Upon this detailed breakdown of the symbolism of Disney's Lion King, I must explain a few things. First, I am not a professional writer. Where my thoughts and imagination takes me is on my own accord. I spent a fair amount of time exhausting other ideas about this movie - most notable opinions I've found about this movie is sexist acts, homosexuality, Nazism, the story of Hamlet, and contradicting Christian ideas. However, most people might find my blog to make no sense at all as well, but isn't the point of an opinion to make sure you're heard?
Secondly, I am not writing this out of boredom, there is a story behind this! I got inspired to write this blog after seeing the Lion King in 3D in theaters. I noticed that there is MUCH more to this movie than meets the eye. I had thoughts flowing in one ear and out the other. I am writing this blog out of a notebook that would soon be 20 pages long, on a movie that is nearly 20 years old (1994). I have seen this movie probably 50 times. My point is this - even a classic movie such as this can withhold a plethora of symbolism that can go unnoticed to the unattended imagination. I am in love with my imagination. I love to think with an imagination, anything is possible - which is very true. In this case, i applied my imagination to a classic - and relived the experience in a completely different way. This is symbolic in itself - what if you were inspired by something and followed after it? Would you see things in a different way? Ultimately, would you see the world in a different way?
The last point i want to make is this: I am not a professional movie critic, or have an extensive knowledge of the bible. What i do have is an imagination, a little knowledge of both, and a blogspot. So without further adieu, i would like to introduce you to The Lion King: The Symbolic Perspective, Part 1.
Let's get some of the obvious stuff out of the way, shall we?
Characters:
Mufasa (Jesus)
Rafiki (the Holy Spirit)
Simba (child of God, just like you an me)
Scar (the great deceiver)
Zazu (disciple)
Timon, Pumbaa, Nala (no real biblical figure, except act as references)
Shenzi, Banzai, Ed - Hyenas (sin)
Settings:
Pridelands (Simba's heart and mind)
Priderock (Simba's soul)
Elephant Graveyard (temptation)
*Will go into detail on Timon and Pumbaa's 'outcast paradise' later.
Lets get on with the movie! Please note I am not going to hit every single symbolic point in this movie, quite literally because 97% of this movie is of Christian symbolism, I'll leave the other things for you to figure out.
Before we even touch on the relationship of Simba and Mufasa, a much more interesting scene comes first. At the opening ceremony of Simba, you see Mufasa standing on top of priderock as 'King', and you see all the creatures of the pridelands bow down to him. Then, as Rafiki ascends to the top of priderock, he doesn't 'bow' to Mufasa - he greets him with a hug instead - symbolizing a close relationship. Indeed they are in a close relationship if you know anything about the trinity! The Circle of Life scene ends with Rafiki holding up the young Simba - a very powerful, and wonderfully made opening scene.
Let us now talk about an even closer relationship in the movie - Mufasa and Simba.
In the picture above, we see Mufasa and Simba. In this scene, Mufasa explains that everything the light touches is 'our' kingdom. A very symbolic message. Simba then notices a 'dark, shadowy place' in the kingdom. Mufasa explains that it is beyond our borders and that he should never go there. Then, they talk about the 'Circle of Life', which i will go into detail later - but for now note, that the Circle of Life is the connection of all living things, and that we need to 'understand and respect' everything in the kingdom. Let us recap. Jesus is showing a child of God the importance of 'his' kingdom. One important thing to note here, is that Mufasa told Simba deliberately *not* to do something. Let us see how this impacts Simba's soon-to-be-kingdom. Enter Scar.
Let's talk about Scar for a minute. He always resides in dark places, is sly, constantly lying, and deceiving throughout the entire movie. He's full of jealousy that Simba is taking over the kingdom instead of him, prideful in a sense that he won't let that happen and he's going to do whatever it takes for him to take over - even murder. Sounds like someone we all should know, right? His first great deception is on the young and curious Simba. He is the lead to Simba's first sin (going against his Father's deliberate orders).
I am going to skip over the next few events here and let your imagination take a walk. Remember, that the elephant graveyard is a temptation, and that the hyenas are sins. Look at how they play against Simba through the next scenes. Of course, Mufasa comes to save Simba (as he likes to do!) and brings him back to Simba's kingdom. I will go into a little more detail on the following scene after Mufasa saves Simba.
If you take a quick look at this picture, you can already tell it's full of symbolism, even for young minds. Following in His footsteps.. Ahh, sorry, it's such a great image! Anyways, the next scene is Mufasa and Simba discussing what happened. What we need to take note out of this scene, is that Mufasa will always love Simba, no matter what he does (another amazing symbolic gesture). However, one thing i do need to point out is what Mufasa says about the stars. "Let me tell you something my father told me, look at the stars, the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us." So to all those contradicting theories that Mufasa is God, sorry to bust your bubble, but God does not have a father - he IS the Father (mind you he does have characteristics of God...). Mufasa assures Simba that this is true, and says "So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you, and so will I." Isn't that comforting?
I am skipping over a few scenes, but i will recap - don't worry! I am not going to let you miss out one the most symbolic part of the movie! By now, Scar is planning to murder Mufasa. An interesting thing to share is his first verse in Scar's song 'Be Prepared' goes as this:
I know that your powers of retention
Are as wet as a warthog's backside
But thick as you are, pay attention
My words are a matter of pride
Are as wet as a warthog's backside
But thick as you are, pay attention
My words are a matter of pride
I think Scar's purpose in the Lion King is to display pride. Keep this in mind as i will amplify my ideas greatly in a later post. For now, all you need to know is pride is probably the most significant sin. Quoted by C.S. Lewis, in the book Mere Christianity, he writes "...the essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride... It was through pride that the devil became the devil." Now that you understand that, lets continue. Scar once again lies to Simba, and tricks him into staying in a gorge by saying Mufasa has a surprise for him. Listening to him, he obeys Scar, as Scar walks off and signals to the hyenas that they are free to chase the wildebeest down into the gorge. Next, Mufasa and Zazu are brought back to the gorge by Scar in order to find and save Simba. Once they locate Simba, Mufasa goes into gorge full of wild and running wildebeest to try and save him. Scar eliminates Zazu out of the picture with ease to focus on his prize - the death of Mufasa. Mufasa picks up Simba and puts him out of harms way - and tries to escape the stampede. Mufasa is denied by Scar for help, as Scar pushes Mufasa off into the gorge depths and into the stampede of wildebeest. Now, I am going to say that Jesus died for our sins, and if this doesn't sound like that, I don't know what does!
Scar then scares Simba into exile by him thinking it was 'his' fault. Sin eventually became too overwhelming for Simba as he runs off into the desert - ultimately leaving pridelands, and letting Scar take over. After Scar and sin invade pridelands (ultimately priderock), the land becomes black and dark, the life that was once growing there diminished. Now is a time to note that while Rafiki and Mufasa are not there to protect Simba, he is susceptible to invasion of sin (no resistance). Without the two, he is forced to 'run away' and abandon 'his' land (heart, mind, and soul).
I am going to end this first part with the sacrificing of Mufasa for Simba. I still have much more to go over, such as the importance - and ultimately the 'problem' with Hakuna Matata and the 'outcast paradise', the meaning of the Circle of Life, the great importance of Rafiki, and of course, part 2!
-
Following this overview of The Lion King, i am going to do my own articles and short stories. The point of this review is to get your minds attuned to dual perspectives (parables if you will). So don't fret, there will be a lot more to this than Disney Movies! Thanks all for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment