, the other regulars just blanked her, especially the Charmings in The Cricket Game. Now the other characters outside of Rumple are actively socialising with her.

I think Belle does play an important roll in the overall story. She may not be the saviour or Regina, but she helps keep Rumple on the side of good, similar to how Henry keeps Regina on the side of good. Belle is the personification of hope. She believes the best in people, she believes that bad situations can get better, she believes in second chances. This can sometimes be a flaw but Belle is an idealist. Rumple needs Belle to help him strive to be a better person, to support him when he does have his occasional backslide into darkness.

Belle’s strongest relationship on the show will always be with Rumple. She may interact with other people but the meaningful stuff will tend to be with Rumple. Each couple on the show represent a different aspect of love. There is no one size fits all approach. Belle is such an important person in Rumple’s life, that you can’t really discuss one without the other, much like Snowing.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[RumplesGirl]

Belle’s role has expanded in 3B. In season 2, her story revolved around Rumple, the other regulars just blanked her, especially the Charmings in The Cricket Game. Now the other characters outside of Rumple are actively socialising with her.

Are they? Not really. No one was at her wedding. She is never seen with just another character talking about their lives. She doesn’t socialize. They use her when they need information.

Here are instances when Belle has been with someone other than Rumple in S3B

1) Town hall meeting in 313…she was given a few lines and that’s it

2) Zelena and Belle in the shop–not socializing, being used for information and frozen

3) Belle and Hook in 315–research mode. Not a nice general chit chat about the day and their lives. She was also used by Emma a few times in this episode, given instructions on what to research and look out for. She was later given a hug by Snow when Neal died, but without any sort of conversation about how she feels

4) She was present at the fight on Main Street but again, that solely and completely revolved around Rumple. She hugged Tink, which was odd given that they’ve never once interacted

5)Belle and Hook and “Ariel” in 317–again not socializing but used for information

6) Regina and Belle in 318–Regina used Belle to get information, and there was a nice apology, but it wasn’t socializing. Regina wanted information and had to pay the piper before getting it.

7) Belle was no where near the battle against Zelena in 319. In fact, I can’t even remember what she did present day. But she wasn’t at the docks

8) She was at the hospital when Zelena came in 320, but she was quickly taken care of and never showed up again until her scene with Rumple in the shop

9) She only comes into the diner once Rumple enters. She doesn’t speak to Snow or Charming or Emma. And then, no one is at her wedding except Archie and her father.

Belle is such an important person in Rumple’s life, that you can’t really discuss one without the other, much like Snowing.

I don’t disagree. But I think there is something to be said about her her entire storyline is JUST Rumple. Myril brought this up in the Emma thread a week or so ago, but the show has failed with the idea of women empowering women. Belle has almost NO interaction with anyone outside of Rumple. She’s simply there as a prop for Rumple’s arc. She knew and cared for Neal, but doesn’t console or speak to Emma or Henry when he dies, even after Henry gets his memories back. She and Snow have a lot in common, IMO, but they never speak or interact except for when they need information.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[WickedRegal]

I’d really love to see more of Belle’s backbone, one of the best parts of her defending her sense of self-respect to Hook and Regina. And also Belle is such a resilient woman, it’d be nice to see her step up to the plate a little in S4, and take action….like maybe Snow and Robin can give her some bow and arrow practice? Or maybe Belle has an inner white magic she never knew? But it’s wonderful that Belle is sorta the Velma of our Scooby Doo Once Version Cast! 😛

"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor

[obisgirl]

I agree with most everything @rumplesgirl except for the empowering women part.

[RumplesGirl]

I’d really love to see more of Belle’s backbone, one of the best parts of her defending her sense of self-respect to Hook and Regina. And also Belle is such a resilient woman, it’d be nice to see her step up to the plate a little in S4, and take action….like maybe Snow and Robin can give her some bow and arrow practice? Or maybe Belle has an inner white magic she never knew? But it’s wonderful that Belle is sorta the Velma of our Scooby Doo Once Version Cast!

The fact is, we know she’s capable of it. The Outsider showed that she can have adventures and be the warrior-type. She’s like Bandit Snow, but the show never takes Belle in that direction, which makes The Outsider look like a an outlier OOC episode instead of something that Belle actually is.

I agree with most everything @rumplesgirl except for the empowering women part.

To be fair, I said women empowering other women, not women empowering themselves.

