Andrew Shin: Gooding-Williams vs. Morton Response

After initially reading Gooding-Williams' argument, I could only think about how poorly argued  his argument was. His interpretation of Lion King was completely valid. I could definitely see the elephant graveyard as representative of the inner cities or otherwise marginalized groups of society. However, in the "Disney in Africa" section, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Gooding-Williams chose to write a tribute to Hegel instead of finding anything to argue. The connection from the film to Hegel's Eurocentric viewpoint was extremely weak. In my opinion, he failed in proving his point that the Disney version of Africa is a "historyless" place. Perhaps if he had spent less time summarizing the entirety of Hegel's philosophy and just included a link like so, he might have had more time to actually add to his argument. In essence, this section was too much "they say" and not even close to enough "I say."

Personally, I would have taken the entire section entitled "Disney in Africa" out of the piece as it added absolutely nothing to Gooding-Williams' argument on the inner cities metaphor. Unfortunately, the "Disney in the Inner City" section was also extremely poorly argued. As pointed out in the Morton piece, Gooding-Williams' entire argument rests solely on the fact that two out of the three hyenas in the film were Latino and African American, a detail that was almost certainly coincidental in the actual casting, yet is being exploited here as the main evidence for an argument. Gooding-Williams also does not spend a lot of time explaining the significance behind the hyenas even though it is key to his contention. He also falls in the fact that he categorizes the hyenas as "black and Latino denizens" exclusively instead of a more generalized interpretation of marginalized groups.



The Morton piece was better in my opinion. It did not criticize the argumentation of the Gooding-Williams piece as much as I had liked. Furthermore, it provided a new interpretation more so than editing the one in question and also spent a little too much time summarizing the film. However, Morton's more political interpretation of the film was completely valid. He is correct in that there is not "black and white" in this film. Instead, it is a showcase of various political systems that highlight corruption and other issues within each defined class. Simba is most definitely influenced by both Scar and Mufasa, and his monarchy is very different from either of his predecessors'. There is chaos within each class of society, and this is what Lion King communicates instead of a strict dichotomy between rich and poor.

Samuel Joseph Disney's The Lion King

I haven’t watched Lion King in a really long time, but I remembered all the songs, especially Hakuna Matata, which was probably my favorite part. I was watching the film when one of our family friends came over, and they have a four-year-old daughter who hadn’t watched Lion King before, so she watched part of it with me. It was the scene when Mufasa went to confront Scar, and she pointed at Scar and then Mufasa and said “that’s the bad lion and that’s the good lion right?” and I was like “Yeah, woah” and I totally didn’t know how to respond. Makes sense, however, because Scar is depicted with the long face and sort of moustache figure like Jafar, and he was dark and had that deep voice as well. That got me thinking... Is Scar really the bad guy? Is it his fault that lion government runs on a patriarchal system where the biggest and strongest lion gets to be king, and not the smartest? Is it his fault that if the king has a son that he's all of a sudden surpassed to next in line for the throne? Scar is super cunning and deceitful, but he's really, really good at it. 

The opening scene of the Lion King was jaw-droppingly amazing. The story behind how this was Disney’s first time using an actual movie clip as a trailer was really interesting, but that clip would have definitely gotten me to watch the movie; just the choice of music and animal animations were spectacular. It’s surprising to think that this movie was assigned to the “B” team, and just how well this production turned out to be. While many regard this as the first “original” Disney film, not be based off another story, I see a few striking parallels between this story and Sundiata: The Lion King of Mali. Sundiata is very clearly Simba, in the fact that they are the children that are destined for the throne, and they are the ones that get driven out of their home land to a foreign area, only to return to their home land one day, save the people there, and become king. It is also possible to relate Sundiata gaining his strength once he was away to Simba growing up and gaining his lion roar because both Scar and Sassouma made fun of the children’s weaknesses, only for those children to grow older, gain strength, and come back to defeat them.

