gustar, molestar, etc

Question

why does this site say these verbs are transitive when they use indirect object pronouns rather than direct object pronouns? shouldn´t that make them intransitive? Or can le be sued as a direct object pronoun?

Le gustan las películas.

Answer 1

Yes, le can be a direct object pronoun. Le gustan las películas = the films please him. Le is the direct object of gustan. Las películas are doing the pleasing.

That's one of the differences between English and Spanish. In English we say, "I like something". In Spanish we say, "Something pleases me". Same thing with molestar: "Something bothers me".