Movies: The Lion King

Today in Sunday School we watched clips of The Lion King and looked for worldviews in the movie. I do hope you already know this, but in case not, The Lion King is an animated Disney movie from 1994. This movie had a huge audience - it still holds the place of the highest grossing animated film in the United States. 

I remember getting this movie - I truly do. Well, mostly. I remember seeing it in... the Disney store in the mall, I believe, and wanting my mom to buy it. She didn't, but I actually got it for my birthday! Wow, now that I try to put those memories into a story I'm doubting their full accuracy. Well, anyways. We owned the VHS (and still do). My sister was afraid of Scar's dark song in The Lion King, and it wasn't wholesome anyways, so my parents usually fast-forwarded it. I remember many lines from this movie... but as things tend to happen, it was really different seeing it as someone with a bit more knowledge of the world. I mean, I'm a pretty naive person, it's true. But I obviously was more so as a four-year-old! 

There are LOTS of worldviews expressed in this movie. After the first few minutes, the main one is clear. The one that we figure the movie-makers meant to portray, even though they contradict themselves in multiple ways, is the "circle of life." Simba, the young lion cub and heir to the spot of animal king, has a talk with Mufasa (his dad, the current king) about this. Mufasa tells his son in a very fatherly way that the circle of life is just the way things work. They, the lions, eat the antelope. But, ah, after the lions die, they become grass to be eaten by the antelope. Our teacher explained to us that by implying this, are they implying death matters at all? It's all part of the circle of life, they say. They don't mention how lions are ferocious hunters who brutally kill and devour the antelope. And what are we to think later on in the story when Mufasa is trampled by wildebeests? Who cares about his death? Obviously his family does, and we're saddened and touched as viewers. But wait - isn't it all just part of the circle of life?

Another theme that comes up in this movie is good vs. evil. Now, this isn't exactly an uncommon theme; nearly every single movie has to have some kind of struggle, right? Scar is Muafasa's brother gone bad. He rules the scores of hyenas and plots to kill Simba too so that he will become the true king of the beasts. Another theme is ancestor worship. It's actually kind of strange for me to watch now, as a Christian. Mufasa, before his death, tells Simba that the past kings are always watching over him. Later Mufasa appears as a cloudy and then radiant image in the sky and speaks to his son. 

One last worldview is the philosophy of Timon and Pumbaa. Oh, the goofy pair; we all know their song! Hukana matata! It means "no worries." While this at first seems innocent, this lifestyle is actually true, fully or in part, for many people. It's the idea blocking out guilt and past un-atoned sins with pleasure and a "no worries" mindset. Which reminds me of something else from church today - from the sermon. 

So let me sidetrack for a moment. In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell." If we try to hide from our fears and past sins be throwing ourselves into the world's distraction and pleasure, we're running from the One who can either save us or condemn us. After all, He created us out of absolutely nothing, along with the whole world we're standing on right now. God, infinitely powerful. The One who saves us just for asking and commiting our lives to Him. Then Jesus goes on to say in the very next verses, Matthew 10:29 and 30, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." If you heard this sermon at CPC today, you probably have already begun to have these verses truly impressed on your heart. Pastor Harris explained to us how these things are such details, and yet the most powerful One, who is outside of time itself, cares. No detail is too small for Him to miss. 

Anyways - after watching these clips and realizing these things, I was thinking that if I had children I wouldn't want them to be okay with seeing so many non-Christian worldviews. But as I also remembered, when I was little, none of this sunk in. So I think we're safe, hopefully, to know where we stand by the time we can grasp what the media is adjusting our brains to. 

And this: most and many of the ideas I wrote here for you were originally brought up today by Pastor Harris, Dr. Koch, and the other people in Sunday School. Just passin' the word along. :)