Something I've often said in the past is one of the scariest type of villain is one that could exist in real life like Frollo, Bellweather, Lady Tremaine, and Mother Gothel. Gaston is definitely a villain that deserves to be on this list.

Some people will say he's too silly to be a scary villain or just isn't scary enough until the climax of the movie. But some people who have had to deal with their own Gastons in life will say differently.

First off, it's made pretty clear from the beginning that Gaston is a bully who has most likely never been told "no" and therefore can never take it for an answer. He's the typical bully with cronies in the pub who snigger behind him when he talks down to people he thinks are beneath him and do whatever he tells them to do without question. But then not even halfway through the movie, we see despite his behavior he doesn't just have a bunch of drunkards as his minions, the entire town loves him and goes with whatever he's planning without question. The biggest example outside of "Kill the Beast" is when Gaston planned an entire wedding with the help of everyone in town even while knowing Gaston never proposed to Belle in the first place. And when Gaston flatout says he still needs to propose to Belle everyone laughs like he just told a joke but it should be pretty obvious they know he's serious.

Then there's his behavior around Belle before the climax; looking down on her interests, mocking her father, barging into her home while she's alone, and getting into her personal space and even backing her into a corner, blocking her with his big strong arms and tries to kiss her.

In my opinion, fans should take this more seriously. Because to some fans, including me, who have had to deal with something like this, this is terrifying.

When I was in middle school I used to be bullied by boys who were popular so no one, not even the teachers, stopped them. In fact, the teachers would even blame me, as if I was the one who told them to call me names and throw rocks and pine cones at me. High school was no better, boys would follow me to my locker and say inappropriate things to me, one boy said he thought about me whenever he was in his underwear (in front of a teacher, no less), and one boy actually put his hand on my leg on the bus and wouldn't take it off even when I asked him to stop. Once again, not even the teachers would help me. I actually got in trouble when I told the boys to "get the f*** away from me!" because I was cursing in the hallway and when I told the immediately told that teacher those boys were sexually harassing me the teacher just said, "You still shouldn't be swearing." and walked away. (Speak up against bullying, my ass)

It's not even just me, there's so many girls and women I know who have experienced something similar to what Belle's been through, and some of them went through something even worse.

If you still think Gaston is a silly villain you can't take seriously, then okay but please at least try to understand why there's fans who can't feel that way.