The movie in general was a warm, comfortable atmosphere. With the exception of the scenes where Mufasa died and where the hyenas were in their cave, the movie was absolutely wonderful to watch (which totally reminds me of the dog that was crying when Mufasa died SO SAD :,((( ). I enjoyed the emphasis on the strength of family in the film; Mufasa and Simba were very close, but I see more of a familial connection with Simba, Pumba, and Timone. This serves as grounds to emphasize the fact that family doesn’t always mean blood, it’s the people who would do anything to see you smile.

I’m not sure if I’m the only one here, but I felt really encouraged and empowered after the Simba and Rafiki scene. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but just the way it all unraveled, I guess. Rafiki tells us that everyone has a past and sometimes it’s good, but sometimes it’s bad, and we have two choices – we can either run from it, or learn from it, which made me think about all the things that’s happened to me, and how I should constantly be learning from my mistakes in order to become a better person.

In all, top ten movies of all time.

Chris Theodore, Disney's The Lion King Response

via GIPHY

We all need a little bit of Timon in our lives...

It had been a LONG time since I watched The Lion King. The main memory I had that was related to the movie was when I was younger and singing on our new karaoke machine. Yes, the song was Hukuna Matata. After this whole semester of diving deep into Disney movies, this one was a great one to end on. From a story that is like the hero's journey, to the ever-so symbolic Disney villain, and just I mean ANIMALS. I personally found it harder to find anything controversial with the film, maybe mainly due to the fact that all the characters were animals. 

Though, I did find it easier to relate parts of Sundiata to the movie. Zazu is pretty much the griot of the story, there is separation and a coming to of the throne, the death of a father, the jealously of a family member, and to name another, the recruitment of evil witches in the form of hyenas. 

However, just because I found it harder to find controversial things doesn’t mean I didn’t find any. Should I start with Scar hitting women? The continuation of Africa’s single story of just being this desert land with a couple jungles and exotic animals? Or the creation of otherness with the hyenas? For the latter, I find this movie hard to hold a firm root in its moralistic emphasis as even though they encourage this balance with the earth and everyone who is a part of it, they still separate society and create significant difference. If I was a child watching this film again, I wouldn’t want to be with anyone who was like a hyena. Moreover, on the topic of hyenas… what is up with making one of them seem to have a mental disability? Actually, I feel like saying “seem” doesn’t do it justice as they make Ed laugh like crazy, his eyes can’t focus on anything, and for goodness sakes, he is the one biting his leg in the end. Yes, sure, it creates humor for the film… but at the cost of making fun of those with actual mental disabilities? I really REALLY hope this gets addressed and changed in the upcoming live-action as mental health and mental illness is such a heavy topic in societal climate currently. 

Going back to Scar hitting women, that’s an oof. I am happy that they associate this with the bad and evil though, because it does help differentiate right from wrong at least in my eyes. Lastly, the portrayal of Africa I feel just robs the land of its dignity and diversity. In the film, we just see the exotic animals, a desert, couple jungles, and some grasslands. This just continues to reinforce the audience’s beliefs and imageries when they hear the word: Africa.

Overall, I did love The Lion King. The songs are great, the love tale proves that it is possible to get out of the friend zone, the conquering of evil, and really talks about the power of legacy. I am going to miss having films to watch as homework. This, however, was a great one to end on.

Andrew Shin: Lion King Film Response

Personally, Lion King  has always been one of my favorite movies. Seeing it again has made me remember how extraordinarily beautiful both the animations and soundtrack are. I really commend Hans Zimmer, Lebo M, Elton John, and all other musicians hired to work on this project. Having  read through the articles for Monday in addition to several others talking about the making of the soundtrack, I was relieved when I found out that the  original dialogue-based opening was replaced with a music-centered animation sequence. The first scene is just so majestic in its natural grandeur  that it sets a high standard for the rest of the film.

There is something to be said about the fact that monarchy is such a central theme to the movie. Under Mufasa's leadership, the kingdom prospered. Food was plentiful and the beautiful weather reflected the abundance of the land. Mufasa also represents the only competent monarch within the film. As such, the monarchy thrived with his direction. Yet the movie also points out the weaknesses to monarchical system in that the state of all things depends on one being alone. Under Scar, the lands withered. All of the animals died and his subjects (the lions and hyenas) went hungry. Here, we can see the monarchy when a cruel and careless leader takes the throne. And then there is Simba. Simba, for the latter half of the film, can be considered the reluctant king. He shies away from responsibility and as a result, his kingdom suffers. The instability of the monarchical system is very well highlighted in this film.

