When Love Is Found On The Inside

Tonight's marathon is about love that matters but the twist is that it matters on the inside. The theme is a beautiful young woman who falls for an individual that society labels as being either "hideous, ugly, or mysterious". It is not the looks that drive these women towards the males but rather the heart that they carry on the inside. Some of these individuals are clearly flawed or political but there is something within them that strikes a chord with these young women, making them ultimately fall for them. The question this marathon asks is what is it about these men that makes them the underdogs who get the girl in the end when their appearance is despised by the rest of society? Somewhere on the inside of these men, the girls they come in contact with find love. We have on tonight's beautiful lineup:

Shrek 2001, The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1996, Beauty And The Beast 1991, Beastly 2011, The Phantom Of The Opera 2004, and V for Vendetta 2006

Now this is a beautiful and grand marathon about love and wanting to be accepted for who someone is and not the way they appear to be physically. The theory on why these women fall for these men that get overlooked by society is that even though they may be flawed men in terms of attitude or extremists, it is their heart that shows them what kind of people they are on the inside. The first movie of the night is the 2001 animated classic titled Shrek starring Mike Myers, Cameron Diez, Eddie Murphy, and John Lithgow. Nominated for two academy awards including best animated film and screenplay and winner of best animated film, Shrek centers around an Orge agreeing to rescue a princess whose set to marry a villainous lord in order to get back his land after his swamp is filled with magical creatures. Shrek is the perfect introduction for this marathon because it creates the theme of a beautiful young woman being rescued by an orge deemed hidious and starting to fall for him while the rest of society fears him. Shreks message says that you should get to know someone before passing judgment based on their appearance. The second movie of the lineup is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The story centers around a deformed bell-ringer who is fighting for his independence from a corrupt government minister in order to help his female friend whose a gypsy dancer. The films musical score earned an academy award nomination, wih the film going on to receive critical acclaim and box office success earning 100 million domestically. The third movie of the marathon is the critically acclaimed Oscar nominated masterpiece titled Beauty And The Beast. Nominated for a total of six academy awards and winner of two including best music and song, the story centers around a king living in a castle as a beast after being put under a spell for acting careless towards his servants and those in need. In order for the spell to be broken, the beast must fall in love with a girl and learn to love before the last flower on a special rose falls otherwise he will remain a beast for eternity. The beast gets his opportunity to fall in love and change his ways through a girl named Belle who comes to the castle to save her father whose imprisoned by beast. Beast gives her the ultimatium of taking her fathers place for his freedom, and while doing so saves her life and begins to fall in love with her. Little do they both know the townspeople being manipulated by cocky and slimy Gaston are planning to storm the castle and kill the beast. Beauty and the Beast is the landmark Disney film because it essentially became the first animated film to ever be nominated for an academy award for best picture, an achievement that wasn't repeated until 2009 when Up received a best picture nomination after Walle's snubbing. The fourth movie of the marthon is the modern day retelling of Beauty And The Beast titled Beastly. Starring Vanessa Hudgens and Neil Patrick Harris, the story centers around a modern day take of the classic story in New York where the teen is transformed into a hideous monster due to his mean spirited heart in order to find true love. Beastly is neither a great or bad movie but one in which it may very well surprise viewers with how respectful it is to the source material. The film was a minor success making 27 million on a budget of 17 million and introducing the story of Beauty And The Beast to a whole new generation. The fifth movie of the marathon is Joel Schumacher's three time oscar nominated 2004 musical drama titled The Phantom Of The Opera. Starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, the film centers around a disfigured musical genius becoming obsessed with a young female singer while living beneath the Paris Opera House. Although critically panned by critics upon it's release, Phantom Of The Opera received praise for the performances of the two leads as well as technical aspects of the film such as art-set decoration and costume design. The fifth and final movie of the marathon is the one that reverts back to the issue of corrupt governments introduced in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film V for Vendetta stars Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving as a young woman who is saved and befriends a shadowy freedom fighter known as V while being surrounded by a corrupt British government. V plans to overthrow the government with the help of the young woman who ultimately falls for him. V for Vendetta is a critically acclaimed yet underrated film that asks many questions about the government presented in the film and quite possibly our own.

So what is the message behind all of these movies when you put them all together? The message of the marathon is simple. Don't judge a book by it's cover. Society shoud not fear something that is different and a woman should be more open minded when searching for love. The message that Hunchback of Notre Dame and V for Vendetta present in political terms is that people should not be afraid of their governments but governments should be afraid of their people. A corrupt government will not last.