The course RLG233H1-S, focuses on the relationship religion and popular culture have with one another in society. In order to show that there is truth behind this relationship The Lion King will be used a case study to dissect the crossover to religion. The Lion King is a Walt Disney Featured Animation movie that was developed and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is based around following the adventures of the young heir to the throne, Simba. The audience is a witness to how family drama plays a key role in unraveling the major events that are critical in both character and story development in the plot. Mufasa is the father to Simba and the current ruler to the throne however, his brother Scar wants to overtake his brother and his power he hold over the land. In order to complete this, Scar sets up a stampede that was designed to kill both Mufasa and Simba. Though the plan is successful in killing Mufasa, Simba manages to escape but wanders away from his home. He returns back as an adult after facing many of obstacles and is prepared to re-claim his throne. Multiple events that occur in the movie The Lion King are parallel to stories that we have previously seen unfold in the Christian Bible.
One example of this happens at the very beginning of the movie with the birth of Simba. He is held up to his future land to be praise and acknowledged by all. In this scene light is used to draw emphasis and importance on Simba and the music chosen “Circle of Life”, can be viewed as a direct link to the Bible. One could connect the opening scene of The Lion King to the birth of Jesus Christ in the Bible. It connects the use of light shining down on Simba with the use of light in the story of the birth of Jesus. Light was sourced from a star and was used to draw his worshipers to Bethlehem so that they could praise and acknowledge his birth.
Another example linking the two together is the brother dynamic between Mufasa and Scar and Cain and Abel. Both sets of brothers have this struggle with power and jealously towards the one who hold it. In The Lion King the Scar is seen as less than Mufasa by their land and is pushed into the shadows where his brother is praised, looked up upon and holds the superior power between the two of them. The jealously takes over Scar’s character and results in him getting his brother killed. This has similarities to the story of Cain and Able from the Bible. The story is found in the Book of Genesis where two brothers devote their life to God and make sacrifices for him in regards to their separate lives. However, God favours Able sacrifices over those of Cain, resulting in Cain acting on his jealously and murdering his brother Abel.
Simba is able to have visions of his father Mufasa when he is faced with tough obstacles he fears he cannot overcome. Through these visions Simba is giving strength and determination to continue on his difficult journey and achieve greatness. This idea of one being able to find comfort, strength and perseverance in a familiar form can be connected to the faith individuals hold in their relationship with God. Calling to Him in times of desperation, fear or the unknown to help them get through a difficult time.
The Lion King can be looked at through the Reception theory developed by Stuart Hall. Which is described where the creator encodes messages into their media that are intended to be found and decoded by the audience. Thus, each audience member is subjective to decoding a different meaning from the hidden messages. This can result in many different take away from the audience in regards to the media form that also can go against what the creator(s) attended the message to be. The message decoded from The Lion King in this case was one that connects it to stories where a similar version has been previously seen in the Christian Bible. Connection with characters, plots, motifs and allusions have crossed paths in these two different forms to produce stories and outcomes that share similarities.
Daniella's blog - RLG233 