The Lion King: Not Your Average Disney Movie

The Lion King. If you have not seen this, you need to get out from underneath your rock and WATCH IT! It is one of my favorite Disney movies and has been since it was in theaters in 1994.

Here is a VERY brief synopsis of the film: Lion King is about a young lion named Simba who is the son of Mufasa, who is the king of the Prideland. The opposition in the story is Mufasa’s brother Scar. Scar is upset because as long as Simba is in line for the crown, Scar will never be king. Scar takes drastic measures to satisfy his own desires and eventually becomes king. Simba lives his life seperate from his family and the Prideland and discovers a different side of himself. In the end of the movie, all peace is restored and the movie has a classic happy Disney ending. 🙂 (Sorry i did not go into much detail about the story….don’t want to ruin it for anyone)

I am now going to address certain themes that I noticed while watching this Disney movie and discuss why I feel the way that I do.

Gender:

There are many gender differences between men and women. Humans in a general sense believe in being progressive and constantly moving forward, especially with certain issues. Gender is one of these issues. Since Adam and Eve, it is apparent that men and women play different roles in life.

In the Lion King, the men make the decisions and ultimately decide what happens in the Prideland. The women have little to no say in their lives or others for that matter. The women are completely submissive to what the men choose and do. When Mufasa was king, all of the animals we happy and satisfied, including all of the women. When Scar took over as king, the women and the rest of the animals suffered and could do nothing about it.

What is interesting about this is, near the end of the movie, it shows the land after Scar has taken over. It is grey and desolate. Since Lions are basically polygamists, Scar has become the husband of all of the lionesses. You would think that 8 lionesses could put up a pretty good fight with one, tiny male lion right? No. I know, these are lions we are talking about, and lions really do live this way….but it is humans that wrote the story. The women eventually do in fact, end up standing up for themselves but it is not until Simba (the male lion) comes back to “save them”.

Why do women always need to be saved in movies? Heaven forbid they stand up for themselves and take action without having to follow right behind a man.

Race:

As I am sure we are all aware, there are stereotypes with every single race in the world. I am not saying that all stereotypes are wrong, but I am saying that they exist because we as humans keep them alive. Especially in things like the media.

Lion King does not seem like it, but it is a prime example of racial stereotypes. Take for example, Rafiki. With his name alone, there is probably a race that comes to mind. I have no idea if the man playing that crazy monkey’s voice is white, black, asian, or hispanic. But I do think that it is safe to assume that his character is a black by listening to the way he talks. Rafiki is not meant to come off like an african-american…but more so a Rastafarian, a Bob Marley type. He is the one who blesses baby Simba and welcomes him into the world with his “special fruit.” He even uses different seeds, and earth matter to pray and later help Simba to hallucinate and see his father in the clouds. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me like Rafiki is using some type of drug…

You know who else used a drug to get “closer to God” (in Lion King’s case-Mufasa in heaven)??? Bob Marley. I think that they made Rafiki’s character speak with more of an african dialect and play the part that he does because of Bob Marley. Which leads the unknowing viewer to stereotype Rafiki as some type of african hippie…which leads us to think that people who live in Africa are all some type of hippie…

I am not even going to go into the fact that Rafiki was a MONKEY! That in an of itself is a stereotype that I am not willing to discuss.

Class:

The animal kingdom is very similar to humans by way of class. People and animals are categorized by power, whether it is literal power and size like in the animal kingdom, or power with money and status like humans.

From the very beginning of Lion King, Mufasa goes over their power with his son, Simba. He tells Simba, that “everything the light touches” is in their command. Simba asks about the shadowy place and is told that he is not allowed there because it is dangerous. As the movie goes on, Simba visits the ghetto…oops, I mean shadowy place. We see that it is completely run down, scummy and dark. The inhabitants of this…ghetto…are the hyenas and Scar. In the movie, the hyenas are clearly lower class by the way they talk, walk and act. Back to the issue of race, both of the hyenas that talk, happen to be black. Interesting…so, the black people live in the ghetto and never have anything to eat and are constantly begging Scar for food. Sounds like some form of welfare program…

Scar is the leader of this, shadowy place. It is the only area of the Prideland that he is in control of, which makes him the king of the hyenas. Scar makes the hyenas go out and hunt for food, as well as do his dirty work with Simba.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it kind of sounds like Scar and the hyenas are lower-class citizens in the Prideland and they are not accepted in the middle or upper class neighborhoods. It also sounds like Scar is the leader of this hyena drug cartel (because, duh, people in the ghetto use drugs).