The scene with the Scar and the hyenas at the elephant graveyard was extremely unsettling. As a  child, I had not thought twice about any underlying social commentary that this  scene  might be trying to communicate. However, looking at a second time with a more mature perspective, the parallels to North Korean and Nazi military parades are shockingly apparent. For once, I have to say that this sort of commentary coming from a Disney film is valid. This isn't a  downgrading of women  or attack on foreign  cultures as we have seen  so often in the past. Instead, I would  say  that this is the only social commentary that I found acceptable. Dictatorial regimes like those of North Korea and Nazi Germany are evil. The message is clear and, for me at least, well-received.

Perhaps the only problematic theme that exists in  this film is the image of "Africa". Even when watching videos about the making of the film, producer after producer would always talk about capturing that "African" feel. Yet can the entirety of a continent with a multitude of nations and an  even greater number of individual cultures be reflected into one film? That wasn't rhetorical. The answer is "no". The image of "Africa" suggests that it is this magical place with lions and antelope and grasslands that stretch as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, this is a false picture that seeks to draw on old stereotypes of this mysterious and  exotic place simply called "Africa". This is my only  criticism of the film as it draws first impressions and relies on  stereotypes. To end on a positive note, here is my favorite meme template from Lion King:

Elizabeth Reneau, Disney's The Lion King Response

The Lion King is magical, it is dramatic, it is scary at times, it is sad, it teaches needed life lessons, it is a DREAM of a movie. Timon and Pubmaa tell us to remember Hakuna Matata, “It means no worries, for the rest of your days.” Scar teaches us about greed and the evil desire power can bring. Simba teaches us about fighting fears, being confident, and letting your heart lead you. What a dynamic story. Now, with dynamic stories there are always bound to be a few missteps along the way. There will never be a “perfect” movie where everyone in the world is pleased or where there are zero errors made because the people making these movies are human. One of the things I have gathered from blogging and writing about these Disney films it is that even with the best teams in the world, errors will still be made and people will not be pleased because we do make mistakes. Now, even with the Lion King’s mistakes, the majority of the movie is filled with so much greatness.

The things I LOVED:  The animation with the bold colors, the songs, the cute depiction of baby Simba, the LOVE of Nala and Simba (come on it is a literal rom in an animation film), the adventurous life of Timon and Pubmaa, and finally, when Simba comes and saves the day.

The reasoning on why I LOVED these moments of the movie: Well, the animation is pretty spectacular and made the film that much more brilliant. The songs are an iconic part of this film as well. You cannot tell me that about 60% of students at Duke students have not heard the “Circle of Life” song in the film. I was singing so loud in my dorm room when I watched this film a few days ago (I think people thought I was crazy). Lastly (my favorite part), to talk about… Nala and Simba. From best-friends as young cubs to lovers later on with age, these two keep the Disney magic alive with the boy gets girl, the prince wins’ hearts act.

The things I DO NOT LOVE:  The generalization that Africa is only the pride lands, desert, and the savanna. The green-eyed evil hyenas were kind of scary (lol). The death of Mufasa was pretty stinking heartbreaking and finally, the portrayal of females being beaten by men when Scar hit Mufasa’s wife (lioness).

The reasoning on why I DID NOT LOVE these moments of the movie:  The two mishaps which were pretty obvious issues were the generalizations about Africa and the assumption women are beaten by men. The portrayal of Africa in this light is an issue because those watching will begin to assume that all of Africa is savanna and animals because they do not know any different. Films sometimes portray incorrect things on different countries and/or people groups in which people then begin to assume those incorrectly displayed things. Second, women were looked at as servants to the King and hurt if they disagreed with or shared their own opinions with Scar. This is an issue in regards to gender subordination.