I think it’s a degree. I spoke to harshly in my “fail” comment. Since we’re talking about Belle, I think there is a serious case of her character being too wrapped up in Rumple. She’s a prop for his arc, not a character in her own right. She’s there to give Rumple sympathy and a positive spin. “Look at the Dark One–he fell in love!”

Now, I love Belle, I do. But I’m also predisposed to love her because she was MY Disney Princess. But I also think the show has take the girl who wanted to be a hero because women don’t have a lot of opportunity in the EF and turned her into someone who’s sole purpose is Rumple. @POM brought up Snowing, and that’s true, they do revolve around each other–but both Snow and Charming have gotten centrics and development outside of each other. Belle has one (The Outsider) and even then it all came back to Rumple in the end.

 

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[obisgirl]

Okay, now that’s explained better, I agree with what you’re saying RG.  3B could have been a chance for Belle to really shine and while her love for books was showcased,  she wasn’t as heavily featured as I thought she would be.  Like you said, Belle’s primary purpose was to explain stuff when it was needed and there was little character development outside of that role in 3B.  I know she must have been in agony knowing that her Rumple was under Zelena’s control but it wasn’t highlighted very well.  There wasn’t even that much angst.

[Jenna_B]

Last season, I felt like the writers didn’t really know what to do with Belle – like A&E jumped on signing Emilie because her pilot was picked up and then….’wait, we have to work her into the show somehow…’…but a full season later, that excuse isn’t good enough – not that it was a good one in the first place.  They really need to get a handle on Belle and figure out what her purpose is, aside from just being Rumple’s TL.

They’ve given us glimpses of Belle being strong and powerful, but they’ve also shown Belle as being, in my opinion, almost blind when it comes to the Dark side of Rumple.  I’m hoping, since they set up a good potential arc for RumBelle, that they do work on fleshing her out.  I agree with RG, I’m almost predisposed to like Belle because B&B was and still is my favorite Disney movie.  Talk about what an excellent prototype the Disney version of Belle is.  She’s strong, she’s powerful, she’s not afraid to speak her mind.  And OUAT’s Belle does have some similarities but they haven’t spent enough time on her, and that although I like Belle enough, I’m also kind of ‘meh’.  When she’s on screen I find myself asking why the hairstylist didn’t use a brush on her before they called action (I seriously dislike Belle hair, grrr) and ‘ok, why is she running around the forest in the winter in shorts?’ than really focusing on what’s going on…because why get invested when she’s going to disappear until she’s needed again.

[RumplesGirl]

Okay, now that’s explained better, I agree with what you’re saying RG. 3B could have been a chance for Belle to really shine and while her love for books was showcased, she wasn’t as heavily featured as I thought she would be. Like you said, Belle’s primary purpose was to explain stuff when it was needed and there was little character development outside of that role in 3B. I know she must have been in agony knowing that her Rumple was under Zelena’s control but it wasn’t highlighted very well. There wasn’t even that much angst.

it would have been nice if we had a talk between Belle and–heck–anyone about Rumple being imprisioned. How she felt, her worries, get inside her head. But instead it was really just Belle working on trying to find a solution–which is great but also doesn’t do much for her character

They’ve given us glimpses of Belle being strong and powerful, but they’ve also shown Belle as being, in my opinion, almost blind when it comes to the Dark side of Rumple

This is why I asked if she’s a believable character. Let’s say she knows everything he’s ever done. Great. And I get that it’s true love and she sees the man behind the monster, but she doesn’t admonish him for it any more, either. When she learned how Milah died, she never even blinked. Didn’t bring it up at all after the fact. That’s troublesome, from a writing and a character standpint.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[PriceofMagic]

I didn’t mind RumBelle’s wedding not having many people there. It was so them, they’re private people, they don’t go for the big and lavish like Snowing. They had the people there that mattered to them plus Archie to officiate. I guarantee Neal would’ve been there as well had he lived.

I think Belle has been a victim of lack of screentime. Same with Neal. The writers don’t have time to show the characters just having a nice day, asking how each other’s been, etc, (A lot of social interactions happen off screen such as Belle’s reconciliation with Maurice) because they’re too focussed on the drama and the big bad etc therefore the little character moments we want to see get sidelined and it appears the characters are only used for exposition. I also think splitting the season 11/11 also means we get less character moments as there isn’t time for “filler” episodes.

Belle is a major player in Rumple’s story and I’m optimistic that, with Rumple’s lies over the dagger and Zelena’s death, RumBelle may actually get some of the limelight next season and with it, we may actually get some Belle centrics. I think Snowing may take a bit of a backseat next season.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[Author]

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