It is by these small subtleties in the media that keep the issue of racial stereotypes alive.

Sexuality:

Since this is a Disney movie, there is not much sex. Notice I said, “much sex” because there is DEFINITELY some sex.

When Nala finds Simba on her hunt for food, she tries to convince him to come back to the Prideland and save the lionesses and the other animals. At first, they fight and disagree about him having to go back.

Then….out of nowhere….they start flirting. Next thing you know, “can you feel the love tonight?” is playing in the background and Simba and Nala are rolling around nestling each other  You and I both know, it is animated, lion sex. The scene itself is beautiful, a reuniting of best friends turned lovers…but what is implied is not so pretty. When Nala tried standing up for herself and the other lionesses initially to Simba, he rejected her flat out. It was not until he “got some” that he changed his mind and went back.

Now, I am not sure who to blame here. Nala for using her body to get what she wants…or Simba for waiting until she put out to make the right decision.

I am leaving that one up to you…

Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in Cinema

Have you ever finished watching a movie and continued thinking about the underlying meaning of it? Have you ever considered the idea that the movie’s purpose is not to strictly entertain? Of course we have….If you have never felt this way, then you need to go re-watch EVERY SINGLE movie! Hollywood is full of very smart, very educated and very opinionated people. I think it is safe to say that one does not put all of their efforts into the creation of a movie just to recieve a paycheck. These people are passionate about these movies and they have motives in making them.

**Quick side note: I LOVE MOVIES. I do not want you think that I am a media hater. Oh no, quite the opposite. Movies are amazing! They can make a bad day good, make a grown man cry, keep a child smiling, and entice average Joes to become heros!

BUT….

There is no such thing as “a perfectly clear and innocent” movie, book, advertisement or even TV commercial (not even Lion King). No matter what, these forms of mass media contain some sort of underlying message in them. They are not put there by accident either. These “subliminal” messages are put in place in order to persuade the audience of something. Now, this something could be a number of things. There is never a time that we can watch tv, listen to the radio, read the newspaper or browse the internet without someone (individual or business) trying to convince us of something. I dare you to try.

Now, I know what you are thinking…what does this have to do with race, class and sexuality in cinema? And why are you blogging about it?…..Let me tell you…..

I am a senior at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. One of my final classes to graduate happens to be titled, “Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in Cinema.” When I initially signed up for this class, I thought we would watch old movies and write 10 page papers analyzing them. Not far from the truth actually. BUT it is WAY more fun and interesting than that!

My professor, Phil Gordon happens to be an incredibly opinionated liberal in the heart of conservative happy valley, Utah. He does not believe in a “conventional” teaching style. ((He is ANYTHING but conventional))

Phil thinks that communication (my major) is changing dramatically very quickly. He thinks that writing papers and making poster boards are becoming a thing of the past. Hence, the blog. In a sense, blogging is an online journal….that everyone can see. Since social media is taking over, we might as well get on the wagon and join in. It does not make any sense to put all of your hard work into a 10 page paper that just the teacher sees. Why not blog it and bounce back ideas with other people on the subject? It makes sense to me, although at first made me uncomfortable when he proposed this blogging idea.

ANYWAYS….enough about Phil, and more about MOVIES! In this blog, I am going to share my insights that I find, as well as my fellow students, after we watch movies. I know this sounds boring and uneducational since it is just a melting pot of ideas and opinions….BUT, I promise, doing this will help you think out of the box!<—which I think we could all afford to do a little.

Race, class, gender and sexuality are a group words that we hear every day and do not really think about. At least, I don’t. But individually these words come with infinite amounts of meaning! For example…have you ever thought about what race or sexual orientation Scar from Lion king is? I bet not, in your mind he is just a fictional, animated villain who wants to kill Mufasa…I bet nobody put any real thought into who is going to do his voice and what his lines really mean….Wrong.

I am going to use this blog as my own personal writing pad of ideas, thoughts, opinions, and feelings about different films. I am going to refer to movies that are both extremely popular and well-known and movies that are underground and independently produced.

If you have never heard of or seen the movie, I suggest taking the time to watch it and gather your own opinions. I would love to hear them and bounce them off of my class!

Also, if you have any movies that you think that I should watch and write about, let me know. Suggestions are welcome. Enjoy 🙂

-Chels