It’s all about perspective.
Mufasa teaches a rather problematic lesson to Simba at such a young age. “But Dad, don’t we eat the antelope?”, Simba asks. Mufasa responds with “Yes, Simba, but let me explain: when we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the great circle of life.”
That’s all well and good. A few things though: why not respect the creatures of Pride Rock by genuinely treating them as your equals? Why don’t they get a chance to speak up about the natural order of things? Why can’t they stand alongside you on the top of Pride Rock as well? Don’t they deserve a chance to feel included instead of simply bowing down to whatever little hairball is born?
Enter Scar.
Unlike Mufasa, Scar is isolated from the rest of Pride Rock, spending more of his time with the hyenas instead. We don’t entirely know how he came to be this way (we don’t count The Lion Guard here, despite its best intentions), but what we gather is very clear from the beginning: not only does he believe he should be next in line for the throne, but he also believes Mufasa is doing a terrible job in his position, especially when it comes to the idea of inclusion.
I love Mufasa as much as the next lion (especially when he’s voiced by someone as legendary as James Earl Jones), but even I have to admit his logic sometimes has a simple-minded “this-is-the-way-things-are” mentality. He even goes as far as to say that Simba must never go anywhere that’s beyond their borders. Granted, he only talks about the place where Scar and the hyenas live, and understandably so; he just wants his son to be safe from any sort of harm. But it’s possible to recognize that somewhere beyond their borders lies other creatures in the animal kingdom with ideas and values that carry reasonable change.
{But make no mistake: I do NOT condone Scar’s behavior in any way, shape, or form. Not only did he commit the murder of his brother, but he also manipulated Simba (AT A YOUNG AGE, MIND YOU) into thinking that HE was responsible for his father’s death. And when Simba–as an adult–becomes manipulated by Scar once again during the film’s climax, it’s devastating to watch. I still can’t believe people like Scar exist, and it’s those aspects alone that are enough to place him within the top-five greatest Disney Villains of all-time, if not THE greatest Disney villain of all-time.}
The only way to create inclusion is not through violence, but through understanding others. This is what Simba ultimately learns when he grows up, and this is where I feel some of the film’s critics are confused. Both Mufasa and Scar’s problematic perspectives are not flaws within the story; they are intentional in order for Simba to realize his own, as well as to make sure his perspective doesn’t come with as many problems. There’s a reason why Mufasa–in cloud spirit form!–later on says “you are more than what you have become”. Simba really has become more than what he was originally before; he just needed to break out of Scar’s manipulation in order to realize that.
Simba is a beacon for inclusion and peace within all of the creatures in the animal kingdom. Take a look, for instance, at the following images below. The first is of baby Simba being carried by Rafiki, with Mufasa and Sarabi feeling prideful of their newborn child:
Now compare that image with the second-to-last shot of the film, with Simba celebrating his reign with Nala, Timon and Pumbaa all on the edge of Pride Rock:
What’s noticeable is the difference of sincerity between both images. Where the first image feels more like a regal celebration of a higher order, the second image feels like a healthy embrace of inclusion and diversity between all living things. And whereas Mufasa only adopted his perspective without following it through entirely, Simba managed to follow through with his perspective by creating a vision he wanted to see for the entirety of his kingdom. It’s the equivalent of learning from your past while creating a present for your kingdom to thrive in.
One of my favorite moments in The Lion King involves Rafiki hitting Simba’s head with his staff, and saying that what he did doesn’t matter because it’s in the past. Rafiki later goes on to say that the past does hurt, and it’s how Simba deals with the past that reveals his true character. What’s so powerful about this scene is that it literally speaks to everyone with a traumatizing past. There are moments throughout this year that I thought back to whatever past baggage I had, and whenever I thought about those events, I went through a gamut of feelings and thoughts. Having to deal with those feelings and thoughts isn’t as simple as immediately learning to duck whenever a staff is about to hit your head. But throughout this year, I’ve realized that by looking back on everything, and realizing that I’m still here on this planet living a life that I never thought was possible, it has given me an endless amount of gratitude.
Movies with such thematic depth, complexity and maturity like The Lion King come once in a blue moon, and that’s part of the reason why I barely even scratched the surface on everything else that’s so brilliant about it. The animation. The characters. The music. OH. THE. MUSIC. It’s easily one of the most beautiful and thoughtful films to ever be released within the Walt Disney Company, and if I start gushing over Hans Zimmer’s greatest achievement of a score, I might not ever stop. It may not approach the utterly timeless quality of something like Beauty and the Beast, but that doesn’t stop it from being a genuine work of art all on its own.
Also, while writing this, I realized the word “lion” can be found in the word inclusion. I’m so proud of that fact I could eat a whole zebra.
The Big Blue Blog Where Dreams Come True 