Hakunamatata, Means You Should Worry

Hakunamatata, Means You Should Worry

The best strategy to manipulate ones mind is to mold it while it is innocent and vulnerable. If you are able to get a hold of a persons mind while their young, you can insert metaphors that may always stay there. Stereotypes, racism, etc. can all be molded into our children's brains and we do not even realize it. What better way to this than insert these horrid ways of thinking than in a children's movie.

In the children's movie "The Lion King", Pixar throws a lot of different metaphors subliminally throughout the movie. They throw metaphors from racism, sexism, and even classicism. Exposing our children to these things at such a young age can alter their view of life, and even people.

In today's society a big issue that is continuously argued about is "Dark-skinned vs. Light-skinned". In The Lion King, the main and "royal" lions (Mufasa and Simba) are a yellowish cream color (fair skinned). They are the kings and leaders of their packs and are seen as the hero's by all of the other animals. The animals bow in their honor in the beginning of the movie. Showing that the light-skinned lion is supposed to be superior and greater than the rest. That they hold the power and should be praised. 

The evil lion (Scar), that's goal in life is to get the throne and kill his brother is a dark-skinned lion. The king (Mufasa) and dark-skinned lion (Scar) are brothers, but the one that is evil is dark-skinned. They creators of the movie made Scar an evil, blood-thirsty lion that is "no good". 

Another example is the three main Hyena's in the movie are also dark-skinned. They are Scar's assistants who also are there to help kill the King. The voices of the hyenas are all spoken by different types of people that are not totally accepted in society. One is a Latino voice, one an African American, and the last one is portrayed as stupid or slow. Is this saying that these people are "no good" like the characters they play? Why is it that the people of color need to play the characters that have negative traits?

The light-skinned lions live at "Pride Rock" where the sun shines high in the sky and the center of everything. The hyenas live far out past this kingdom where there is nothing but darkness. They live where people are scared to go and "should never go to", the location they live could be seen as a "ghetto". The place they live is full of bones and skulls; its dirty and where nothing can GROW. In society the communities that are predominantly minorities (Latino and African Americans) with low-incomes are called ghetto's. Are they saying that in these places the people cannot grow? So from a societal lens, the fair-skinned live in a beautiful place, while the dark-skinned  "trouble-makers" live in the "ghetto's".

In society today, this battle between Light-skinned and dark-skinned is so common that is now normalized. People from the same race, wither it be Latino or African Americans, people argue who is better. People fail to realize that no matter the shade of skin we are not a different nationality; we are still the same race. The oppression that has been place on people of color has been internalized and now we are doing it to each other.

We were once at a "race war" with the blacks vs. whites during the civil rights movements; now it seems as though we are at war with ourselves. Memes on social media glorifying racism, and jokes being said against a person just because they are darker than another person.

This is showing children at a young age that the lighter color you are the better you are. This could lead to the rejection of the darker skinned people, or just because they are different complexion, that they are worse people.

This normalized issue is being internalized by people of color and it is turning races against one another. The children can see this and they could believe that they are "less important" because they may be the wrong shade of skin. This will lead to lower self-esteem and also may lead to them oppressing others (bullying as well).

Many movies that are for kids have metaphors that are hidden that could effect our kids thought process. Exposing their innocent minds to things like racism can lead to them internalizing these beliefs. We assume that these movies are fine for children to watch, but we need to look closer to what we are allowing the youth to see.