Post #1
One of my all time favorite movie is The Lion King, I will use my first post to talk about certain aspects of the film. In the beginning there is the big ceremony that involves the birth of Simba, Rafiki lifts Simba up and the sun shines down on him. The significance of that scene is that with the light beaming down on Simba, it is as if God is giving his blessing to the new birth. Mufasa said to Simba when showing the land to him “Everything the light touches is our kingdom”, outside that land was the elephant grave yard where the hyenas lived. It is as they were banished from Pride Rock, when Simba leaves after Mufasa dies, and the hyenas come into the area, the herds move on and the sun does not shine on Pride Rock as it used to. This shows that God disapproved what was happening to Pride rock, for the animals that lived outside the sunlight were let in, and he was going to punish Pride Rock for it.
One of the most powerful moments in the movie came when Mufasa’s ghost appeared in the sky and told Simba that he had to go back. This again adds to some the the religious undertones of the movie, and also brings up a conformity aspect and a destiny one to it. Mufasa tells Simba that “You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me.” The dead lion is telling Simba he has no choice because it is in his destiny to become the divine right ruler of Pride Rock, and if he did not want to become king then the circle of life would be out of sync and Pride Rock will continue to stay a dump. It also tells us that everyone involved in the circle of life must fulfill their duty in the circle of life, or there will be an unbalance.
In the end Simba reclaims his spot as the king of Pride Rock, and it starts to rain and then afterward everything is back to normal. The darkness that was Scar and the Hyenas have been defeated and balance restored with Simba as king.
Commented on Nicole Aarestad and Chris DeMarco
January 25, 2010 at 5:45 pm |
I like your correlation you made between religion and the movie. I know for a fact when I was younger and saw this movie I never would have thought there was any deeper meaning. It was just a movie about a lion right? Well, no it wasn’t just a movie about a lion. We are all discovering as we age that there are hidden meanings behind many animations. There is always another story hiding behind the one we actually are viewing.
January 25, 2010 at 9:03 pm |
Your interpretation of The Lion King is quite interesting; I never thought a religious aspect to be involved in the movie! So are you saying that in a way that the hyenas represent a sort of banishment from the Garden of Eden? As if at one point they were accepted at Pride Rock? Just like Adam and Eve were? This was a thought provoking post, and perhaps there’s more to The Lion King than we all thought!
January 26, 2010 at 8:48 am |
I stumbled across another interpretation of this movie in an African-American history class last semester… Namely the entire opening montage is almost a direct parallel to the opening of the classic TV mini-series “Roots,” from when he’s holding the baby up above his head to be named to the way the characters interact with each other in this opening sequence. It caught me off guard when the prof pointed it out. Go back and watch the first 10 mins of “Roots” and you’ll see exactly what I mean. Scary, eh?
January 27, 2010 at 11:29 am |
[...] my comments for this week are here and here on Hayleigh Allingham and Brandon Trimble’s blogs, [...]
March 22, 2010 at 1:46 pm |
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