Critical Media Review – The Portrayal of Hierarchy and Race in The Lion King
Disney’s The Lion King (1994) depicts a land, Pride Rock, “where the light touches” as a paradise for its inhabitants. The Circle of Life theme song explains that there is a natural and predetermined social order that must not be upset in which animals of prey are governed by their predators, the lions (Cappiccie et al., 2012; Danger in Dreki, 2011; Wong, 1999). The animals of savannah, which are in fact suppressed, accept their place in society and honour their rulers who, in turn, eat them (Cappiccie et al., 2012; Danger in Dreki, 2011; Wong, 1999). Outside of the savannah lies the elephant grave, a dark land that is wasting away, ruled by Scar, a lion, and populated by hyenas that are depicted as an underclass and are socially outcast from the hierarchy (Cappiccie et al., 2012). According to Gooding-Williams (1995), this is an allegory of a crumbling inner-city in America in two ways: 1) the voices of the hyenas come from Whoopi Golberg and Cheech Marin, giving them African American and Latino accents which mirrors the non-White citizenry that make up the inner-city and 2) the domicile in which the hyenas live is a miserable, desolate and overcrowded high-rise building that reflects government-owned poverty housing. The hyenas are depicted as being unintelligent and cowardly (Danger in Dreki, 2011). The Lion King associates Non-White people with deprivation and lowliness (Gooding-Williams, 1995). This is further portrayed in the film when Scar and his followers overtake Pride Rock and become its rulers. The land itself crumbles into a depressing and grim barren place enveloped by death (Gooding-Williams, 1995). This shows viewers that people of colour are not only of a lower class, but that they also drain society’s resources spreading their misery and thus must be maintained under control (Gooding-Williams, 1995; Cappiccie et al., 2012). The Lion King emphasizes a land in which the lower class is undeserving of a good quality of life and is suppressed by the upper class citizens who live in a kind of paradise. This has been interpreted by Cappiccie and colleagues (2012) as Disney supporting White supremacy.
Maria Iankilevitch
References
Allers R., & Minkoff R. (1994). The Lion King. USA: Walt Disney Pictures.
Cappiccie, A., Chadha, J., Lin, M. B., & Snyder, F. (2012). Using critical race theory to analyze how Disney constructs diversity: A construct for the baccalaureate human behavior in the social environment curriculum. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 32(1), 46-61. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2012.640252
Dreki. (2011, January 21). A Brief Analysis of Race, Sexuality and Power in The Lion King via Charlie Danger. [Web blog comment] . Retrieved from http://fictionalfriday.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/a-brief-analysis-of-race-sexuality-and-power-in-the-lion-king-via-charlie-danger/
Gooding-Williams, R. (1995). Disney in Africa and the inner city: On race and space in The Lion King. Social Identities, 1(2), 373-379.
Wong, V. (1999). Deconstructing Walt Disney’s The Lion King. [Web blog comment]. Retrieved from http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/article.php?id=210&feature
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