Yep , Gaston ’ s Gay
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enchanted candlestick / butler ) and other subservient staff lackeys , so Gaston is surrounded in the tavern by Lefou and other subservient village lackeys . These two back-to-back scenes ( the Beast imprisoning Belle in his castle and Gaston plotting in the tavern ) are visually alike as well — both end with a camera shot pulling out through a window and into the snow falling on the cold , judgmental , surrounding world .
Consider further : In the tavern scene Lefou is consoling Gaston after Belle ’ s public rejection of his marriage proposal . This is an act , we know , on Gaston ’ s part . He is just where he wants to be — in a men ’ s club getting his wounds licked . Gaston ’ s relationship with Lefou is especially intriguing . Throughout this scene , as throughout the movie , Lefou plays two roles : he is both a partner / sidekick / secret lover to Gaston and an embodiment of Gaston ’ s phallus .
These two roles are not mutually exclusive , nor are they without literary precedent . The court jester has long been seen as the animated Id of the court , the personification of the king ’ s sexual desire run free , the embodiment of the royal penis . The classic painted red clown ’ s nose undoubtedly has some of its origin here . Lefou , as the protagonist ’ s phallus , allows Gaston an outlet for his repressed sexual urges . Note the way Gaston continuously pulls on Lefou and strokes him and holds him and beats him . It is a violent relationship only on the surface . When Gaston visits Belle ’ s house to hatch his plan with the asylum director , he leaves Lefou in the snow to keep guard . Later , we see Lefou frozen and cut off from Gaston , his bulbous head and even more bulbous nose turned blue — as Gaston is bound to be , waiting for ( or even being with ) Belle . At other times , Lefou assumes the role of partner , caring for Gaston , cheering him up , loving him and lovingly heckling him , playing the part of the paramour hidden within the context of sidekick . These two aspects of Lefou are not at odds with one another : The phallus can be the object of love , and the lover can be the objectified phallus . In the tavern scene , both manifestations of Lefou are evident — as is Gaston ’ s willingness to let his guard down when surrounded by potentially like-minded men .
Seen anew , the scene is a glimpse into the heart of Gaston — not that of an egotistical antagonist , but a misunderstood and soon to be tragically misdirected hero .
In the tavern the village men are drinking while Gaston sits moping in his beastly throne-like chair . “ That girl has tangled with the wrong man ,” he declares in a moment of truth . Lefou as lover is distressed to see his partner feeling down and so decides to cheer him up ; Lefou as phallus is running around happy and wild ( he didn ’ t want to be with Belle anyway ) and so celebrates . Anticipation is in the air : Everyone is about to launch into a fabulous Broadwaystyle production number with Lefou taking the lead . As the song begins , the first thing the mischievous Lefou does is run to one of the men at the bar and take his belt off , causing the man ’ s pants to fall down and his heart-print underwear to be